Middle East
The UN General Assembly vote on 29 November 1947 in favour of the partition of Palestine, which led to the creation of the state of Israel, would have never happened without strong Soviet advocacy. Moscow’s shift from blatant antagonism to Zionism as a national liberation movement to effusive support has puzzled historians for decades. The initial, significant encounter of the Zionist leadership with the Russians, which drew Soviet attention to the potential asset of the Zionist movement, took place before Germany’s invasion of Russia — paradoxically at the height of Soviet Russia’s collaboration with Nazi Germany under the aegis of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Joseph Stalin, wrongly assuming the end of the war was imminent following the fall of France, was eager to improve his political standing in a peace conference — which he expected to be convened in 1942 — to readdress the European balance of power. The future of the British Empire, which had been entrusted with the mandate over Palestine, assumed a special significance.
The UN General Assembly vote on 29 November 1947 in favour of the partition of Palestine, which led to the creation of the state of Israel, would have never happened without strong Soviet advocacy. Moscow’s shift from blatant antagonism to Zionism as a national liberation movement to effusive support has puzzled historians for decades. The initial, significant encounter of the Zionist leadership with the Russians, which drew Soviet attention to the potential asset of the Zionist movement, took place before Germany’s invasion of Russia — paradoxically at the height of Soviet Russia’s collaboration with Nazi Germany under the aegis of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Joseph Stalin, wrongly assuming the end of the war was imminent following the fall of France, was eager to improve his political standing in a peace conference — which he expected to be convened in 1942 — to readdress the European balance of power. The future of the British Empire, which had been entrusted with the mandate over Palestine, assumed a special significance.
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