Some Aspect of the Soviet Union's Relations with Israel

The Soviet Union knew Israel as the Horseshoe of the West. From June 1967 to December 1979, a decadent and steady course of relations dominated between the Soviet Union and Israel. The Arab states were not able to organize a new confrontation in the wake of Israel's defeat. The United States and the Soviet Union pursued their political activities in the region. But Americans, whose support and weaponry played a major role in Israel's victory, were in a superior position. Israel, with its self-restraint, was opposed to the breakdown of the political relationship of the Soviet Union and it was considered as a fundamental importance for the leaders of the Zionist government. However, the Soviet Union intensified its propaganda and actions against Israel and Zionism. The victory of Israel led to an increase of power in American and it was bad for the Soviet Union in the Middle East. On the other hand, it increased the strategic importance of Israel for the United States. Occupation of the eastern coast of the Suez Canal could have affected the mainstream of Soviet trade from the Black Sea ports to the African and Asian countries. The Soviet Union clearly called for the opening and providing security of this path. But the interests of the United States and the Israel were in its closure and not being manageable.
The issue of the Suez Canal turned into leverage for Israel in its bargaining with the Soviet Union. The leadership of the Soviet Union also mutually reinforced Egypt. Egypt and Syria could be the appropriate bases for meeting the goals of the Soviet Union to confront Israel with Israel and US policies in the region. The Soviet Union, while emphasizing the existence of Israel, did not stop propaganda against Zionism. The diplomacy of the Soviet Union based on political movements in the region was supported by the governments of Egypt and Syria. Although the Arab states were not willing to recognize the existence of Israel and called for its withdrawal from occupied lands, Kasigin and Johnson on the late June 1967 at the Glasbruro conference jointly confirmed the necessity of Israel's total withdrawal from the occupied territories and its existence. UN Security Council Resolution 242 called for the necessity of Israel's full withdrawal from the occupied territories. In January 1968, "the Soviet Peace Initiative" was presented in relation to freedom in shipping, the confiscation of civilians, solution to the refugees' problem, the identification of borders and the end of the war. The United States has increased the delivery of weapons to Israel since January 1968. The Soviets also presented another peace plan in the same year that Israel did not accept. In response to the presence of the Sixth United States navy in eastern Mediterranean, the Soviet Union had also considered strengthening their navy. According to Israel, the Soviet Union did not intend to invade or support an invading Arab state to Israel, but developing military situation in The Soviets could reduce Israel's strategic superiority to the Arabs.
Israel strengthened its ties with the United States against the Soviet support of the Arabs. Another peace proposal was presented by the Soviet Union at the end of 1968, which was still rejected by the Israelis. Within the framework of the US-Soviet Union rivalry, Israel was trying to manage its opposition to the Arabs. Despite the meeting of the foreign minister of Soviets with the Israeli representative at the United Nations in December 1968, relations between the two countries remained cold during the late 1960s. In November 1969, about 18 Georgian Jewish families in a letter to Gladmayer, Prime Minister of Israel, called for actions of this country and the United Nations at protesting the Soviet Union aimed on the abolition of the rights of Jewish citizens. While within the framework of the policies of nationalities in the Soviet Union, eliminating the possibility of the growth of all national cultures was essentially raised, and the historical anti-Jewish tendencies in Russia only strengthened this issue. This policy was applied in the same way to all non-Russian citizens of the Soviet Union. Muslims and followers of the other religions did not have acceptable opportunity to teach and execute their cultural affairs. Golda Meir proposed this issue to help the Soviet Jews' immigration to Israel.
The Soviet Jews with help from Israel and the Western countries, wanted to have more facilities for immigrating to Israel. The Zionist organization also made great efforts in this regard. In February 1971, a conference was held in Brussels to examine the situation of the Russian Jews and 75 people were present from 36 countries. During the meeting, the Israeli government and the Zionist organizations played a prominent role. They tried to provoke global public opinion to move governments against the policies of the Soviet government against the Jews. At the conference, the anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli policies of the Soviet government were attacked. Significant figures from Israeli officials and politicians attended the meeting. The Israeli war with Egypt at the end of 1969 was accompanied by Nasser's military support to the Soviet Union.
Nasser believed that Egypt is not supported by the Soviet Union in the same way that the United States supports Israel. Nasser's request was met by Moscow. Israel has always sought to gain US support in the context of the US-Soviet Union competitions in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir, called the Soviet Union people Imperialists and accused the country of encouraging Egypt to fight Israel. In the early 1970s, the anti-Zionist struggle of the Soviet government intensified. In January of 1970 Pravda published the Letter of the Eleventh Anti-Zionist Jewish. In March 1970, forty Russian Jews held a conference on Israeli crimes in occupied territories. The number of Jewish immigrants also declined from the Soviet Union to Israel. The conflict between the two countries also broke out in their relationship with Vietnam. In January 1970, the 7 people delegation traveled to Israel from Vietnam Genoa to discuss military co-operation. This cooperation was a concern for the Soviet Union, although Israel did not establish relations with the Saigon government. From the late 1970s, relations between the Soviet Union and Israel gradually improved. In the context of US-Soviet relations, Israel has also achieved a better place in relations with the country, although Israel was worried that the process of anti-conflict of the two superpowers would impose agreements in the Middle East. Although Israel and the Soviet Union established their political relations, there was no progress in the political solution to the Palestinian issue.
Israel was not willing to withdraw from the occupied lands, but the Soviet Union, which opposed the military solution, put pressure on Syria to accept a political solution. In the Soviet Union's view, Egypt and Syria are not capable of defeating Israel, because they viewed the United States as a supporter of Israel, and so they should take a political solution. The existence of Israel was widely accepted by the Soviet Union and did not accept its destruction. The Soviet Union and Israel felt the need for re-establishing relations mutually. The Soviet Union hoped to increase the influence talks and developments in the Middle East through renewing relations. Israel also assessed the improvement in relations with the Soviet Union in favor of the process of immigration of the Jews from this country and control of the Arab countries of the region. During the years 1971-72, the process of immigration of the Jews from the Soviet Union intensified. 1,000 Jews in 1971, 13,000 in 1971, and 32,000 in 1972 were allowed of immigration to Israel, but because there was no formal political relationship, the German embassy in Moscow gave them exit and immigrants visas. The way of immigration was also debated. Israelis claimed that only women, children and elderly people would be allowed to immigrate.
The Soviet government received payments from immigrants who caused protests. Immigrant Jews should have paid costs of their free education. Of course, in practice, many of them would be exempted from paying these fees. The contacts between the two countries have been increasing since 1972. The Israelis were waiting for the Soviet Union's positive action to initiate political relations because they had broken ties. With the participation of a Soviet delegation at the Women's Conference in Israel, and the presence of six Israelis to take part in the Peace Committee, steps were taken to improve relations. In January 1972, the first Soviet delegation entered Israel after the break-up in 1967; Political and non-political traffics developed and strengthened this trend. Presence of Soviet delegation at the 17th Congress of the Communist Party of Israel in January 1972 was an important step in improving relations between the two countries. The relations between the Soviet Union and the Palestinians were a major concern of the Israeli authorities. At the same time, while the Soviet Union supported the Palestinians, it continued its efforts to reduce the number of their struggles and to moderate their behavior against the Israeli government. Improving relations with Israel was accompanied by a decline in relations with Egypt.