As Much As You Give Me

When his love for Vered, a young woman soldier, proves hopeless, a senior Israel Defense Forces officer commits suicide by crashing his helicopter into the sea. He was a leading candidate to become commander of the Air Force, and the media has a field day with the story. Vered and the officer are the heroes of the novella that is at the center of the first part of this book, and they also appear in some of the short stories, most of which are laced with irony and social-political criticism.

This is an original, unconventional book about men and women, sex and obsessive love, longing and frustration, about life between wars, and also parents` love for their children. The heroes, especially the men, are depicted as ludicrous and pathetic, driven by self-destructive impulses. Laor takes the power hubs of Israeli society to account, especially the military and security establish- ment. Top officers are depicted not as tough, powerful men but rather as sentimental types who fall in love with treacherous women. Their emotional vulnerability and their liking for classical music, literature and philosophy contrast with the acts that they are responsible for by virtue of their military functions. As one officer sums up the dichotomy: “Our lives are built upon the screams of others.”