He was famous for crossing the lines during the Siege of Beirut to meet Yassir Arafat on 3 July 1982, the first time the Palestinian leader ever met with an Israeli. Avnery is the author of several books about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including "1948: A Soldier’s Tale, the Bloody Road to Jerusalem" (2008); "Israel’s Vicious Circle" (2008); and "My Friend, the Enemy" (1986).