My enemy's enemy: Zionists and Lebanese before 1948.

Abstract

Zionist perceptions of a strong mercantile ethos among Lebanese of all religious persuasions suggested to the Jewish Agency that Lebanon might be more receptive to a mutually rewarding relationship with Jewish Palestine than other Arab countries. Lebanon's peculiarity as an Arab country with a sizable non-Muslim population in a position of political predominance also piqued the Zionist imagination. Zionists found initial contacts with the leading Maronite Catholic sect encouraging. Many believed that the existence of a strong and apparently friendly non-Muslim community in Lebanon offered special opportunities for ending Zionist isolation in the region. Some Maronites and Zionists agreed that the two minorities, similarly beset by large numbers of Muslims resisting their respective claims, shared a natural harmony of interests. The desire to translate these shared concerns into meaningful political advantage led individuals in both communities to suggest an "alliance of minorities." This strategy called for Christians and Jews to join forces in confronting their common Muslim enemy and pursuing their similar national aspirations. Shared economic and political interests, brisk commercial intercourse, warm personal relationships between leading Maronites and Zionists, and the Zionists' absolute isolation in the Middle East made the alliance-of- minorities concept a logical one for Zionist foreign policy makers to consider. This study argues, however, that it was not a logical policy to pursue. Files from the Political Department of the Jewish Agency form the basis for this dissertation. The thesis looks at Lebanon's place in the framework of pre-state Zionist policy towards the Arab world and considers the unique problems and opportunities Lebanon presented. Special focus is on the temptation to forge a policy based on a Zionist-Maronite led alliance of minorities and the results of steps taken in that direction.