Between Israel's founding in 1948 and the 1956 Suez Crisis, American Jewish perspectives on the state were ambiguous, nuanced, and inconsistent. My thesis investigates this oft-ignored period in the history of American Jewry's relationship to Israel. To what extent did American Jews criticize or express concerns about the State of Israel between its founding in 1948 and the Suez Crisis of 1956? And what might the nature of these criticisms, concerns and fears reveal about the midcentury American Jewish experience? I argue that American Jews looked fondly upon the newborn State of Israel but rarely hesitated to critique the country where it was seen to contradict the tenets of Cold War-era American liberalism. In particular, American Jewish organizations, leaders, rabbis, intellectuals and journalists critiqued the country's religious life, emerging politico-economic order, and absorption of hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. In regards to Israel's role in the Arab-Israeli conflict, however, criticism of the state was far more muted. Nevertheless, when expressing their concerns about Israel, midcentury American Jews revealed their sincere attachment to a liberal American ideal—and an equally deep dislike of its ideological enemy in the Cold War, totalitarianism.
"},{"label":"Degree","value":["Bachelor of Arts with Departmental Honors"]},{"label":"Author-supplied Keywords","value":["American Jews","Israel","Liberalism"]},{"label":"Administrative Note","value":"Drupal Node ID: 24158