Israeli Polity and the European Powers during the 1950s: Democracy as a Tool in Fostering Bilateral Ties?

• Authors: Jan Zouplna
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

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. When addressing the Europeans, the Israelis were equally ready to display the socialist ethos behind their nation-building. 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. This ranged from the centralization of power in the hands of a closed political elite to the alleged intolerance of the general public as a whole.

Keywords

EN

Middle East; Diplomatic History; Israel; Foreign Relations; United Kingdom; France

• Publisher: University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic
• Journal: West Bohemian Historical Review
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 167-189

Contributors

author

Jan Zouplna

• Middle East Department, Oriental Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Pod Vodárenskou věží 4, 182 08 Prague 8