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Political Science | Middle East Studies Bialer The offi cial establishment of the State of “An important book . excellent in its thoroughness Israel in May 1948 constituted the realization of the Zionist vision, but military victory left and clarity.”—Ilan Peleg in its wake internal and external survival issues that would threaten this historic achievement for decades to come. The Cross on the Star of David Cross on the refusal of the international community to recognize the political, geographic, and demographic results of the War of Indepen- How did dence presented Israel with a permanent regional security threat, while isolating and historical perceptions alienating it in the international arena. One and attitudes infl uence Israeli of the most formidable problems Israeli foreign policy faced was the stance of the leaders in their dealings with the Uri Bialer Christian world toward the new state. holds the Maurice B. Hexter chair in Christian world after Israeli independence? Attitudes ranged from hostility and cate- gorical non-recognition by the Catholic International Relations–Middle East Based on recently declassifi ed Studies in the Department of Inter- Cross on the Star of David Church, through Protestant ambivalence, national Relations at Hebrew documents from Israeli archives, to Evangelical support. University. He is author of Oil and the Cross on the Star of David provides an Arab-Israeli Confl ict, 1948–1963 and Cross on the Star of David presents the fi rst Between East and West: Israel’s Foreign absorbing analysis of Israeli foreign policy scholarly analysis, based on newly declassi- Policy Orientation, 1948–1956. He is a toward the Christian world during fi ed documents, of Israeli policymaking on member of the editorial board of this issue. Uri Bialer focuses on the impact Israel Studies. the state’s formative that modes of thinking rooted in the histori- years. cal tradition of Jewish-Christian interactions had on Israeli policymakers and concludes that they were not innocent of the percep- Indiana Series in Middle East Studies tions and biases that infl uenced the Christian Mark Tessler, general editor world’s behavior toward Israel. The result is a fi ne-grained, original interpretation of The an important dimension of Israeli foreign policy from the founding of the State to Christian World the 1967 War. in Israel’s Uri Bialer Jacket photographs courtesy of the National INDIANA Photo Collection of the Israel Government Press University Press Foreign Policy, Offi ce. Top: Haim Weizmann, Moshe Sharett, and an Orthodox priest, Rehovot, 1951, photographer Bloomington & Indianapolis INDIANA Hans Pinn. Bottom: a nun and a priest with http://iupress.indiana.edu 1948–1967 1-800-842-6796 policemen, Jerusalem, Christmas, 1948. Bialer, Cross on the Star 6/9/05 8:43 AM Page i Cross on the Star of David Bialer, Cross on the Star 6/9/05 8:43 AM Page ii Indiana Series in Middle East Studies Mark Tessler, general editor Bialer, Cross on the Star 6/9/05 8:43 AM Page iii Uri Bialer Cross on the Star of David The Christian World in Israel’s Foreign Policy, 1948–1967 Indiana University Press Bloomington • Indianapolis Bialer, Cross on the Star 6/9/05 8:43 AM Page iv This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404–3797 USA http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail [email protected] © 2005 by Uri Bialer All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bialer, Uri. Cross on the star of David : the Christian world in Israel’s foreign policy, 1948-1967 / Uri Bialer. p. cm. — (Indiana series in Middle East studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-253-34647-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Catholic Church— Foreign relations—Israel. 2. Israel—Foreign relations—Catholic Church. 3. Church and state—Israel. 4. Christians—Government policy—Israel. 5. Israel—Politics and government—1948-1967. I. Title. II. Series. BX1629.I75B53 2005 327.56940456'34'09045—dc22 2005004485 12345 100908070605 Bialer, Cross on the Star 6/9/05 8:43 AM Page v contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii INTRODUCTION ix Part One. Jerusalem vs. the Vatican: Israel’s Church Diplomacy 1. The Sense of Threat Emerges 3 2. The Struggle for Jerusalem: The Papal Connection 24 3. At the Gates of the Vatican 52 4. Theology and Diplomacy 72 Part Two. Christians, Christianity, and the Land in Israeli Policy 5. Missionary Activity 93 6. Goat and Chicken Diplomacy: Israel and Its Christian Communities 121 7. Israel and the Question of the Russian Ecclesiastical Assets 144 8. Land in the Shadow of the Cross: German Lutheran, Catholic, and Greek Orthodox Property in Israel 166 Epilogue: On Viewing the Enemy and Bridge Building 187 NOTES 193 BIBLIOGRAPHY 225 INDEX 234 Bialer, Cross on the Star 6/9/05 8:43 AM Page vi Bialer, Cross on the Star 6/9/05 8:43 AM Page vii acknowledgments For sowing in me the seeds of academic interest in the encounter between Jews and Christians I am indebted to my former teachers, then colleagues, Profes- sor David Vital and Professor Amnon Linder. I am grateful to the Israeli Acad- emy of Science for its generous research grant and moral support, which made the study possible. The Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations, the Shein Institute for Israeli Society at the Hebrew University, and the Insti- tute for the Heritage of Ben-Gurion provided valuable financial help during its final stages. I am deeply grateful to Professor Avraham Ben Zvi, Professor Gabi Sheffer, and Professor Yaacov Bar Siman Tov for their thoughtful and per- ceptive comments on early drafts of the book and to Elad Van Gelder for his tireless research assistance. Haya Galai, who skillfully translated the text from Hebrew, functioned at the same time as a shrewd critic and helped make it better. For her careful copy- editing, I would like to thank Elaine Durham Otto of Indiana University Press. My daughters, Hili, Galia, Maya, and Yael,my sons-in-law,Yigal and David, and my grandsons, Guy and Tal,all followed with loving support my obsessive preoccupation with history.But it is my spouse, Rachel, a true companion, part- ner, and friend for almost forty years, to whom I owe the deepest gratitude. This book is dedicated to her with love. Bialer, Cross on the Star 6/9/05 8:43 AM Page viii Bialer, Cross on the Star 6/9/05 8:43 AM Page ix introduction Personal motives for tackling a particular subject are not always fully eluci- dated in the introduction to an academic book, although understanding of mo- tives can give the reader an insight into the mind of the author. The seeds of curiosity about the subject of this book were planted in my adolescence. One of my high school history classes was devoted to the Crusades. The story fas- cinated me, but my enthusiasm for the topic was tempered by frustration when I was unable to answer the teacher’s question about the concept of the Holy Trinity, which was not explained in our textbook. For years I remembered her surprised reaction at this lacuna in my knowledge and the scolding she gave me. The familiarity I gained over the years with the Christian world did not alleviate my sense of ignorance, nor was it remedied during my academic stud- ies. In this regard, then, this book is an attempt to answer some of the ques- tions I was asked some forty years ago. However, it seems that I was not alone in my ignorance. On the eve of the Third Millennium, Israeli high school students’ knowledge of Jesus was ex- amined in several articles. Most of the students knew nothing, not even basic details such as when and where he was born, where he lived and preached, when and how he died. Their ignorance is hardly surprising, since the cur- rent curriculum of the state education system refers to Jesus at best once, and then only cursorily. The state religious education system makes no mention whatsoever because, as the superintendent of that system has explained, “it is impossible to ignore what Christianity did to the Jews.” Professor Michael Harsegor, a prominent historian, has stated bluntly that “the schools are still afraid that teaching anything about Jesus would be associated with mission- izing.”1 This being so, examination of the roots of Israel’s policy toward the Church during the early years of statehood may possibly facilitate under- standing components of the national psyche that have remained at the mar- gins of Israeli public awareness. As a historian of international relations, my personal interest in the subject stemmed from two additional sources: current research into developments in Bialer, Cross on the Star 6/9/05 8:43 AM Page x x Introduction the domain of international relations, and the new historiography of Israel’s foreign policy during the first two decades of its existence. In the past decade increasing attention has been paid to the growing weight in international relations of economic and political “non-government organ- izations.” Whereas, up to the Second World War, nation-states were the al- most exclusive exponents of diplomacy, supranational bodies and organiza- tions, such as international corporations and international cultural-social organizations, have since become significantly involved and exerted influence in international politics.