Title:	Israeli Polity and the European Powers during the 1950s: Democracy as a Tool in Fostering Bilateral Ties?
Authors:	Zouplna, Jan
Citation:	West Bohemian Historical Review. 2019, no. 2, p. 167-190.
Issue Date:	2019
Publisher:	Západočeská univerzita v Plzni
Document type:	článek article
URI:	http://wbhr.cz/images/issues/WBHR_2019_2.pdf http://hdl.handle.net/11025/36537
ISSN:	1804-5480
Keywords:	střední východ;diplomatická historie;Izrael;zahraniční vztahy;Spojené království;Francie
Keywords in different language:	Middle East;diplomatic history;Israel;foreign relations;United Kingdom;France
Abstract in different language:	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.
Rights:	© Západočeská univerzita v Plzni
Appears in Collections:	Číslo 2 (2019) Číslo 2 (2019)

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