The Way It Was

Autobiography: Unique Israeli Leader and Visionary

Amos Horev

• Publisher: Peter E. Randall Publisher
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781942155867
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military Biographies
• Index: History

An examination of Major General Amos Horev and his pivotal role in shaping Israel's military and technological advancements through personal experiences and historical insights. This important memoir, translated into English for the author's 100th birthday, tells the life story of Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Horev, a visionary leader whose contributions helped shape Israel's growth across many fields. Rooted in memories of growing up in Jerusalem in the 1920s and '30s, where he built foundational friendships with other future leaders, such as Yigael Yadin, Uzi Narkiss, and Yohay Ben-Nun, Horev tells the story of Israel through the personal lens of his own experiences. One of the first Palmach commanders and deputy to Yigal Allon and Moshe Dayan during Israel's War of Independence, he went on to shape the evolution of the Israel Defense Forces' weaponry and logistics, later serving as president of the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology and chair of the board of Rafael, Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. In this autobiography, Retired Major General Amos Horev reveals the stories of the daily lives of the fighters and commanders in the Palmach—their failures, their successes, and most especially their motivation to fight to the end, even when the results were unknowable and the chances were slim. Through wars and missions, Amos remained a family man. He reveals another layer of his inner life when he speaks about Shoshana, his wife and the love of his life. Amos Horev's life story, which he tells with candor and integrity, combines with the story of Israel, and the generation that broke the ground, for those who followed.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Photographs
• Prologue The Ballad of the Beds
• Chapter 1 I Carry within Me the Seal of Jerusalem, Where I was Born and Raised
• Chapter 2 The Influence of My Father’s Home
• Chapter 3 It is Not Surprising that by the Time I Was Fourteen, I was Already a Member of the Haganah
• Chapter 4 We Strapped on a Backpack and Went Off to the Palmach Together
• Chapter 5 From a Youth Movement to a Fighting Force in the Palmach
• Chapter 6 Gradually We Realized That a Real War Had Started
• Chapter 7 A Nation Fighting against Regular Armies
• Chapter 8 The End of an Era—The Palmach Had Shaped My Path for the Rest of My Life
• Chapter 9 Operations Officer on the Southern Front—Like One Big Family
• Chapter 10 The Battles Ended and I Moved to the Negotiations Table
• Chapter 11 The Palmach and the Harel Brigade—Legacy, Forgetting, Erasure, and Remembrance
• Chapter 12 The War Is Over, What’s Next?
• Chapter 13 Aiming High but Stuck at the Bottom
• Chapter 14 A Messenger with a Note in His Hand—“You Are Hereby Appointed Chief Ordnance Officer”
• Chapter 15 A Break for Studies and a Quick Return to the Position of Chief Ordnance Officer
• Chapter 16 With Professor Katzir as Deputy to the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Defense
• Chapter 17 Head of the Quartermaster’s Branch during the War of Attrition and Looking Ahead at the Next War
• Chapter 18 From October to October—Terrible Neglect
• Chapter 19 President of the Technion—Starting during a time of National Distress and Personal Grief
• Chapter 20 Leading changes in Rafael Advanced Defense Systems—From collapsing to a leading government company
• Chapter 21 Maybe I’m Not a Good Fit for the Private Market?
• Chapter 22 I Never Imagined This Is What I Would Do—the Great Philanthropy
• Chapter 23 Committees on Topics of National Security—Continuing to Make a Difference
• Chapter 24 To Be with You, with the Wars and the National Representation Abroad
• Epilogue
• Additional Chapters
• Yigal Allon—The Man and the Loss
• Thank You