OPINION:
SPANISH-ISRAELI RELATIONS, 1956-1992
By Guy Setton
Sussex Academic Press/RiverNorth/IPG, $74.95, 271 pages
This is one of those books that not only sheds light on a too-much-ignored, perhaps even hidden, chapter in postwar international relations, but also on larger issues. The immediate question behind this intensively researched and analytical book is why it took nearly four decades after the establishment of the State of Israel for it to achieve full diplomatic relations with Spain — in 1986. Guy Setton of the Department of History at Tel-Aviv University, who holds advanced degrees from Israeli and British universities, explains this oddity in considerable detail and with much insight. Along the way, many historical and geopolitical imperatives and burdens are shown to cast long and lasting shadows, but there are also fascinating examples of individuals and opportunities that might have broken the logjam but did not do so.
The expulsion of all Jews from Spain by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella is one of the crucial events in both Jewish and Spanish history, so it is not surprising that it cast such a shadow over the establishment of bilateral relations between Israel and Spain in the second half of the 20th century. Yet just how dark and enduring that shadow was and, disturbingly, has continued into this millennium, is still astonishing:
“Despite multiple invitations, a Spanish Royal visit to the Jewish state did not take place in 1992, most likely to avoid any suggestion that the Spanish Monarchy was apologizing for the expulsion five centuries earlier. The King of Spain did not visit Israel until later in November 1993. While each country had their own perspective on the Expulsion of 1492, their activities around the event were successful in promoting the historical connection between the two peoples. Spain’s special and age-old bond was never strong enough to support a favorable public opinion of contemporary Israel. The use of anti-Semitic stereotypes in the media continued and peaked at times whenever the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reignited.”
Which brings us to the other, much more contemporary, impediment to recognizing Israel: the importance of the Arab world to Spain: “After the independence of Morocco (1956) and Algeria (1962) the government in Madrid was deeply concerned for the security of [its North African possessions] Ceuta and Melilla . Arab concerns, disapprovals and pressures were not just theoretical in the eyes of the Spanish . It was not only about securing Arab votes in support of Spain in international fora. There was a serious geostrategic factor at play for Madrid with perceived military risks which the Spanish felt they could not ignore.”
None of these concerns had evaporated after Spain’s entry into the United Nations in 1955 and continued after Franco’s death in 1975 and the nation’s transition to democracy and full membership of the international community. Indeed, the growing bias against Israel in global institutions in the 1970s — that decade which saw the shameful Zionism equals racism resolution in the U.N. General Assembly — may have slowed progress toward bilateral relations. Even full membership in NATO did not do the trick, and it was only with the admission of Spain to the European Economic Community (today’s European Union) in 1986 that this long-awaited diplomatic step was accomplished.
One of those fascinating hidden corners of history explored by Mr. Setton is an early offer of Spanish recognition of Israel: “During the first years of Israeli statehood, Spain sought unsuccessfully to establish official ties with Israel as another means to overcome international isolation. By adhering to a moral foreign policy standard, anew out of the ruins of the Holocaust, Israeli refused formal ties with the former Axis supporter . Had Jerusalem entertained Franco’s approaches in the very late 1940s then the entire relationship would have developed in another direction. This was no longer the case after 1956.”
We see here once more those long shadows cast by history and their costs, how idealistic gestures are all very well — and, of course, absolutely understandable — but that Realpolitik ultimately prevails sooner or later, the time frame making a huge difference.
One fact remains clear: Spain continues to rate its relations with the Arab world above those with the Jewish state. And it is disappointing to learn that even shortly before 1986, “King Juan Carlos was delaying a rapprochement. The king did not want the Arab world to view him as a supporter of relations with Israel anecdotes fueled the belief that the King was opposed to a prompt establishment of diplomatic relations.”
Still more disturbing is the statistic served up by the general editor of the series which includes this book, Nigel Townson of Complutense University, Madrid: “As late as 2008, Spain was the only country in Europe in which more people had a negative view of the Jews than a positive one.”
I can still remember my shock and outrage as a teenager visiting Franco’s Spain at finding the infamous nefarious forgery, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” prominently displayed in bookstalls along Barcelona’s fabled Ramblas. The corrosive aftershocks of a long, troubled history and the current effect of a worldwide political climate corrosively and unjustly hostile to Israel run too deep to have been healed by a hard-won diplomatic achievement, no matter welcome.
• Martin Rubin is a writer and critic in Pasadena, Calif.
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