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Israel and the Socio-Economic Status of South Africa's Jewish Community

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Jean-Jacques Marmont
Affiliation:
Department of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science

Extract

During a visit to Kenya in June 1987, Yitzhak Shamir defended Israel's relations with Pretoria by claiming that everyone knows ‘our only interest in ties with South Africa is the existence there of a large Jewish community’. Although most analysts might claim that pragmatism and realpolitik are the sole foundations for Israeli–South African ties, the Prime Minister's explanation is in line with similar authoritative statements made in the past, namely: that Israel's national concerns in its relations with South Africa have been influenced by the collective interests of the latter's Jewish population.

Type
Africana
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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References

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