Framework of Soviet Engagement in the Arab—Israeli Conflict

Abstract

By the time of the formation of the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964, the Soviet Union had already been deeply involved in the affairs of the Middle East. Indeed, some of the influences on Soviet policy can been traced back to the Russian Imperial involvement in the affairs of the Ottoman empire, which included an active interest in the region of Palestine. However, the Soviet Union developed its own distinctive set of policies which reflected its specific interests in response to the tumultuous geostrategic changes in the Middle East after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Two developments in Soviet policy-making towards the Middle East and the Palestine question were of particular significance. The first was the decision made by Stalin in 1947 to support the partition of Palestine and subsequently to provide substantial diplomatic and material support to the creation of the state of Israel. The second was the decision by Stalin’s successor, Nikita Khrushchev, to sanction the Czechoslovak arms deal with Egypt in 1955, which initiated the Soviet commitment to the radical Arab nationalist regimes in their confrontation with the West and with Israel.