(2001) The Charney Report: Confronting the Israeli-Arab Conflict, Leon H. Charney. (ISBN: 1569802041 / 1-56980-204-1)

Book Description: Barricade Books, Fort Lee, New Jersey, U.S.A., 2001. First Edition Thus. Number line on copyright page reads (States First Printing). Dark Grey Hard Cover Boards and Spine With Silver Text. 302 pages, 6.25" x 9.25" tall, 1" thick. Fine. Not price clipped. Real nice copy of book and dust jacket.

Book Condition: Fine. Pages are clean, very tight & bright. No ink names, tears, chips, foxing etc. Book has No Previous owner's name on the inside cover, strong spine and appears unread. Book corners are slightly bumped. This used book is NOT an ex-library edition, not a remainder nor a BOMC edition. This book is a Fine Reading Copy about the Middle East.

Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. NON price-clipped DJ [$24.95 US]. Dust Jacket price ($24.95) is Not Clipped with slight wear on surface and edges.

About This Book: The Leon Charney Report, the nationally syndicated cable interview show, has long been one of the favorite stops in America for statesmen, journalists and others who play a vital part in the Mid East. THE CHARNEY REPORT: Confronting the Israeli-Arab reveals why.

Spanning eleven years and 26 interviews, Charney's newest book includes interviews with Yitzak Rabin, Teddy Kollek, Ehud Barak, Yitzak Shamir, Raghida Dergham, Nasser Al Kidwa, Shimon Peres and others whose voices have been at the center of this tragic struggle. Why these top names have chosen to include his show, not only on their American visits but also on location, has as much to do with how Charney is perceived by his guests as it does with the freedom they feel he extends to them on air. Candid and insightful, he gives his guests full rein to explore and explain situations, personalities, and negotiations that often seem inexplicable to the U.S. public. In addition, Charney's own commitment to the region has earned him a special regard and trust in the Mid East. He has spent over twenty years actively working towards peace, the result of his behind-the-scenes role during the Camp David Peace Agreement.

The resulting interviews form a rare chronicle of the Mid Eastern conflict, breaking new ground in the redressing of historical details. In an interview with Avigdor Kahalani, brigadier general in the Israeli army and founder of the Third Way Party, Kahalani raises serious questions about Rabin's refusal to show him the withdrawal maps that were a part of the agreement with the PLO that was brought before the Knesset. Kahalani refused to vote for the agreement. He said it was like signing a blank check on the security of Israel. Later it was revealed that when Kahalani asked Rabin about the change in his lexicon from Greater Jerusalem to Jerusalem Plus, Rabin never answered. This preceded Barak's alleged discussion at Camp David, for which he was widely criticized.

In an era of sound bites, Charney's hallmark style is the long, thoughtful discussion that gives new depth to familiar issues. Here leaders, both past and present, provide the unexpected viewpoint; politicians candidly discuss the complex and often painful divisions within Israel; military experts reveal the vulnerability Israelis feel they must always live with and the sense of isolation they have learned to accept from the rest of the world. Readers are given an unparalleled perspective on the generations of leadership, the bonds that bound and the decisions that divided former political allies. Diplomats and statesmen reflect on the policies and politics of rivals, try to give meaning to the history unfolding, and offer predictions that now read, in the light of current events, as too sadly prophetic.

THE CHARNEY REPORT provides a fresh perspective on the ongoing peace process and gives hope that peace may yet come to this conflicted region. With the rise of fundamentalism and the continued struggle over Jerusalem, the region now faces as many challenges as it has before-and yet, talks continue. As Charney notes in his Afterword, ' The Middle East is the genesis of all religions and the cradle of civilization. It also has been a consistent source of conflict...One must never forget that the Holy Land is a place of miracles. And it has been said that to live in the Middle East is to believe in miracles over reality.

About The Author: Leon Charney is an American real estate tycoon, author, philanthropist, political pundit, media personality, and Jewish cantor. He lives in Manhattan in New York City, dividing his time between his residences in Tel Aviv and Boca Raton, Florida. Forbes lists Charney as #308 among the wealthiest Americans.

Charney is best known as a New York real estate baron, but in recent years, his role as one of the backdoor players integral to sealing the Camp David Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt has emerged. In 1979, Charney played an important role as the unofficial adviser to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, most well known for his behind-the-scenes role in the Camp David accord which created the first comprehensive peace between Israel and Egypt in 1978 and 1979.

In 2008, some thirty years later, Charney, a major real estate owner in New York's Times Square, appeared for the first time on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans, debuting at #321. The 2009 list - the first to reflect the world financial crisis, indicates Charney's net worth had fallen $200 million in the previous year, although his rank had jumped to #296, up 35 notches, indicating that while he lost wealth, he lost comparatively less than other fellow billionaires. For 2010, Charney ranked #308 on the Forbes 400.

Rise to Prominence: At age 36 and a half, Charney, an aspiring entertainment lawyer in New York City, became counsel and adviser to Senator Vance Hartke of Indiana. Through Hartke, Charney became more involved in international politics and diplomacy. He became close to Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel, with whom Charney worked on Israel's initiative to free Soviet Jews and help them migrate to Israel.

That effort saw the emigration of 1,000 Jews from the Soviet Union to Israel. Later, United States President Jimmy Carter asked Charney to help advise him during the Camp David Accords. Charney refers to his efforts as using "back door channels", and he advised President Carter from 1976-1980. In a forward for one of Charney's books, Carter referred to Charney as "the unsung hero of the Camp David Peace Treaty."

In 1986 Charney went to Tunisia to meet with Yasser Arafat in the hope of a possible peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Back Door Channel: In 2009, Charney was a featured interviewee in a Harry Hunkele documentary film starring former U.S. President Jimmy Carter entitled Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace which is opening in the heart of the Arab world in Abu Dhabi in October, 2010 at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, also known as the Middle East International Film Festival. The film is the source of much buzz in the diplomatic sphere, as it is rumored that many never before revealed aspects of the original peace process were unveiled, some of which paint a less than rosy picture of American diplomatic efforts at the time. It has only been verified that the movie has been shown once, in Monte-Carlo, due to a special request made by Albert II, Prince of Monaco, the President of the Festival, to Arick Wierson, the film's executive producer.

The film itself was a source of some controversy in New York political circles. The film deals with the 1979 Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt and the real-life behind-the scenes drama that led to the historic peace treaty. The film's title is actually an opaque reference to Charney himself, considered by many to be the "back door channel" that enabled the Camp David peace to materialize. In addition to Carter and Charney, the film features former Secretary-General of the U.N. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Dr. Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. Secretary of State, CNN's Wolf Blitzer, and Senior Adviser to the His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco, André Azoulay and many other international dignitaries who played roles both major and minor in the Israeli-Egyptian peace.

The Charney Report: Charney hosts a national weekly TV talk show Leon Charney Report which deals with local New York politics, foreign affairs and the Middle East, social issues and popular culture. Although his show has been seen weekly on WNYE-TV for years, in recent years it has gained ground since the station became NYCTV in 2005, after Mayor Bloomberg took control of the school system and enabled his top media executive Arick Wierson, to merge the stations with the existing NYC TV cable channels. Via NYC TV, The Charney Report began podcasting its audio version on NPR and began a nationally syndicated the audio component as radio programming.

Since February 7, 2010, the Leon Charney Report has only broadcast repeats of previous shows.

Author: Charney is the author of four books, his most recent on the mystery of kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, which was published in December 2006 by Barricade Books. The book is The Mystery of the Kaddish: Its Profound Influence on Judaism, ISBN 1-5698-0300-5 (hardcover), ISBN 1-5698-0347-1 (paperback).

Philanthropy: In 2003, Charney donated $10 million to New York University Medical Center for a new cardiac wing of the hospital. He is also the major benefactor of the University of Haifa's Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, for which he reportedly donated more than $3 Million in 2007.

Personal: Charney holds an honorary title as the Chairman of the University of Haifa in Israel. Although not considered to be overtly religious, Charney is a renowned Jewish cantor, singing on Sabbaths and Holy Jewish Holidays at places of worship across the United States. He is married to Israeli-born Tzili Doron and with her he has two twin boys, Mickey and Nati. Doron is a first cousin of Israeli super model Bar Rafaeli. Charney's nephew Jay Blumenreich currently lives in Ra'anana Israel. Charney attended his great nephew Kfir Blumenreich's bar-mitzvah on June 28, 2009, in Herzliya, Israel.