0522051 - OÚ 2020 RIV CZ eng J - Journal Article
Zouplna, Jan
Israeli Polity and the European Powers during the 1950s: Democracy as a Tool in Fostering Bilateral Ties?
West Bohemian Historical Review. Roč. 9, č. 2 (2019), s. 167-189. ISSN 1804-5480
Institutional support: RVO:68378009
Keywords : Middle East * Diplomatic history * Foreign relations
OECD category: History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of specific sciences to be under the respective headings)
Method of publishing: Open access
Result website:
https://otik.uk.zcu.cz/bitstream/11025/36537/1/Zouplna.pdf

Isolated in its immediate geopolitical environment, Israel started to approach the Western powers soon after its creation to request assistance of all kinds. One of the few arguments available to the Jewish state to persuade the West of its soundness as a partner was that of its adherence to parliamentary democracy. For much of the 1950s, Israeli leaders and diplomats did their best to present Israel abroad as a “real democracy” and an outpost of the free world in the Middle East. Strategic reservations regarding any closer ties with the Jewish state were shared by all of the three Western diplomacies at the time. However, the British and the French were far more inclined to criticism concerning the nature of early Israeli polity. While Israel’s ideological resilience towards Soviet penetration was appreciated, numerous aspects of the young state were seen as problematic. Both considered that Mapai and the Histadrut were running a parallel state of their own. The relationships inside the microcosm of Jewish identities were interpreted as anything but idyllic. The evidence gathered by diplomats working on the spot raised concerns not only about the comportment of the top echelons of the state, but also about the “real” (or inclusive) character of Israeli democracy as a whole.

Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0306659