MOSCOW AND JERUSALEM

by Avigdor Dagan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1970

A straightforward summary of official Soviet-Israeli diplomatic relations, by a diplomat, currently Israeli ambassador to Norway. Dagan's tone is refreshingly understated and the documentary excerpts are anything but dull. The unobtrusive interpretive framework: Moscow at first supported the Jewish state as an anti-British lever, then decided that the Arabs had more anti-Western potential. Dagan shows how the Soviets switched from ""passive neutrality"" toward Israel at the outset of the Korean War to active hostility in early 1954. He records little during Suez, the nadir of relations until 1968, and traces vicissitudes of lone and temperature until the 1967 Soviet accusations of Israeli border troop buildup began. Dagan draws on the writings of Soviet Middle East experts as well as speeches and communiques. He points to Soviet anti-Semitism in the early '50's and the persistent question of Soviet Jewish emigration without giving them decisive weight. The book ends with Federenko's post-June War tirades in the U.N. and concludes that the Soviets' interest in Mideastern stability are increasing. The book will serve specialists as a critical supplement to, e.g., Laqueur's broader studies; and though il lacks the popular appeal of Bar-Zohar's reconstruction of 1968 backstage diplomacy it should find some general readership among background-hunters as well.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Abelard-Schuman

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION