How West Germany Helped to Build Israel
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12015339 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kenneth M Lewan (Kenneth M. Lewan teaches Politics at the University of Munich., corresponding author) |
| Year | 1975 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 41-64 |
| Publication date | 1975-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Palestine Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0377-919X • E-ISSN: 1533-8614 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2535601 |
| OpenAlex | W1996501517 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 1 |
SINCE its foundation in 1949 the Federal Republic of Germany has been directly involved with events in the Middle East relating to the Palestine conflict. The extent of West German intervention in the form of reparations, loans, gifts, technical services, trained personnel and even military aid to Israel in the critical years from 1950-1967 was such that it certainly affected the balance of power betwen the adversaries. Nevertheless, some obscurity still surrounds the West German role, and even today certain facts are unobtainable from the authorities. For this reason, an examination in detail of German policy during the period is necessary. At the beginning of the period under consideration it is now evident that the Federal Republic pursued certain economic and political objectives, the fulfilment of which depended to a very great extent on United States support and approval. This in turn meant that United States demands that West Germany should finance and support Israel in various ways must be met. In this the Germans concurred, justifying their action on the grounds of compelling moral obligation to Jewish victims of Nazi oppression. It is clear, however, that this was a mere rationalization for the policy. There was no moral reason for West Germany to donate compensation to the state of Israel as opposed to individual Jews and their families who had suffered from the Nazis at a time when the state of Israel was itself responsible for the homelessness of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees. The real reasons lay in the economic and political realities which the Federal Republic of Germany faced in its relationship with the Western world
German · Moral obligation · Nazi Germany · Nazism · Obligation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Sociology · State (computer science · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,3 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2023 (8) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |