Why were Soviet attitudes towards Israel inconsistent in the late 40's and 50's?
Upvote:6
The Soviet Union's policy in the Middle East was "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Despite the Soviet distaste for Israel's pro Democratic leanings, the Soviet Union initially tilted towards Israel because of 1) its enmity toward Britain, 2) its fear of the Moslems, and 3) the somewhat "socialist" character of the new Israeli state, which gave the Soviet Union common ground with Israel.
The attitude of the Soviet Union changed during the early to mid-fifties in favor of the Arabs. A major reason was the rise of socialist and populist leaders in the Moslem world. One of the them was Iran's Mohammed Mossadegh, who tried to nationalize the British-controlled Iranian oil industry before being overthrown by the U.S. CIA. Another, more successful one, was Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, who started a successful revolution against the pro-British monarchy in 1952, bought arms from Czechoslovakia in 1955, and tried to "nationalize" the Suez Canal in 1956, only to be opposed by Britain, France, and Israel. Clearly, the Arabs were better allies against the British (and later the United States), while Israeli had moved firmly into the British (and later the U.S.) camp.
Upvote:8
In 1947 Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, and Iran were extremely friendly towards the British and the Trucial States and Aden were British protectorates. Saudi Arabia was extremely friendly with the USA.
Even if Israel itself was not a perfect fit for the Communist Bloc, it could still be used as a proxy against Western assets. When Nasser overthrew the King of Egypt in 1952, he demonstrated that Egypt and pan-Arabism was a more natural ally of the Soviets than Israel could be.
Indeed, by sponsoring Nasser, the Soviet Union gained influence in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Iraq, North Yemen, and weakened still pro-Western Jordan and Iran.
Nasser even inspired African American Nationalism in the United States and his rhetoric of anti-colonialism weakened American resolve in Vietnam.
Upvote:14
The policies of Soviet Union were never determined by "hate" or other emotions. They were always pragmatic. (For example, they "hated" Nazism when they found it useful, and then suddenly made a U-turn and started to support Nazi Germany, when they saw potential benefits of this. And did this until they were attacked themselves).
Israel was founded by people with socialist views and in the beginning Soviet Union hoped to exercise great influence in it. (At least Israel looked very anti-British at the moment of its creation). Some communists were intentionally sent there from Soviet Union (as immigrants) to organize Israeli Communist party etc. Soviet union indeed played an important role in the process of creation of Israel (using its influence in UN), and in the first Arab-Israeli war. Soviet union did not support Israel openly during the war, but allowed its East European satellites to do this (Czechoslovakia supplied Soviet arms). But soon it became clear that Israel will not be a Soviet satellite in the Middle East, especially when it allied itself with France and England in the invasion of Egypt (1956), and Soviet policy turned to support of Egypt and other Arabs which they saw as "anti-imperialist". In general, the "principle" of Soviet Union foreign policy during the Cold war was to support anyone who opposes US, UK their Western allies. With Israel, they miscalculated.
More post
- 📝 Did Ramsay Macdonald have a Vietnamese mistress living near Downing Street?
- 📝 Were myopic slaves more valuable in ancient Greece?
- 📝 Was Mussolini's March on Rome inspired by ancient history?
- 📝 When and why did marriage become about love?
- 📝 How did Japanese small boats win against Mongolian ships?
- 📝 Given that there were there larger, more organised civilisations in South America compared to NA, why did they not colonise North America themselves?
- 📝 When was the golden era of Christmas?
- 📝 Since when has there been a clear distinction between sciences?
- 📝 How is the Byzantine(Eastern Roman) different from Western Roman?
- 📝 Why did Michigan abolish capital punishment so early?
- 📝 Name of a small state west of the Xiongnu and south of Wusun c. 50 A.D
- 📝 Did ancient or medieval warriors "substitute" in and out of combat?
- 📝 When and why did "Near East" become "Middle East?"
- 📝 What is this German/Italian badge?
- 📝 Why is Killiniq island divided between Nunavut and Labrador?
- 📝 What were the rights and statuses of different types of Roman colonies?
- 📝 Which military uniforms are shown in these photos?
- 📝 How do we know this bust is Aristotle?
- 📝 How were the territories added to (and thus the limits set in) the Holy Roman Empire
- 📝 Is there a reconstruction for whom and when were the peoples of the ancient Levant just before Israel, Judea and Edom?
- 📝 What was the policy on academic research being published beyond the iron curtain?
- 📝 How did the Mughals view h*m*sexuality?
- 📝 Which mountain collapsed in France in 1820/21?
- 📝 What are these slots for in this stone slab?
- 📝 How do kings secure their treasury?
- 📝 Was the sprouting of seeds for food production known in Europe before 1800?
- 📝 Did the avenue of the Gods exist?
- 📝 Why did the other Continental European powers keep trying to fight Napoleon before 1813 despite being beaten by him so often?
- 📝 Did the third US atomic bomb disappear without a trace?
- 📝 Was Textile Armour More Effective at Stopping Arrows than Mail?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why were Soviet attitudes towards Israel inconsistent in the late 40's and 50's?
- 📝 Why were the military and civil powers split in the Late Roman Empire?
- 📝 Why did Britain and France not declare war against the Soviet Union when it invaded Poland in WW2?
- 📝 Why were helmets and other body armour not commonplace in the 1800s?
- 📝 Why were the drawings of Colossus burnt after WW2 and why was its very existence "of course" kept secret?
- 📝 Why were British ships not of the same quality as French and Spanish ships until the latter part of the 18th century?
- 📝 Why did the Soviet Union close its borders and restrict travel abroad?
- 📝 Why did Stalin and the Soviet leadership have Leon Trotsky assassinated?
- 📝 Why were the Germans and Russians so fixated on an unlikely "separate peace" in 1945?
- 📝 Why were battles massed until the late 1800s?
- 📝 Why did piracy thrive in the late 17th and early 18th centuries?
- 📝 Were bookshops 'common' in the late 19th century, and how did they differ from modern ones?
- 📝 Why did the states that were born out of the Louisiana purchase adopt a common law system, and not a civil law system?
- 📝 Why were schoolchildren in the USA taught virtually nothing about the Holocaust during the fifties and sixties?
- 📝 Why were the Prague Spring leaders treated more leniently than Nagy and his colleagues?
- 📝 What are the historical reasons for religious and political negative attitudes towards h*m*sexuality?
- 📝 Why were gravediggers, actors and former gladiators (but not slaves) banned from the Colosseum?
- 📝 Did anyone warn about the potential for stock market crashes in 1929, and if so why were their warnings ignored?
- 📝 Why were Muslims in Western Thrace and Christians in Constantinople excluded from the population exchange?
- 📝 What were the Government Press Prosecutions of 1858 and why did they occur?
- 📝 Why were the ship names "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" used together?
- 📝 Why did the Nazis guillotine criminals but mostly hang political enemies, and why were the White Rose group an exception?
- 📝 Were East Germans more acquiescent to Soviet domination than the rest of Eastern Europe and if so, why?
- 📝 What trains were used on the Dakar-Niger Railway in the late 1950s and early 1960s?
- 📝 What were the limitations on possession of wealth in Soviet Russia and how were they enforced?
- 📝 How were maps drawn and printed in the late 19th-early 20th centuries?
- 📝 What alternate north-south supply routes did the Soviet Union have when the Volga and Stalingrad were under attack?
- 📝 Why did Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Breznev wear military uniforms when Lenin and the later Soviet leaders did not?
- 📝 Why did European writers and artists continue to depict the Moors as being black skinned, even though they were mostly Berbers and Arabs
- 📝 Were Serbs and Croats one people / tribe in the past? If not, why do they speak the same language?