Gazit joined the young state’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1949. In the 1950s he served in London, where in 1954 he met Sudanese representatives in secret, in one of Israel’s first attempts to break the isolation around it, and in Burma.
In 1955 he headed Israel’s mission in Rangoon for four and a half months, between two ministers: David Hacohen, the first minister, had ended his posting, and Yaacov Shimoni was appointed in September to succeed him. From there he reported to Jerusalem that Israel and Burma were among each other’s friendliest states and worked closely together at the UN.
As he put it, they were the only two socialist states in Asia: both were then governed by socialist labour parties, and David Ben-GurionIsrael’s first Prime Minister.What they wanted: A strong state, and allies beyond the ring of hostility.More on David Ben-Gurion in “People and events” → and U Nu became close friends. That year Burma’s prime minister, U Nu, visited Israel, the first Asian head of government to do so.
At the end of the decade he returned to Jerusalem as political secretary and head of the office of Foreign Minister Golda MeirPrime Minister, 1969–1974. Gazit headed her office twice: when she was Foreign Minister in the late 1950s, and as Director-General of the Prime Minister’s Office from 1973.What they wanted: Security for Israel, and peace through direct negotiation, without a return to the 1967 lines.More on Golda Meir in “People and events” →.
In 1950–1951 he was also the Foreign Ministry’s representative on the government committee for holy and historical places, which dealt with preserving sites, tourism and the balance between preservation and development: a meeting point between the antiquities he had studied and the work of the young state. Gazit was also one of those who examined candidates for the foreign service.
Yosef HadassDiplomat, born in Aleppo, later Director-General of the Foreign Ministry; his memoir recalls the talk with Gazit and the Arabic test.More on Yosef Hadass in “People and events” →, born in Aleppo and later Director-General of the Foreign Ministry, recalled in his memoir that after a five-minute conversation Gazit asked the department’s senior researcher, Asher GorenThe senior researcher in the Foreign Ministry’s research department.More on Asher Goren in “People and events” →, to test his Arabic. Goren examined him on al-Ahram, Egypt’s leading daily, and after further interviews he was accepted.
He worked in the Foreign Ministry’s research department from 1949 to 1951, and as early as 1949/50 was running it in practice.
A fork in the road
A year-old state, and a foreign service with no tradition.
Recruit experienced diplomats
The price: There are hardly any, and they do not know the country from within.
Turn fighters into diplomats
The price: Learning the trade on the job, facing seasoned counterparts.
And what happened?
Israel mostly took the second path. Gazit was one of them.
Sources (8)
- Mordechai Gazit — Hebrew Wikipedia Biography
- Elie Podeh and Andrew Felsenthal — Israel and Sudan: The Origins of Clandestine Relations (1954–1964) Book or article
- Al Jazeera — Declassified documents on Israel and Burma (Arabic) Diplomatic record
- Wikipedia — Israel–Myanmar relations Biography
- Yosef Hadass — Between Aleppo and Jerusalem: Forty Years in the Foreign Service (Hebrew) Book or article
- Raz Kletter — Just Past? The Making of Israeli Archaeology Book or article
- Mordechai Gazit’s testimony to the Agranat Commission, 6 December 1973 (Hebrew) Diplomatic record
- JTA — Israel Counsellor in Washington Embassy Named Minister to Burma Biography
Israel and the world
From war to armistice
Israel signed armistice agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. The agreements established military demarcation lines, but were not peace treaties—the setting in which the young state’s foreign service worked.
Explore on WikipediaBurma: Israel’s gateway to Asia
In the 1950s Israel was isolated in Asia. In April 1955 the states of Asia and Africa met at the Bandung Conference, and Israel was not invited. Burma was the exception: full relations from 1953, when the first minister, David Hacohen, arrived in Rangoon, cooperation in agriculture and security, and a friendship between the prime ministers. The challenge for Israel’s representative in Rangoon was to keep that friendship, Israel’s only gateway to the continent.
Explore on Wikipedia