The United States, the Soviet Union and the Arab-Israeli conflict, 1948-67: Superpower rivalry

by Joseph Heller

Overview

Israel's relations with each of the superpowers was determined by global factors. The dilemma facing Israel was how to reconcile its interests with those of the United States, having failed to do so with the Soviet Union. Moreover, throughout the cold war the United States considered Israel a burden rather than an asset and had to accommodate support for Israel with keeping the Arab states within the western orbit. Partisan policy could have dealt a mortal blow to the fundamental assumption of American global strategy. Namely that the Middle East should not be allowed to become a cold war arena. The book shows how the fledgling state of Israel had to manoeuvre between the superpowers to survive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526103840
Publisher:	Manchester University Press
Publication date:	11/14/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Joseph Heller is Professor Emeritus in International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Date of Birth:

May 1, 1923

Date of Death:

December 12, 1999

Place of Birth:

Brooklyn, New York

Place of Death:

East Hampton, New York

Education:

New York University, B.A. in English, Phi Beta Kappa, 1948<br> Columbia University, M.A., 1949

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. The Soviet Union and Israel: from the Gromyko declaration to the death of Stalin
2. The United States and the Cold War: from Truman to Eisenhower
3. Israel and the Soviet Union prior to the Suez Crisis
4. Sharett vs. Eisenhower and Dulles
5. Israel and the United States on the road to war
6. The Eisenhower doctrine and Israel
7. Soviet-Israeli relations after the Suez war
8. How the Middle Eastern crises affected American policy toward Israel
9. Kennedy, Israel and the Cold War before the Cuban Missile Crisis
10. Was Kennedy the 'father' of the US-Israeli alliance?
11. Khrushchev, Israel and Soviet Jewry
12. Was Johnson the 'father' of the US-Israeli alliance?: the Memorandum of Understanding
13. Johnson, Israel and the Cold War: testing the Memorandum of Understanding
14. The Soviet Union, Israel and Soviet Jewry
15. The United States and the crisis of the Six Day War
16. The Soviet Union and the Six Day War (May 14-June 5, 1967)
Conclusions
Index

Editorial Reviews

‘Joseph Heller is the doyen of historians of Zionist diplomacy. This book represents the crowning achievement of a lifetime devoted to study of the subject. It is the best-informed, most up-to-date, most thoroughly researched and most cogently argued analysis of Israel's relations with the superpowers between 1948 and 1967. Drawing on newly available Soviet, American, and Israeli archival sources, it sheds light on the Cold War framework within which Israeli foreign policy was perforce conducted. It will be essential reading for all those who seek to understand the basic underpinnings of the Arab-Israeli conflict in its formative phase.’
Bernard Wasserstein, University of Chicago

‘Joseph Heller’s latest work has delved deeply into Israeli archives to uncover hitherto unpublished diplomatic correspondence which illuminates the evolution of Israeli policy during the maelstrom of superpower rivalry in the Middle East. The complexity of Israel’s position was accentuated by its desire to secure the emigration of Soviet Jews – and Professor Heller describes the tortuous balancing acts that were performed between national interests and ideological necessity. This is an interesting work of detailed research and casts new light and different interpretations on the triangular relationship of Israel, the US and the USSR.’
Colin Shindler, SOAS, University of London

'Using Russian and Hebrew as well as European sources, Joseph Heller argues persuasively that Israeli leaders saw themselves "trapped" between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviets were a ferocious enemy, believing Israel to be an American puppet while apprehensive that Zionism might create a Jewish nationalist awakening in the Soviet Union itself. The Americans provided indispensable economic support yet kept an insufferable hand on the Israeli collar, fearing that Israel could further alienate the Arab states from the West. Building to the climax of the 1967 war, this is an indispensable book.'
Wm. Roger Louis, University of Texas

From the Publisher