ABSTRACT
The new international constellation and particularly its own newly-won position within it formed the context, inter alia, of the Soviet Union's policies in what it termed "the Arab East." The Soviet diplomat called on the Yishuv to understand the Soviet dilemma and refrain from asking the USSR to make any clear-cut declarations or any commitment on its intentions regarding Palestine's political future until this basic circumstance changed. The Soviet Union had been expressing its apprehensions regarding American penetration into the Middle East ever since the United States had given Iran the requisite political support to withstand Soviet attempts to dominate at least the northern parts of the country in late 1945 and early 1946. The period February 1945-February 1947 thus ended the way it began, with Soviet preparations for an international colloquy on Palestine at which that country's political future would be discussed and settled.
