This volume looks back at my approaching 90 years of age, and the beginning of my 10th (and assuredly last) decade on this earth. I use my long and diversified scholarly life experience to leave behind a final (and I hope lasting) impression of an Israel where I have lived since age 14, completed my studies, taught thousands of students, and written dozens of books on a variety of topics, mostly related to the Islamic world and some on China.

I am departing an Israel that has been traumatized following the sudden deadly attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, on 1,300 Israelis, and the abduction of 240 more into captivity in Gaza, including babies, the elderly, and women, all of whom were abused one way or another. Only a revolutionized Israel in all domains, which is acutely expected by all Israelis, in its military, political, social, cultural, and economic fields is likely to start mending these long-term wounds that have caused dislocation, refugees, misery, and destruction on both the directly related Gaza border, where 22 village communities have been annihilated, and the Lebanese border, where similar carnage and ruin are looming, unless the Hizbullah, which has gratuitously joined the fray, is tamed or defeated.

(About the Author)Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.

D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley.

Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the1970s. He is the author of more than 100 books and 100 articles.

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