Pub Date : 2023-05-01DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2023.2206211
R. Freedman
ABSTRACT Relations between Moscow and Jerusalem have seen numerous ups and downs since the birth of Israel in 1948. Two main issues have dominated the relationship. The first is security, with the Soviet Union, then the Russian Federation providing diplomatic support and military aid to Israel’s enemies, especially, in recent years, to Iran and Syria. The second issue is the freedom of Jewish emigration to Israel. Finally, since the advent of Vladimir Putin, Israel has been very much the junior partner in the relationship giving Russia much more than it has received in return.
{"title":"Moscow and Jerusalem: a troubled 75-year relationship","authors":"R. Freedman","doi":"10.1080/13537121.2023.2206211","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2206211","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Relations between Moscow and Jerusalem have seen numerous ups and downs since the birth of Israel in 1948. Two main issues have dominated the relationship. The first is security, with the Soviet Union, then the Russian Federation providing diplomatic support and military aid to Israel’s enemies, especially, in recent years, to Iran and Syria. The second issue is the freedom of Jewish emigration to Israel. Finally, since the advent of Vladimir Putin, Israel has been very much the junior partner in the relationship giving Russia much more than it has received in return.","PeriodicalId":45036,"journal":{"name":"Israel Affairs","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47266645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-01DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2023.2206228
Ofira Gruweis Kovalsky
ABSTRACT The tragic Altalena incident of June 1948, where prime minister and minister of defence David Ben-Gurion ordered the newly-formed Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to sink a ship laden with arms for one of Israel’s pre-state military underground groups, killing sixteen people and wounding many others, remains one of the most traumatic events in Israel’s history. This article re-examines the conduct of the key personalities involved in the incident and their attitude towards it in subsequent years.
{"title":"The ghost of the Altalena seventy-five years on","authors":"Ofira Gruweis Kovalsky","doi":"10.1080/13537121.2023.2206228","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2206228","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The tragic Altalena incident of June 1948, where prime minister and minister of defence David Ben-Gurion ordered the newly-formed Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to sink a ship laden with arms for one of Israel’s pre-state military underground groups, killing sixteen people and wounding many others, remains one of the most traumatic events in Israel’s history. This article re-examines the conduct of the key personalities involved in the incident and their attitude towards it in subsequent years.","PeriodicalId":45036,"journal":{"name":"Israel Affairs","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45218450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-01DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2023.2206233
Massimiliano Fiore
ABSTRACT This article tells the extraordinary story of Fiorenzo Capriotti, the man behind the sinking of the Egyptian flagship the Emir Farouk in October 1948 and the birth of the Israeli navy commando unit. Using the same unconventional technique that the Italian navy special assault unit Decima Flottiglia MAS had pioneered against the British in World War II, the embryonic Israeli navy was able to defeat Egypt’s superior numbers and weaponry. Not only did Capriotti play a key role in the founding of the Israeli navy commando unit, but he also made a significant contribution in shaping the doctrine that the Israeli navy should overcome the unfavourable balance of power through the superiority of its naval commando units. The sinking of Emir Farouk in fact consolidated the notion that the Israeli navy should compensate for its small size relative to most of its enemies through greater agility and firepower.
{"title":"The Wingate of the Israeli navy: the extraordinary story of Fiorenzo Capriotti","authors":"Massimiliano Fiore","doi":"10.1080/13537121.2023.2206233","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2206233","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article tells the extraordinary story of Fiorenzo Capriotti, the man behind the sinking of the Egyptian flagship the Emir Farouk in October 1948 and the birth of the Israeli navy commando unit. Using the same unconventional technique that the Italian navy special assault unit Decima Flottiglia MAS had pioneered against the British in World War II, the embryonic Israeli navy was able to defeat Egypt’s superior numbers and weaponry. Not only did Capriotti play a key role in the founding of the Israeli navy commando unit, but he also made a significant contribution in shaping the doctrine that the Israeli navy should overcome the unfavourable balance of power through the superiority of its naval commando units. The sinking of Emir Farouk in fact consolidated the notion that the Israeli navy should compensate for its small size relative to most of its enemies through greater agility and firepower.","PeriodicalId":45036,"journal":{"name":"Israel Affairs","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46875638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-28DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2023.2206224
Nir Levitan
ABSTRACT The nature of the relationship between statecraft and third-party interventions is complex and remains an issue that has not been fully explored in the academic literature. Experience shows that the two often interact, at times creating harmonious coordination, at times exacerbating tensions. These actions and reactions were present for Israel after the War of Independence as it worked to form an effective approach to the UN and its peacekeeping forces that were created to supervise implementation of the 1949 Arab-Israeli armistice agreements. This article examines how Israel strove to develop its own foreign policy statecraft strategies and to protect its national and strategic interests in the early 1960s, while contending with the involvement of UNTSO under the activist leadership of Swedish Maj. Gen. Carl Von Horn.
{"title":"Statecraft and international intervention: Israeli diplomacy and UN peacekeeping forces in the 1960s*","authors":"Nir Levitan","doi":"10.1080/13537121.2023.2206224","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2206224","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The nature of the relationship between statecraft and third-party interventions is complex and remains an issue that has not been fully explored in the academic literature. Experience shows that the two often interact, at times creating harmonious coordination, at times exacerbating tensions. These actions and reactions were present for Israel after the War of Independence as it worked to form an effective approach to the UN and its peacekeeping forces that were created to supervise implementation of the 1949 Arab-Israeli armistice agreements. This article examines how Israel strove to develop its own foreign policy statecraft strategies and to protect its national and strategic interests in the early 1960s, while contending with the involvement of UNTSO under the activist leadership of Swedish Maj. Gen. Carl Von Horn.","PeriodicalId":45036,"journal":{"name":"Israel Affairs","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47794923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-27DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2023.2206209
Eyal Zisser
ABSTRACT Israel’s relations with the Arab world underwent dramatic changes during its seventy-five years of existence – from hostility and enmity to peacemaking and reconciliation. This development is the result of the strengthening of Israel’s regional and international position on the one hand, and the weakening of the Arab world and the Arab states’ withdrawal into themselves in the face of the socioeconomic problems confronting them, on the other. And while the regional fear of Iran’s hegemonic drive has played an important role in the evolution of Israeli-Arab cooperation, the potential for consolidation of the nascent relationship goes well beyond the Iranian threat as both sides share weighty political, security and economic interests such as fighting radical Islam, promoting regional stability and security, and ensuring economic prosperity. Yet while the Palestinian issue didn’t prevent the consolidation of Arab-Israeli relations, it remains the lowest common denominator for Arab public opinion in its search for identity and meaning. As such, it will continue to threaten regional stability and the building of Israel’s relations with its Arab partners.
{"title":"Israel in the Middle East 75 years on","authors":"Eyal Zisser","doi":"10.1080/13537121.2023.2206209","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2206209","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Israel’s relations with the Arab world underwent dramatic changes during its seventy-five years of existence – from hostility and enmity to peacemaking and reconciliation. This development is the result of the strengthening of Israel’s regional and international position on the one hand, and the weakening of the Arab world and the Arab states’ withdrawal into themselves in the face of the socioeconomic problems confronting them, on the other. And while the regional fear of Iran’s hegemonic drive has played an important role in the evolution of Israeli-Arab cooperation, the potential for consolidation of the nascent relationship goes well beyond the Iranian threat as both sides share weighty political, security and economic interests such as fighting radical Islam, promoting regional stability and security, and ensuring economic prosperity. Yet while the Palestinian issue didn’t prevent the consolidation of Arab-Israeli relations, it remains the lowest common denominator for Arab public opinion in its search for identity and meaning. As such, it will continue to threaten regional stability and the building of Israel’s relations with its Arab partners.","PeriodicalId":45036,"journal":{"name":"Israel Affairs","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42889303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-27DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2023.2206210
Eytan Gilboa
ABSTRACT This article examines American Israeli relations since the establishment of the state in 1948 to the present. It presents a combination of historical and theoretical analysis. It uses the concept of ‘special relationship’ to analyse major issues in the evolution of bilateral relations including US support for Israel’s independence, Arab-Israeli wars, Palestinian terrorism, mediation, peace agreements, foreign aid, public opinion, attitudes of American Jews and a look at the future. The article reveals strong strategic ties between the two allies but also cracks that threaten to damage the special relationship, including the loss of bipartisanship support, new strategic priorities in US foreign policy, political polarisation, distancing among American Jews, demographic changes, and effects of the 2023 judicial reform in Israel.
{"title":"US-Israel relations at 75","authors":"Eytan Gilboa","doi":"10.1080/13537121.2023.2206210","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2206210","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article examines American Israeli relations since the establishment of the state in 1948 to the present. It presents a combination of historical and theoretical analysis. It uses the concept of ‘special relationship’ to analyse major issues in the evolution of bilateral relations including US support for Israel’s independence, Arab-Israeli wars, Palestinian terrorism, mediation, peace agreements, foreign aid, public opinion, attitudes of American Jews and a look at the future. The article reveals strong strategic ties between the two allies but also cracks that threaten to damage the special relationship, including the loss of bipartisanship support, new strategic priorities in US foreign policy, political polarisation, distancing among American Jews, demographic changes, and effects of the 2023 judicial reform in Israel.","PeriodicalId":45036,"journal":{"name":"Israel Affairs","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43660412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-27DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2023.2206213
Yuval Benziman
ABSTRACT During its 75 years of existence, Israel’s strategies vis-à-vis its neighbours have alternated drastically in accordance with the vicissitudes in regional and global affairs: from reliance on force, to a status quo approach, to combining ‘land-for-peace’ approach while participating in ‘new wars’, to peace initiation, to unilateral action, to improved relations with the Arab world while trying to avoid the Palestinian issue. This article describes the evolution of these strategies, discusses their origin and underlying assumptions, and assesses their future implications.
{"title":"Israel in the Middle East: six strategies over the course of 75 years","authors":"Yuval Benziman","doi":"10.1080/13537121.2023.2206213","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2206213","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT During its 75 years of existence, Israel’s strategies vis-à-vis its neighbours have alternated drastically in accordance with the vicissitudes in regional and global affairs: from reliance on force, to a status quo approach, to combining ‘land-for-peace’ approach while participating in ‘new wars’, to peace initiation, to unilateral action, to improved relations with the Arab world while trying to avoid the Palestinian issue. This article describes the evolution of these strategies, discusses their origin and underlying assumptions, and assesses their future implications.","PeriodicalId":45036,"journal":{"name":"Israel Affairs","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41929373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-04DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2023.2182467
R. Cohen-Almagor
{"title":"The pursuit of peace with the Palestinians: interviews with Ehud Barak","authors":"R. Cohen-Almagor","doi":"10.1080/13537121.2023.2182467","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2182467","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45036,"journal":{"name":"Israel Affairs","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46169702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-04DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2023.2182459
N. Davidovitch, Ora Elkan, T. Kushnir
ABSTRACT This article discusses the contribution of Torah study as leisure activity to social support, hope and quality of life among Israeli adults. It shows that such study is associated positively with learners’ quality of life due to the acquisition of psychological resources that include social support by peers and hope. Shedding light on the world of people who study Torah as a leisure activity, the article also reveals that cultural sources that are part of an ancient tradition seem to contribute to one’s quality of life in the modern world as well.
{"title":"Torah study as leisure activity","authors":"N. Davidovitch, Ora Elkan, T. Kushnir","doi":"10.1080/13537121.2023.2182459","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2182459","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article discusses the contribution of Torah study as leisure activity to social support, hope and quality of life among Israeli adults. It shows that such study is associated positively with learners’ quality of life due to the acquisition of psychological resources that include social support by peers and hope. Shedding light on the world of people who study Torah as a leisure activity, the article also reveals that cultural sources that are part of an ancient tradition seem to contribute to one’s quality of life in the modern world as well.","PeriodicalId":45036,"journal":{"name":"Israel Affairs","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44235818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-04DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2023.2182460
M. Suwaed
ABSTRACT The complex relationship between Bedouins and Zionist pioneers in the Land of Israel during the late 19th and early 20th centuries evolved along two parallel tracks: conflict and cooperation. The former was a corollary of the sociocultural gap between the pioneers and the Bedouins and revolved by and large around the diametrically opposed views regarding land ownership rights and their implications (e.g. access to water, grazing). The latter was a result of the growing Bedouin realisation that the Zionist project was there to stay: the more the Jewish pioneers proved their determination to cultivate their lands and defend themselves the more they won Bedouin respect, or at least grudging acquiescence, which in turn evolved to wider recognition of the vast socioeconomic benefits of peaceful coexistence.
{"title":"Jewish-Bedouin relations in the late Ottoman Era, 1858–1914","authors":"M. Suwaed","doi":"10.1080/13537121.2023.2182460","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2182460","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The complex relationship between Bedouins and Zionist pioneers in the Land of Israel during the late 19th and early 20th centuries evolved along two parallel tracks: conflict and cooperation. The former was a corollary of the sociocultural gap between the pioneers and the Bedouins and revolved by and large around the diametrically opposed views regarding land ownership rights and their implications (e.g. access to water, grazing). The latter was a result of the growing Bedouin realisation that the Zionist project was there to stay: the more the Jewish pioneers proved their determination to cultivate their lands and defend themselves the more they won Bedouin respect, or at least grudging acquiescence, which in turn evolved to wider recognition of the vast socioeconomic benefits of peaceful coexistence.","PeriodicalId":45036,"journal":{"name":"Israel Affairs","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48593058","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}