The Rise and Fall of Israel's Bilateral Aid Budget 1958-2008
A mere ten years after Israel gained its independence from British mandatory rule in 1948, it launched an official development cooperation program. At a time when Israel was itself still a developing country, it began a training and technical assistance program that expanded within a few short years to include the dispatch of hundreds of Israeli technical assistants to other developing countries and the training of thousands of Africans, Asians and Latin Americans annually. Driven by both political necessity and the moral vision of Israel’s leaders, the program rapidly grew in size and scope. At its height, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, MASHAV, the government body responsible for managing the aid program, was the largest department in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Israel had, per capita, one of the most extensive technical assistance programs in the western world. Unfortunately, this vision of cooperation, at least as far as Africa was concerned, proved to be short-lived. Within 15 years of the establishment The Rise and of Israel’s official aid program, the "golden age" of Israel's development cooperation came to an abrupt end, as all but four African countries Fall severed relations with Israel in the wake of the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War. Africa’s rejection of Israel dealt a deep blow to Israeli public and of Israel's political support for its aid program, marking a turning point from which Bilateral Aid Israel technical assistance has never recovered. The rupture of relations led to an immediate 50% drop in MASHAV’s operational budget and further Budget substantial budgetary cuts over the past 35 years.
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