Israel's Relations
(1) With the West
BY T. R. FYVEL pOINTING to the trees growing on the vaguely terraced slopes between which the Jerusalem road descends sharply to the coastal plain, my driver said, with a smile : `Mandate trees.' And, indeed, I could recall the days in the Thirties, under the British Administration of Palestine, when One saw gangs of workers planting these trees which are today Medium-sized firs, pines and cypresses. Yet very soon these Mandate trees will no longer stand out from the millions of fast-growing saplings which have already been planted during the brief life of the State of Israel. And this is typical. In the hectic rush of Israeli life, the thirty years of the British Pales- tine Mandate have already become a pre-1948 memory.
The outward signs in a country of fierce sun. crowded living I and functional architecture may be few : some red pillar-boxes, the retention of British uniforms, principal streets called Allenby Street or King George Avenue. Yet there are all the intangibles. Much of the best inspiration in Israel, the discip- line of the kibbutzim, the collective villages, and the formid- able organisation of the Histadrut, the Israel Labour Federa- tion, derived from Jewish life in Eastern Europe and East European socialism. Not long ago one could hear Marxist talk throughout the country. Yet the whole social trend in Israel is increasingly oriented towards the West. The British connection and British influence were not the decisive factor in this orien- tation. But without question they have coloured it. Mr. Sharett, the Prime Minister, and others of his generation studied at the London School of Economics at a time when Fabian thought Was dominant there. Close personal relations between British Labour and the Israel (Majority) Labour Party are again being successfully cultivated. The Israel Foreign Office is well sprinkled with ex-Oxford and Cambridge men. The colouring has noticeably remained.
Perhaps the most vital heritage is the fact that, with a few natural additions, the legal system of Israel remains firmly based on English common law, introduced under the Mandate. Israeli lawyers assiduously read their Law Reports as they arrive from London. The fact that legal life in Israel is from all accounts conducted on a very high level is certainly con- nected with this interesting link. Again, Israel's civil service began for better or worse with an overspill of Jewish officials from the British Mandatory time.
In Israel's armed forces the British uniforms taken over with little change create a curious visual effect of continuity. It is probably more important that so many senior officers served during the war in some British unit or other. Particularly the Israel Air Force, though it started its young life by shooting down British aircraft and has today no latest British jets to fly, is reputed to be anglophil (one even sees a few fierce Moustaches). In the case of the Israel police, you have resem- blance in bearing as well as uniform. The first time a traffic Policeman roars up on his motor-cycle, a visitor from Britain may feel surprised to find that this is no British constable. But even more is involved; restored tradition. The Israel Police Force, well disciplined, efficient and polite, is, as most visitors will confirm, one of the marked successes of the state; and its chiefs seem again on the best terms with that same British police system which during 'The Troubles' was regarded as the embodiment of anti-Jewish hostility. That cultural influence should linger on is probably less remarkable. The Israel Radio, for instance, is staffed partly by former members of the Palestine Broadcasting Service. It appears that the BBC tradition goes deep. 1 even heard com- plaints that the over-correct, elaborate Hebrew enunciation of the announcers was something not met in ordinary speech. In the theatres in Tel Aviv you have Shakespeare and Shaw played constantly and in a very British manner. Articles from the British press are reprinted regularly in Hebrew newspapers.
What does all this amount to? A shrewd friend in Jerusalem told me : 'We know that in our isolation on the fdr side of the Mediterranean we must have outside support. Of course there are always the United States and the American Jews. But the enormous size of the United States must make for a certain remoteness. As for Britain, some people have talked of a British alliance and British bases. That may be amateurish. But the feeling for Britain goes much deeper. However assertive we may be, what we admire in the British are the qualities we don't possess, as when in a Hebrew conversation we use the English phrase "to take a balanced view." Many of us would therefore like to have closer relations with Britain, if we knew how, which we don't.'
Viewed from Israel, the British presence in the Middle East seems indeed to have receded pretty far. It is felt mainly through British financial and military support for the kingdom of Jordan and General Glubb's Arab Legion. Actually on Israel's frontier there is only the British garrison at Akaba on the Red Sea Gulf; and now that British troops have left Alexandria and Suez, Jerusalem and Haifa, it is hard not to wonder why they should still stay in Akaba.
Within Israel there is only the British Embassy, a correct and friendly place, and there is the office of the British Council in Tel Aviv, valiantly trying to operate on a disproportionately small scale in a country like Israel which for a number of reasons overflows with cultural life; and wants more British culture. at that. Thus the Council has a library of 12,000 books —and 2.000 members and one librarian : a little further popu- larity and the system would become unworkable.
This raises an important point. I remember Orde Wingate telling me in 1938 of his view that the `freezing' of the Jewish National Home had become the major theme of British foreign policy in the Middle East. Until the birth of Israel in 1948 this policy was certainly systematically pursued. Unfriendly critics might argue that its aftermath has brought Britain unerringly to the present point where Communist technicians are welcomed in Egypt while British troops battle with enosis in Cyprus. However, even if we leave aside judgements of political errors and accept the thesis that Britain in the Middle East must seek the friendship of the Arab States which have the oil, a fundamental question still remains. Does this mews that Britain can have no closer relationship with a count like Israel outside foreign policy relations in the narrow tech- nical sense? Other powers certainly don't hold a similar view. Soviet Russia might be sending arms to Egypt, but one can be sure that the Soviet campaign to influence Israel by means of the Communist Party and societies for friendship with this or that and the provision of Soviet textbooks, will go on unabated. The large-scale American efforts to make American books available to Israel are unaffected by the reports sent by US envoys from Arab capitals. Should Britain not also enter this cultural competition? Or is it still the official British view that such activities are not worth while? The question is one which affects British foreign policy in general, though it suggests itself particularly during a visit to Israel.
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