Nordic Traces in Israel

verfasst von: Orna Keren-Carmel

Verlag: Springer Nature Switzerland

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Über dieses Buch

For many years, historians have not given due attention to the relations between the Nordic countries and Israel. As a consequence, the existing body of research on this topic is almost entirely conducted by scholars from the social sciences, especially international relations and conflict resolution studies, a fact that has led to an overemphasis on their occasional interstate political disputes. This book offers a fresh and exciting historical analysis of their relations during the three decades following Israel’s establishment in 1948, focusing on their connection points and mutual influences in various fields. Furthermore, it is mapping Israel geographically according to the traces of diverse Nordic-Israeli initiatives throughout the years.

In recent years, scholarship on Nordic studies has yielded new research areas regarding the influence of these countries on other parts of the world, and vice versa. Nordic policies, attitudes and experience have been analyzed in the framework of knowledge circulation, and this in turn sparked a renewed scholarly interest in the Nordic model(s). The book fits into this stream of research by arguing that close historical investigation helps to construct, and sometimes also deconstruct, the fluid definition of the Nordic model(s). By focusing on the intersection between Israel studies and Nordic studies, it provides insights into the complex, yet fascinating relations that developed between these countries since the mid twentieth-century.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Book Introduction

Abstract

The introductory chapter reflects the structure of the book, according to which every chapter presents one case study that became a milestone in Nordic-Israeli developing relations over the years. Together, all case studies offer a new overall analysis of their relationship, proving the common denominators underlying these countries, such as similar socialdemocratic values and strong professional unions. In addition, the case studies map Israel geographically in accordance with diverse Nordic-Israeli initiatives, enabling a graphic interpretation of their ties.

Orna Keren-Carmel

Chapter 2. The Grey Truth: The Danish Rescue in Israeli Holocaust Memory

Abstract

The rescue of thousands of Danish Jews in October 1943 is one of the most persistent myths in the memory of the Holocaust in Israel, together with the fishing boat that became the symbol of that rescue, during which the Jews were smuggled to neutral Sweden. However, from the 1940s until today, there have been considerable changes in the Holocaust memory in Israel, and these reshaped the attitude toward the Danish people, the Resistance fighters, and the survivors themselves. This chapter examines how the myth that was formed around the rescue not only helped to bridge the gap between the past and the present, between the horrors of the Holocaust and the morality of the rescuers, but also contributed to the shaping of the Israeli national identity.

Orna Keren-Carmel

Chapter 3. Ben Gurion, the Nordic Countries and the Neutral Bloc

Abstract

This chapter sheds light on one of the less-known plans devised by Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, together with other senior officials at the Foreign Ministry, to get closer to (and maybe even join) the neutral bloc founded by the Nordic states at the start of the Cold War, as a means to alleviate Israel’s international isolation. Throughout the chapter it becomes clear that the constructive relationship between the countries was founded on strong ties formed between members of the professional ranks, especially between the labor unions and cooperatives, and less on the ties formed between the politicians. Additionally, it focuses on these countries’ shared yet unique foreign policy patterns and demonstrates the influence of common social-political values on the development of inter-state relations.

Orna Keren-Carmel

Chapter 4. Nordic Wooden Huts and Israeli Public Housing

Abstract

This chapter presents the considerable Nordic influence on Israeli housing solutions in the 1950s. Following the need for rapid housing solutions resulting from the steep demographical rise after the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948, thousands of imported Nordic wooden huts became part of the Israeli landscape. What prompted Israel to import those huts specifically? The chapter examines the considerable contribution of the Nordic huts, along with all their challenges, to the building of the newly established Israeli state from the first purchase in 1946 to the nostalgic commemoration of the huts nowadays.

Orna Keren-Carmel

Chapter 5. “Adolescence is a serious problem of life”: N. F. S Grundtvig, Martin Buber and Adult Education in Israel

Abstract

This chapter explores the close connections between the ideas of the Danish educator N.F.S. Grundtvig, the Israeli philosopher Martin Buber and the latter’s establishment of ‘Beit-HaMidrash Le-morei Am’ (School for Educators of the People) in Jerusalem in 1949. There were similarities not only between the institutions they founded, and their educational aims, but also in the way they taught. In many ways, Grundtvig’s mid-nineteenth century vision on adult education, translated by Buber, was realized a century later in Israel, a testament to the extensive transfer of ideas between Denmark and Israel unknown until now.

Orna Keren-Carmel

Chapter 6. Common Values, Different Interests: Early Israeli-Swedish Cooperation on Development Aid to Africa

Abstract

Since its establishment in 1961 the Mount Carmel Training Centre (called today ‘the Golda Meir Mashav international training Center’), located in Haifa, Israel, has had a significant as well as unique role as a bridge to North–South relations. This chapter focuses, however, on a widely neglected role of the center, namely its contribution to the development of Israeli-Swedish bilateral relations. The success of the joint venture derived not only from the fact that Israel and Sweden acted upon similar socialist values at the time, but also that both greatly benefitted from it: the young Israeli state, lacking in financial resources and not least in international allies, enjoyed a Swedish substantial budget supplement and the constructive rapprochement between the countries that followed; while Sweden, joining rather late the race of developed countries to the recently established African states, enjoyed Israel’s pioneering experience in the field of development aid. Thus, the article presents the winding ways that knowledge circulated within the dominant social democratic mid-twentieth century sphere of influence.

Orna Keren-Carmel

Chapter 7. Mission: The North. Concluding Travel Notes from Scandinavia

Abstract

The conclusion chapter will be presented through texts written by four Israelis who for various reasons have visited the Scandinavian countries during the 1950s: Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, Nobel Prize winner in literature Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Historian (and wife of the Israeli Ambassador to Stockholm) Leni Yahil, and the young journalist Alex Carmel. Their varied perspectives, sometimes unexpectedly funny, illustrate the contemporary fascinating image that Israelis had on the Nordic countries. These texts also reflect the diversity of topics covered throughout the book.

Orna Keren-Carmel

Backmatter

Titel: Nordic Traces in Israel
verfasst von: Orna Keren-Carmel
Verlag: Springer Nature Switzerland
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-75287-2
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-75286-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-75287-2