Between East and West: Israel's Foreign Policy Orientation 1948–1956

by Uri Bialer

• ISBN13: 9780521055352
• ISBN10: 0521055350
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-21
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Israel's political allegiance to the West is unquestioned. In the early years after 1948, however, the direction of Israel's foreign policy remained uncertain. In this important book Dr Bialer describes the internal debates within the Israeli political parties, and particularly the highly ideological labour movement, on the choices between pro-Soviet, pro-Western or non-aligned foreign policies. Making use of declassified documents, the author has carried out extensive research in the State Archives and other archives, and his account is based overwhelmingly on primary sources. This book examines the ideological components of these debates as well as the more material motivation factors, such as dependence on US aid, trade links with the Soviet bloc, the reliance on Czech arms supplies and the degree of freedom allowed to the Soviet and East European Jewish communities to emigrate to Israel. Dr Bialer concludes that there was no alternative strategy for Israel to adopt; the tilt towards the West was inevitable. This book provides valuable material for comparative research on the foreign policies and security relationships of small states in the international system immediately after the Second World War.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Internal Dimension

The affiliation dilemma

Publicism, inter-party politics and non-alignment

Red Star Over Zion

'Let my people go'

The aliyah tie with Moscow

The eastern European arena

Trade with the Soviet Union

Political cooperation

The military dimension

The Western Connection

The military and economic dimensions

From neutrality to the search for a link

Solidification of a Western orientation

Failure of 'facts and pacts' policy

Epilogue: 'A people that dwells alone?'

U.N. voting record

Biographical notes

Israel's votes at the U.N.

Index

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