The Forgotten Friendship: Israel and the Soviet Bloc, 1947-53

243 Pages·1970·6.943 MB·English

by  Arnold Krammer

T b e
Forgotten
F rien d sh ip
Israel and
t he Soviet Bloc
53
1947-
Arnold K r a mme r
$10.00
THE FORGOTTEN
FRIENDSHIP
Israel and the Soviet Bloc, 1947-53
Arnold Krammer
In May, 1947, after supporting the Arabs
for thirty years, the Soviet Union aston­
ished the diplomatic world by endorsing
the Zionist aspirations for the establish­
ment of a Jewish state in Palestine. This
opened a remarkable two-year period of
Soviet-Zionist cooperation, during which
Russia supplied Israel with considerable
military aid.
Krarnmer examines in depth the events
leading to Russia’s decision and the tre­
mendous impact of this two-year period.
He bases his account on information from
official and private archives and inter­
views with most of the surviving partici­
pants of the 1948 Israeli mission to
Prague, former diplomats, and military
leaders, as well as newspapers and
memoirs.
Thoroughly examining the Kremlin’s
complex motives, Krarnmer provides new
insight into the role of international
power politics in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
He furnishes the first detailed exami­
nation of the Haganah’s activities in
Czechoslovakia, especially the purchase of
weapons and their transport to Israel.
Russia not only supplied munitions and
fighter planes to repel the impending
Arab attack, but also secret training areas
for Israeli troops in Czechoslovakia and
even a brigade of Czech “volunteers.”
In tracing Stalin’s change of outlook in
the fall of 1948 and Russia’s gradual re­
turn to support of the Arabs (from 1949
to 1952), Krarnmer emphasizes Soviet
press reports and broadcasts as signs of
continued on back flap
The Forgotten Friendship
ARN O LD K RA M M ER
The Forgotten Friendship
ISRAEL AND THE SOVIET BLOC, 1947'53
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS Urbana Chicago London
(c) 1974 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Manufactured in the United States of America
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Krarnmer, Arnold, 1941-
The forgotten friendship: Israel and the Soviet
Bloc, 1947- 53.
Bibliography: p.
1. Russia—Foreign relations—Israel. 2. Israel-
Foreign relations—Russia. I. Title.
DK68.7.I8K72 327.47^05694 74-7121
ISBN 0-2 5 2-00396-9
To my parents, David and Eva—
and to Louis Nagy, my friend and teacher.
I owe them everything.
Contents
Preface ix
one: Prelude to 1947 1
two: Soviet Motives in Support of the Partition Decision 32
three: Czechoslovakia and the First Arms Agreement 54
four: Rechesh: The Haganah in Czechoslovakia 83
five: Czechoslovak Volunteers to Israel 107
six: Relations Begin to Deteriorate 123
seven: The Critical Question of Emigration 151
eight: The Final Stage 165
nine: Summary and Conclusion 197
Bibliography 205
Index 219
Illustrations
following page 150
Golda Meir in Moscow, 1948
Throngs surround Mrs. Meir at Moscow synagogue
Czechoslovakia's top military staff, 1948
Moshe Sharett and Pavel Yershov, 1948
The original Rechesh team
Messerschmitt plane sold to Israel
Ehud Avriel and George Taussig, 1948
James G. McDonald, Chaim Weizmann, and Pavel Yershov, 1950
Bombed Soviet Embassy in Tel Aviv, 1953
Shimon Ornstein, 1954
Mordechai Oren, 1956
Maps, page 101
Location of major training sites and weapons assembly areas
Routes of the Balak and Velveta flights
Preface
What men call friendship is only a reciprocal
conciliation of interests, an exchange of good
offices; it is simply a form of barter. . . .
La Rochefoucauld, Reflections, or
Sentences and Moral Maxims, 1678
THE SOVIET-ISRAELI friendship of 1947 and 1948
witnessed the astounding turnabout of Soviet policy from the Arab
world to Israel and back again. The disintegration of that alliance,
beginning in 1949 and continuing through the early 1950s, evolved
into a hostile relationship which enormously complicated the prepa­
ration of this study. Any recollection of that alliance of 1948 is today
a source of political embarrassment to both parties, a situation which
often severely hampered my research, especially in Eastern Europe.
Three research trips to the Middle East and the Soviet bloc in 1966,
1968, and 1969 provided the opportunity to examine official and pri­
vate archives, as well as to interview the majority of surviving partici­
pants of the 1948 Israeli mission to Prague, former diplomats, and
military leaders. I am sincerely grateful for their help.
The reader should be aware that due to the irregularity and clan­
destine nature of the Czech-Haganah agreements, the Czechoslovak
government’s desire to avoid international diplomatic censure, and
the later destruction of relevant records (and participants) during the
Slansky trial, very few of the original records of this episode remain
in Prague. The other member of the relationship, however, Israel, has
long followed a policy of collecting and storing all data relating to its
War of Independence, including the taped recollections of participants
in all areas, and has recently made this information available to schol­
ars. While the Czechs may perhaps be maintaining a vigil over a sheaf
IX
x The Forgotten Friendship
of classified memos or list of weapons sold to the Palestinians, the
Israelis are making available the very same information—as the buyers
rather than the sellers. It makes no difference, however, with regard
to the amount of material transacted.
Individuals who contributed to this study in Eastern Europe, espe­
cially in Prague during the temporary thaw of the so-called Dubcek
Spring, requested an anonymity which I must respect. In addition, I
am indebted to a number of other individuals both in the Middle
East and the United States, in particular: Moshe Dor of Ma’ariv;
Mordechai Oren and Shimon Ornstein, early Palestinian representa­
tives in Eastern Europe and survivors of the Slansky trial; Shmuel
Mikunis, member of the Knesset; Ehud Avriel, head of the 1948 Is­
raeli mission to Prague, and former Israeli ambassador to Italy and
Malta, Ghana, Liberia, and Congo; Munya Mardor, former Haganah
commander and director of the Israeli Weapons Research and De­
velopment Authority; Professor Josef Korbel of the University of
Denver; Professor Gene Fitzgerald of the University of Utah; Cap­
tain Steven Krarnmer, U.S.A.F.; Peter Rordam; Ted Cohan; Professor
Dennis Brennen; Fredrick Warman; Howard Golden; and Nathan
Nudelman.
Much of the credit for the preparation of this study must be divided
between two friends and advisors whose penetrating criticism and
indefatigable effort made possible the success of this book. Professor
Alfred E. Senn launched me on this voyage and Professor John A.
Armstrong, also at the University of Wisconsin, guided it throughout,
to completion. Support of a different nature, for which I am equally
grateful, was provided by the American Council of Learned Societies,
the American Philosophical Society, and the Jewish Community
Council of Rockford, Illinois, for research and archival work abroad.
The final acknowledgment, an understatement in its brevity, goes
to my wife, Rhoda, whose unstinting assistance and endless patience
made the preparation for this study possible.