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The Year that I srael Considered Joining the European Economic Community
Author(s) -
Pardo Sharon
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
jcms: journal of common market studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.54
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1468-5965
pISSN - 0021-9886
DOI - 10.1111/jcms.12036
Subject(s) - revelation , politics , prime minister , christian ministry , political science , law , economic history , sociology , history , theology , philosophy
The history of I srael– EU relations has received considerable scholarly attention. The conventional starting point for this history is almost invariably April 1958, when I srael became the third country in the world to request the establishment of a diplomatic mission in B russels. The background and the lead up to that request, however, have been largely neglected. The article seeks to fill this scholarly lacuna by relating the hitherto untold story of I srael's exploration in 1957 of the possibility of obtaining full economic and political EEC membership. A centrepiece of the article is the revelation of the 1957 clandestine meeting(s) between S himon P eres, then director general of the Israeli Ministry of Defence and special envoy of Prime Minister David Ben‐Gurion, and Jean Monnet, in which the two discussed possible full Israeli membership in the EEC . The article is based on some newly revealed archival documents and interviews with former high‐ranking Israeli officials.