Establishing Israel

With the end of the war, the news of the formation of a Jewish state in Palestine was followed by the Russian Jews with serious consideration. The support of the Soviet Union in the context of the country's consideration for European allies, especially Britain and the United States, was remarkable at the end of the war. In February 1945, the European section of the Foreign Ministry of the Soviet Union reported in a note to its deputy foreign minister that the Soviet embassy in Italy had sent two letters to Stalin and Molotov. These letters were issued by the International Committee of the Immigrants and Refugees in Rome, which had a plan to establish a Jewish state in Germany. The committee expressed hope for Stalin that by defeat of Germany an independent Jewish state will be built on its soil. It was also mentioned in the letter that the European countries of the United States and the Soviet Union are also aware of this decision.
The formation of the Jewish state was entrusted to Albert Einstein. At the end of World War II, the issue of Palestine was at the forefront of the attention of world powers. The United States and the United Kingdom were in deep competition in terms of directing and controlling it. The conditions of this region seemed very difficult and harsh. On July 27, 1945, the head of the preparation of peace treaties and the post-war order structure, Litonov, stated in a memorandum entitled "The Palestinian issue to Stalin, Molotov and the deputies of the Russian Foreign Ministry," that British would not be able to rule Palestine in accordance with the Belfour agreement. Expressing inability by authorities of this country was a ground for disengagement from this land. He wrote that due to the rights of the Arabs and Jews, a perfect solution had to be found, and despite the influence of English in the Arabs and Jews, the issue remained unresolved. In this note, American support for the Jews and their interests was mentioned, but the Soviet Union was well positioned to influence the region's transformations.
Litonov raised joined government of United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom; Soviet Union's authorities in the course of the efforts of the United States and Britain said not to refer it to the United Nations and resolving the issue by the Arab League members to end the Palestinian question. The efforts of the United States and Britain to find an acceptable outcome were ineffective and the solution was referred to UN. In the years 1947- 48, the Palestinian debate became one of the most serious discussions of the United Nations. The Soviet Union, which wanted to fight the British mandate, supported the idea of forming a Jewish state. André Gromyko, the head of the Soviet delegation, announced at the 1947 in UN General Assembly, that mandate system, which was established in 1922, failed to fulfill its duties. He pointed to the critical situation of Palestine and referred to the suffering of the Jews under the Nazi rule.
The presence of hundreds of thousands of homeless and displaced Jews throughout Europe and their attempts to find a land for themselves was concerned. Gromyko proposed the creation of a unified Jewish-Arab state in Palestine, which could not be created due to the dark Arab-Jewish relations. He had accepted the idea of dividing Palestine into two independent Arab and Jewish states. Years later, an Israeli diplomat called this view of Gromyko completely in conflict with anti-Semitic points of view of the country. However, these discussions continued at the UN. In October 1947, the representative of the Soviet Union considered the Jewish tendency to form an independent state irrefutable. On November 25, 1947, the proposal for dividing Palestine was accepted by the relevant committee, and Gromyko also approved the policy.
On November 27, the General Assembly endorsed his proposal: Under Resolution 181, a committee was set up in 1948 to enforce this resolution, which was faced with British plots and objections. The United States was also seeking for creating a new mandate system in Palestine. But the Soviet Union endorsed the idea of the formation of two states. On May 4, 1948, Gromyko called for Palestinian split on the first meeting of the General Assembly committee. The special meeting of the General Assembly ended on May 14th. The same night, the creation of the Israeli government in Tel Aviv was announced. Moshe Sheetrock, who was later called Charlet, thanked support of the Soviet Union for the formation of the Israeli government as the Foreign Minister of the interim Israel government during a telegram to Molotov. He expressed deep appreciation of the Palestinian and world Jews for the sake of the Soviet Union's determined tendency in establishing an independent Jewish state. In response, Molotov reported the establishment of an independent Jewish state as a step towards the peace and security of Palestine and the Middle East, and announced developing relations of the country.
Molotov expressed hope that recognition of Israel state by the Soviet Union would be done soon and the two countries quickly opened their consulates, and Golda Meir as the first special and all-solidarity representative of Israel arrived in Moscow. The government of the Soviet Union evaluated the support of the formation of a Jewish state within the framework of the right to determine the fate of the people of the world. But the rights of the people of Palestine in this process were increasingly violated. With the establishment of the Zionist government, thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes. The cold response of the Soviet Union in Golda Meir meetings with the Russian authorities, noting Israel's interest in strengthening the immigration of Jews from different parts of the world, made it clear that Israel should not attempt for emigration of the Jews from the Soviet Union. Officials of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told him that immigration to Israel should be made exclusively from capitalist countries, and Israel cannot expect the Jewish immigration from the Soviet Union to accept the repressed and tortured Jews of the world.
Stalin needed military and economic assistance from Western countries during the alliance with the Western forces to confront Hitler's aggression to the Soviet Union. The formation of the anti-fascist Jewish Committee took place on April 1942. The dissolution of the International Communist Organization in 1943 was done to express the Soviet Union's goodwill for capitalist countries and its allies in the war against Nazi Germany. At the end of the war, in 1947, the Soviet Union continued its support for the establishment of the state of Israel. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of the division of Palestine, and at midnight on May 15, 1948, Israel was founded. Thus, the Palestinians paid cost of the massacres of Jews by the Germans. The Soviet Union was the first country to recognize Israel in May 18, 1948. The orientation of the Soviet Union against the establishment of Israel within the framework of the relations of major powers after the end of World War II, especially the Soviet Union and Britain, can be analyzed. The Soviet Union appeared as one of the two powerful nations of the world at the end of the war alongside the United States and became a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
The leadership of the Soviet Union sought to gain a better position in the world and international relations. In the Mediterranean and the Middle East, the Soviet Union considered the strategic withdrawal from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. The Soviet Union has tried to show a supportive face for the establishment of Israel and use the issue for its policy. In spite of the growing disagreements between the Soviet Union and the United States, the two superpowers reached an agreement in the psychological environment created by the Zionist organizations at the end of war and the effects of the massacre of the Jews by the Nazi forces on the establishment of Israel. But it soon became clear that the formation of a Jewish state would place the Soviet Union against the Jews of the country. Stalin was not ready to match the world Jews' issues with the Jews of the Soviet Union and could not allow the Jews of the country to immigrate to Israel. Although the leadership of the Soviet Union was aware of the future orientations of the new Jewish state, for expressing his goodwill to the Americans, he was ready to vote positively on the establishment of the state of Israel. Stalin sought to strengthen the integration of the Jews in the Soviet Union with other peoples of the country by various races and nationalities.
After the war, the policy of restricting the activities of followers of various religions, including the Jews, continued. The formation of the Jewish state in Palestine and the occupation of Arabs also affected the Russian Jews and strengthened their national awareness. This issue was not pleasant to leadership of the Soviet Union, and affected the relations between the two countries. On June 27, 1948, the Soviet Union and Israel agreed to exchange their official representatives. Post communications were also held between the two countries, and Soviet Jews were able to receive a Russian-language magazine from Israel. Israel set a certain limitation for the Orthodox Church on its territory. The Communist Party was declared legal and won about 3.5 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections on January 1949.
The development of relations between the Soviet Union and Israel led to raise a tendency to emigrate from the Russian Jews, which was unacceptable for the Soviet authorities. While the Israeli authorities sought to strengthen this trend and positive respond from the Soviet Union. On September 21, 1948, a book was written by a Russian Jewish scholar, in which the differences between the Jews and the Zionists were raised and warned the Jews of the Soviet Union about coming closer to the Zionists. Following this, many Jewish cultural institutions were closed down in Russia, and the anti-fascist Jewish committee was dissolved as well. On February 7, 1949, the Israeli ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to warn him of his relationship with the Russian Jews. He was accused of supporting the migration of Soviet Jews to Israel. He soon left the Soviet Union to join the cabinet of Israel, and the two countries' relations were on the way to become dark.
However, on May 11, 1949, with the positive vote of the Soviet Union, Israel became a member of the United Nations. Egypt and Syria, which were members of the United Nations and the Security Council, voted against this membership. The Soviet Union's relations with Israel continued until Israel was fully stationed in the Western camp. The Prime Minister, Ben Gurion, tried to keep relations with the Soviet Union at the appropriate level, and knew it as interest of the Jews. The leaders of the Soviet Union sought to far Britain from Palestine. They sought to undermine the influence of the West, especially Britain in Arab countries. This was directly related to the quality of the relations between Israel and the Soviet Union.