Gorbachev and the transformation in the policy of the Middle East of the Soviet Union

Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Cherninkov's disease did not cause a serious change in the foreign policy of the Middle East of the Soviet Union after the Brezhnev's death in 1983. Both leaders sought to strengthen Syria. In the Andropov era, the United States had stabilized its superior role by creating rapid reaction forces in the region. Andropov sent Sam 5 missiles and Soviet troops to Syria for execution and protection. By doing so, he revealed his will in support of the Soviet Union's affiliates, although this action has never been formally announced that Russian troops are also involved in this cooperation. This would have left the two superpowers in direct contact. Consequently, if Israelis attacked on the missile base, its consequence would have been controlled. However, the Soviet Union still emphasized the political solution. The Soviet Union emphasized the withdrawal of all foreign forces from southern Lebanon, including Syrian forces which showed the Soviet commitment to preserve Israel's existence. But Israel said it would not leave South Lebanon until the exit of the Syrian forces. Alexander Soldatov, the Soviet ambassador in Lebanon, urged the withdrawal of all foreign troops from southern Lebanon in response to the possibility of supporting Syria in the event of an Israeli attack. Meanwhile, American Secretary of Defense, Gasperu and In Barger warned the Soviet Union and Syria that their aggressions would not be unpunished. The United States continued its decisive support for Israel. With the signing of the US mediation agreement in Lebanon, relations between the United States and Israel were promoted and more military equipment was provided to this country. With empowering of Gorbachev serious developments were revealed in the foreign policy of the Soviet Union.
In the framework of "new thinking" of Grobachov in foreign policy, the necessity of abandoning the ideology from foreign policy of countries and international relations were emphasized. He spoke of mutual interests and mutual security. Gorbachev offered political solutions to resolve regional disputes and exposed the direct connection of regional conflicts with the encounter of superpowers. He emphasized the need for a joint US-Soviet effort to resolve regional issues, including in the Middle East. US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Murphy rejected the mediating role of the Soviet Union in the Middle East. He called deny of accepting political relations with Israel by Soviet besides the country's behavior with the Jews as a major obstacle to this path. The head of the Institute for Oriental Studies of the Soviet Union, Yugeny Prymakov, related the adoption of political relations with the country in the framework of the holding of the International Conference on the Middle East in relation to the improvement of the Soviet state in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Gradually signs of improvement in relations between the Soviet Union and Israel became evident. The Israeli desire to improve relations was met with negative reactions from Arab countries. In the spring of 1986, the Soviet Union liberated Anatoly Sharansky, Jewish dissatisfaction, in a symbolic act and allowed him to immigrate to Israel.
He was imprisoned for activities aimed at strengthening human rights. By the end of 1987, more than 8,000 Jews had been allowed to emigrate from Israel, which was a significant figure than 914 people in 1986. This trend continued in the following years, and in 1989 it reached an unprecedented figure of 71196. Gorbachev wanted to create more favorable conditions for resolving his problems with the United States through the creation of a facility for Jewish immigration to Israel and to benefit from the influence of American Jews in this regard. The technical and technological problems of the Soviet Union and the anticipation of its removal through integration in global markets and growing cooperation with capitalist countries were on the agenda of Gorbachev. Many of the Jews allowed to travel to Israel changed their destination and went to America as refugees. The United States also agreed to their asylum request. In 1990, it was estimated that 750,000 of the population of 1.8 million Soviet Jews were willing to immigrate to the United States. The acceptance of these people in the United States had the danger of its reduction. On the other hand, Gorbachev's political credit was also questioned. At the end of 1988, Reagan's government changed its policy of accepting Soviet Jews as refugees. He stopped open policies and redefined the concept of the refugee: one who must be subjected to serious harassment. As a result, request of asylum of large numbers of Soviet refugees were refused. The various internal and external problems that Gorbachev faced them led to a major change in the policy of the Middle East of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev faced serious problems with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in late April 1986 and the sharp fall in oil prices in the same half of the year, given that 60% of the Soviet Union's foreign exchange earnings came from its sale faced serious problems for remaking economy of Soviets. He was looking for resolving his problems with the United States and ending regional disputes to change the hostile conditions of the Middle East. At the Rickyevic meeting (Iceland) in a meeting with Gorbachev and Reagan, he emphasized the issue of immigration of the Jews. In his remarks, Reagan explicitly reminded Gorbachev that Moscow should increase the number of Soviet-Jewish immigrants to improve relations with the United States. Gorbachev mutually wanted to improve in relation with arms control agreements by improving the relations between the two superpowers. This was vital to reduce the burden of defense and military spending on the economy of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev hoped that the move would have positive consequences in Israel. Shimon Peres of the Labor Party raised the issue of Jewish emigration against the presence of Soviet Union at the Middle East Peace Conference. However, the increase in the immigration of the Jews from the Soviet Union was significant from 1976.
In late March 1987, during the visit of the Presidents of the National Jewish Conference and the Conference of the Heads of Major Jewish Organizations and Edgar Bronfman, the President of the Jewish Congress of the World, traveled to Moscow and met the leaders of the Soviet Union. These meetings resulted in an agreement that would provide facilities for Jewish immigration. With the rise of the Jewish immigration to the United States, the Bush administration created serious restrictions on the arrival of Jewish immigrants in September 1989. Gorbachev did not want to reduce relations with the PLO while trying to improve relations with the United States and Israel. The beginning of the Intifada in December 1987 led to Moscow's surprise. It took about 6 weeks for Moscow to officially show response. In terms of propaganda, Gorbachev wanted to use the Intifada to strengthen his position in the Middle East. In a message to Arafat, Gorbachev condemned the violent actions of Israel, while emphasizing the need to protect the human rights of all citizens. This was clearly a reminder of Russia's attention to Israel's security needs. Gorbachev, with an emphasis on the balance of interests at the level of the international system, seriously pursued the provision of all the rights of the Middle East, including Arabs and Jews. He posited mutual security as one of the important components of new thinking in the foreign policy of the Soviet Union since the beginning of his rule. At the end of the 1980s, the Soviet Union continued to insist on its solutions to end the Arab-Israeli conflicts. In addition to his predecessor policies, Gorbachev continued to emphasize three fundamental principles:
1. Full withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied lands in the 1967 War:
Establishing an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank; the right to a secure existence for all countries, including Israel in the Middle East; Gorbachev called for the end of the war in the Middle East within the framework of his "new thinking" policy in the foreign policy of the Soviet Union. He has paid attention to organizing a peace conference and using peaceful means to achieve this goal. Gorbachev, according to technical and economic needs of the Soviet Union, raised the improvement of relations with the United States and Western countries as a top priority. In this content, the improvement of relations with Israel, and the use of its reciprocal influence with the United States for Gorbachev and his reform program, had a great importance. Of course, during his time, there were some ups and downs in relations with Israel. But the leadership of the Soviet Union continued its steadiness to improve relations with the West, especially the United States.