- cross-posted to:
- chapotraphouse@hexbear.net
- cross-posted to:
- chapotraphouse@hexbear.net
There are a lot of Trotskyites in my synagogue with the explanation ‘Stalin was a special evil guy’ which does not feel adequate. Nor does it explain later Soviet opposition to Zionism/Israel. See for instance the linked article. The extent of the explanation relies on the syllogism ‘the USSR did a bad thing because it was failed socialism headed by the vile man Stalin’; no explanation is attempted:
A few days later, on May 17, the bureaucratized Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin also recognized the Zionist State after initially expressing support for the creation of a Jewish state. The following day, May 18, Czechoslovakia, which was already part of the Soviet Bloc, added its recognition and later sent weapons to the Zionists.
I remember This article from Mosaic did a pretty deep dive. There were several reasons:
-Israel wasn’t in lock-step with American imperial aims like it is now. Before ‘67 some would argue they were closer aligned to France.
-Quick way to get the British out of the Middle East
-Communist Party in Palestine was fairly strong and might have been able to make Israel closer to non-aligned
-Eastern Bloc had a surplus of weapons, but few currency reserves. Israel had currency reserves and desperately needed weapons
Desperately needed weapons… ugh. I’m handing the union an L for this one
it was sort of an embryonic “operation cyclone” sure…weapons…they’re fighting the british, kind of. What’s the worst that could happen?