ABSTRACT

Intervention in the political affairs of the neighbouring Arab countries has been a constant feature of the policies of the pre-state Jewish Agency in Palestine and of the state of Israel. This chapter is concerned with Israel's impact on domestic politics of Arab states rather than anti-Arab politics. As with almost any aspect of Israeli foreign and defence policy, the early 1950s were a formative period. The Political Department of the Jewish Agency maintained contact through the 1930s and 1940s with prominent members of the different communities, but in political terms its most significant achievements were with the Maronites. The rise to power of the Likud in 1977 paved the way for the gradual transformation of this policy of limited liability into one of full partnership between Israel and the Maronites. For Menachem Begin, the new prime minister, protection for the Christians in Lebanon was a moral duty as much as a political interest.