‘Jewish Foreign Policy’ and the Exodus of the Syrian Jews: Zionism, Migration, and the Diaspora (1948–1990)

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Why has one of the longest-running diplomatic struggles over Middle Eastern Jewry been left out of history books? This project reopens a largely neglected chapter in Jewish history: the four-decade-long humanitarian crisis of the Syrian Jews (1948–1990) and the quiet but significant diplomatic tensions it triggered between the State of Israel and American Jewish organizations. While conventional scholarship often treats the creation of Israel in 1948 as a historical rupture that marked the end of Jewish life in the Arab world, this research challenges that assumption and examines what followed. By focusing on the overlooked case of Syrian Jews, the project fills a crucial gap in both Middle Eastern Jewish studies and the literature on homeland–diaspora relations. It explores how the presumed unity of a “Jewish Foreign Policy” between Israel and the American Jewish diaspora broke down when faced with the realities of political liberalization, strategic differences, and competing diplomatic priorities. Methodologically, the project combines newly declassified archival sources from the Israeli State Archives and other international repositories with semi-structured interviews. This mixed-methods approach allows for a deeper understanding of how shared identity was insufficient to maintain diplomatic harmony. Conceptually, it shifts the field from a bottom-up cultural and social history to a top-down international history framework. The study not only revises existing narratives about Jewish communities in the Middle East after 1948 but also offers fresh insights into the complex and often fragile dynamics of homeland–diaspora relations. Its interdisciplinary approach contributes to peace and conflict studies, international relations, and Jewish historical scholarship.

This project investigates how the humanitarian crisis of the Syrian Jews (1948–1990) exposed underlying tensions between the State of Israel and American Jewish organizations. While these actors initially appeared united by a common “Jewish Foreign Policy” (JFP) in the early years of Israeli statehood (1950s–1960s), this research hypothesizes that their relationship was already marked by significant frictions long before the more recent period of crisis commonly discussed in current scholarship. 

The project advances the field by challenging the prevailing bottom-up focus in studies of Jews in the Middle East before 1948—particularly those grounded in cultural and social history. Instead, it introduces a top-down perspective rooted in international and diplomatic history. This shift enables a better understanding of the institutional, strategic, and geopolitical dynamics that shaped Jewish diaspora–homeland relations during the Cold War era.

The empirical foundation of the project is a rich collection of archival materials, including newly declassified documents from the Israeli State Archives (ISA), as well as materials from various international archives in both Hebrew and English. These sources shed new light on a largely overlooked aspect of post-1948 Jewish history in the region.

Combining historical analysis with qualitative research, the project employs a mixed-methods approach that includes archival research and semi-structured interviews. This methodological design allows for an in-depth investigation of diplomatic practices, institutional discourse, and power dynamics between homeland and diaspora actors. It also makes a significant contribution to peace and conflict studies by bridging international history with contemporary debates on identity, sovereignty, and transnational activism.

Image: Sa'ar Ya'acov/Government Press Office Israel.

Members

Project Lead

Eldad Ben Aharon

Eldad Ben Aharon

Partner

  • Dr. Aviad Moreno, Ben-Gurion Research Institute at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
  • Prof. Arie M. Dubnov, Judaic Studies Program The George Washington University
  • Dr. Yair Wallach, SOAS, University of London
  • Prof. Yaacov Yadgar, Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford
  • Dr. Lorena De Vita, Utrecht University
  • Dr. Lior B. Sternfeld, University of Penn State
  • Dr. Louis Fishman, Brooklyn College CUNY