A little curious this -- "it's going to be Topic A for a long time". Thought it has been Topic A for a long time...
Anyway, Benny Morris and the 'new historians' have been given the "Class A" treatment by Efraim Karsh, Anita Shapira and some others basically accusing them of "fixing" the data. Karsh, e.g. says that Morris would be in jail if he applied his academic standards to his tax returns. And Karsh has a book, "Fabricating Israeli History: The New Historians".
I haven't been able to locate detailed reviews of Karsh's book or of Shapira's, and would appreciate any help on this, as also any comprehensive discussion of the competing claims of the "New Historians" and those of people like Karsh or Shapira.
Interestingly, Daniel Polisar, writing for the editors in Azure, the journal of the Shalem Center in Israel appears to grant the "new historians" the outlines of their argument/story, though sticking to Karsh's argument that someone like Morris has distorted the evidence, falsified at least some of his sources and has done sloppy archival work. But he suggests that what's needed is new work that will grant the sins of the founding fathers, be done with some of the myths of the past, and yet still uphold the legends, showing that, in sum: "That the behavior of historical actors must be assessed in light of their obligation to wield power on behalf of the people whose interests they were bound to protect; that the establishment and preservation of a state for the Jewish people was not only legitimate but a moral imperative; and that Zionist leaders have generally been faced by international and local exigencies that have compelled them to make difficult choices. This, of course, does not mean accepting the idea that everything the Zionists did was right, or even reasonable. But it does make it possible to take historical facts that come to light and put them in their proper place within a narrative whose conclusions remain fundamentally sympathetic to Zionism."
Quite a concession, but if implemented, something at which the zionists excel -- as witness the way in which discussion of Jenin has now been side-tracked so effectively into whether or not a "massacre" occurred, on which Powell has now pronounced -- no massacre.
kj khoo