Jewish Political Studies Review 17:3-4 (Fall 2005)
Annals of Israeli-Albanian Contacts on Establishing Diplomatic Relations*
Yosef Govrin
Albania, under its Communist regime, granted Israel formal recognition
shortly after Israel declared its independence in 1948. This act coincided
with the policy of all the East European Communist countries toward
Israel. Yet, unlike them, Albania declined to establish diplomatic, commercial,
and cultural relations between the two countries. After the Six
Day War, Israel gave up its endeavors in this respect, since all the
Communist countries - with the exception of Romania - now broke off.
their diplomatic ties with Israel. It was only toward the end of its Communist
rule that Albania initiated the establishment of diplomatic, economic,
and cultural relations with Israel.
Swift Recognition, No Relations
Albania was the only country in the East European Communist bloc
that declined to establish diplomatic, trade, and economic relations
with Israel throughout the Cold War Era, from the time it recognized
Israel de jure in 1949 until the collapse of the Albanian Communist
regime in 1991. This unwillingness contradicted the friendly
message of a telegram sent on 16 April 1949 from Albania's Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister Enver Hoxha to Israel's Foreign Minister
Moshe Sharett, which accompanied the granting of official recognition
to Israel.
The telegram stated: "The government of the People's Republic
of Albania along with the Albanian people have been following with
interest the efforts the Jewish people have invested in the restoration
of their independence and their sovereignty. They are happy to see that
these efforts have been crowned with success with Israel's declaration of
its statehood."1
Albania's recognition of Israel was given in response to a letter
from Sharett to Hoxha dated 13 February 1949.2 Israel's request to
Albania for recognition was sent nine months after Israel declared its
independence, unlike similar approaches Israel made to other East
European countries shortly after that event. No explanation has been
found for this.3 Possibly, Sharett along with the heads of his ministry
felt that approaching Albania sooner would have been inappropriate
so long as Hoxha was waging a struggle to establish his rule there.4
However, Albania's swift and positive response in April 1949 should
be seen in light of three factors:
- Albania belonged to the Communist bloc led by the Soviet
Union, which supported Israel's establishment and was the first
country to grant it formal recognition.
- Albania's small Jewish community was saved during the Nazi
occupation thanks to the protection of the Albanians, the majority
of whom were Muslims.5
- Hoxha had led the Albanian underground that fought against
the Italian and German occupation (1939-1944) of his country.
Nevertheless, despite recognizing Israel's independence, Albania
did not respond to repeated Israeli approaches to establish diplomatic,
commercial, and economic relations. On the contrary, Albania regarded
Israel with great hostility, especially following the Six Day
War when the Communist-bloc countries, except Romania, severed
diplomatic ties with it. Albanian did so even though it was then
involved in a harsh dispute with the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Its
attitude only changed in the late 1980s when the democratization
process began.
Israel's Rejected Overtures
What explains the fact that, whereas Albania officially recognized Israel,
it refrained from establishing relations with it for forty-two years?
The first available evidence on Albania's position regarding relations
is in a memorandum from Shlomo Leibovitch of the Research
Department of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, dated 15 December 1954,
to the head of the East European Department. Leibovitch reported
that the French Foreign Ministry had recently become interested in
diplomatic relations between Israel and Albania, but Tirana had informed
Paris that: "This possibility has never been discussed."6
Israeli Foreign Ministry documents show that its representatives
made several overtures to Albanian officials between 1955-1967:
1. Reuven Nal, chargé d'affaires of Israel's legation in Sofia, visited
Tirana in July 1955. In a letter to the head of the East European
Department from 9 December 1956, he mentions the visit and
says its purpose was: "First to establish the fact of a visit of an
official representative of the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Albania,
and second, to try to forge contact with the Albanian government
to raise the question of Jewish immigration to Israel. Officially,
the visit was to explore the possibility of opening commercial
relations."7
2. In May 1958, the Israeli legation in Prague forwarded an official
communication to the Albanian legation there with a proposal
to establish Israeli-Albanian commercial relations. No response
was ever received.8 In addition, Shmuel Bendor, Israel's ambassador
in Prague, spoke with his Albanian counterpart there about
commercial ties; again, no reply was forthcoming.9
3. On 3 September 1961, Katriel Salmon, Israel's ambassador in
Bucharest, was instructed to request Albania's approval to be
appointed nonresident ambassador in Tirana. The appeal was
delivered to Albania's ambassador in Bucharest, but again there
was no response.10 In a report from 9 October 1961 to the head
of the East European Department, about his conversation on
this subject with the Albanian ambassador, Salmon says he felt
a coolness toward the idea. In his opinion, there were three
reasons for it: (a) the Albanian ambassador could not react
differently until he received instructions; (b) possibly because of
Albania's tense relations with other countries in the Eastern bloc,
its hosting a nonresident Israeli ambassador would be resented;
and (c) Albania's special relationship with the People's Republic
of China and with the United Arab Republic since the 1956
Sinai Campaign made it unwilling to have ties with Israel.11
Albania was then in conflict with its Eastern-bloc neighbors based
on ideological opposition - initially Stalinist, now Maoist - to the
domestic policy of Yugoslavia's President Tito. In addition, Albania
strongly opposed the de-Stalinization process in the Soviet Union and
as a result even broke off diplomatic relations with it. Instead Albania
forged ties with the People's Republic of China, which maintained no
relations with Israel and headed those opposing the Soviet Union in
the Communist world.
On top of all this was the Sinai Campaign, in which Israel's joint
military operation with France and Britain was condemned by the
Arab world, the Communist bloc, and the nonaligned nations.
Additional Attempts
Subsequently there were three further Israeli attempts, apparently influenced by a statement in the official newspaper of Albania's Communist
Party, Zeri i Poppulitt, on 9 January 1962. Albania, the paper
said, wanted to establish diplomatic, economic, and trade relations
with all the capitalistic countries, especially its neighbors, on the basis
of peaceful coexistence. This avowal, accompanied by moves to open
commercial ties with a number of Western countries, seems to have
led the Israeli Foreign Ministry to renew its - albeit futile - efforts to
forge relations with Albania:
1. In October 1962, the head of the East European Department
toured the areas under his jurisdiction. The Albanian government
refused to grant him a permit to enter the country.12
2. In 1964, the Israeli ambassador to Romania, Eliezer Doron, was
instructed to discuss diplomatic ties with his Albanian counterpart
in Bucharest. However, after the Albanian ambassador reported
on the talk to his foreign minister, no reply was received.13
3. In February 1967, Doron renewed his contacts with the Albanian
ambassador. Albania did not respond to this approach either.14
This was Israel's last initiative to establish diplomatic and economic
ties with Albania. In the wake of the Six Day War in 1967, Albania
joined the other Eastern-bloc countries - except Romania - along with
the Arab countries in their stridently anti-Israeli policy, both at home
and abroad.
On 19 August 2002, this author asked Bashkim Dino, formerly
Albania's ambassador to Israel and head of its Foreign Ministry's
Middle East Department toward the end of Communist rule, why he
thought Albania ignored Israel's overtures in the 1950s and 1960s. In
a letter dated 25 December 2002, he responded that:
Albania and the Albanian people have always assumed a friendly
attitude towards the State of Israel and its people....The friendly
relations between the Albanians and the Jews are deeply rooted in
history, but they know the apogee [sic ] during the Second World
War, when Albania and all the Albanian people harbored, protected
and saved all the Jews in Albania from the Nazi Holocaust....The
Jews who lived in Albania considered it as a second mother country
and side by side with the Albanian people gave their valuable contribution
for the developing and prosperity of Albania.
He added, however:
...the former dictatorial socialist regime of Albania following a prejudiced
foreign policy against the USA and some of its western partners,
Israel included, it is understandable and clear that the Albanian
former regime would not have the will to establish diplomatic relations
with the State of Israel....Albania under the Marxist-Leninist
dictatorial regime, was in full solidarity with the revolutionary movements
in general and with the PLO in particular. Furthermore, at
the time the State of Israel was considered in Albania as a "lackey"
of the United States, while Israeli foreign policy was condemned as
a policy in the service of the "imperialistic powers." Israel was called
"pistol of the USA" in the Middle East....
Dino's words make clear that if not for the change of regime in
Albania and the radical revision of its domestic and foreign policy, it
is doubtful that it would have established ties with Israel. The Muslim
majority among the Albanian people, however, had no role in determining
Albania's policy toward Israel either in the Communist era or
subsequently.
A Changing Attitude
The first indication of a change in Albania's policy toward Israel was
a conversation initiated by its ambassador in Rome, Dashnor Darvishi,
with his Israeli counterpart Mordechai Drori in mid-May 1990. Attributing
the lack of ties to the "blackmail of the Arab states," Darvishi
said it was becoming absurd that Arab countries such as Egypt maintained
full diplomatic relations with Israel while Albania avoided all
contact.15 The Albanian ambassador to Egypt expressed the same view
to his Israeli counterpart. Drori was told to inform Darvishi that
any Albanian diplomatic initiative "would be given the appropriate
attention by us."16
Some months later an Albanian diplomat in Paris, probably the
ambassador, gave an interview to the correspondent of the Israeli
newspaper Davar, Gideon Kutz, that was published on 14 October
1990. It was the first such interview granted by an Albanian official
to an Israeli journalist, and the former stated:
There is absolutely no reason why diplomatic relations between the
two countries will not be established in the future, even if the present
international situation does not permit their immediate renewal.17
In addition, Albania would be pleased to receive proposals
from Israeli businessmen to invest in Albania, which is rich in
natural resources and is interested in developing its technological
infrastructure.18
This was the first Albanian public statement in this vein, and was
made in the framework of Albania's plan to develop its relations with
the West. Soon after, on 14 March 1991, Albania renewed ties with
the United States after a fifty-two-year break.19 On that very day,
Albania's Foreign Minister Muhamet Kapllani stated at a press conference
in Rome that his country "would shortly establish diplomatic
relations with Israel."20 This was the first such declaration by an
Albanian foreign minister.
On 16 March 1991, the Israeli and Albanian ambassadors in Rome
met for a discussion. The latter mentioned the free Albanian elections
to be held on 31 March, and their expected outcome.As he anticipated,
the Labor Party (the former Communist Party) won, and made it a
priority to establish relations with Israel.21
Darvishi further stated that an Albania-Israel Friendship Society
had been formed in Tirana, and invited Drori to be guest of honor
at its inaugural ceremony in April. Drori participated, and Kutz reported
that the organization numbered 150 members including journalists,
scientists, teachers, government officials, physicians, and other
professionals.22 The event took place about three weeks after the general
Albanian elections, during which both the ruling party and the
opposition party declared that they would establish relations with
Israel.23 Then-President Elija, who was defeated, said on the day of
the elections:
we always believed that no problems existed between Albania and
Israel. On the contrary, our relationship with the Jewish people has
always been positive. No Jew in Albania was ever handed over to
the Nazis during World War II. Israel has a problem with the Arabs
and we hope that this conflict can be solved peacefully and as quickly
as possible in accordance with the wishes of the two peoples - Israeli
and Arab.
As Kutz noted, "These words, stated during a press conference in
the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, were broadcast in their entirety
on official Albanian television."24
The Forging of Ties
On 19 July 1991, Ambassador Drori visited Tirana. In a meeting with
Kapllani, he gave him an invitation from Israel's Foreign Minister
David Levy to visit Israel for a formal launching of relations.25 Kapllani
came to Israel on 18 August, and the next day the two foreign ministers
signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing diplomatic ties.
In an initial working session between the two ministers in Jerusalem,
Israel also expressed readiness to share information about its
technological and other achievements. It was suggested that an Albanian
delegation first visit Israel to receive such information, and subsequently
that an Israeli delegation go to Albania to explore ways
in which Israel could lend assistance. Specifically, Levy proposed:
establishing twenty-five scholarships for Albanians to participate in
courses organized by the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Department of
International Cooperation, setting up two mobile Israeli courses in
Albania in areas of interest to the Albanians, and encouraging Israeli
businessmen to become active in Albania.26
Kapllani received these proposals favorably. Levy also expressed
appreciation for the Albanian people's assistance to Jews during the
Holocaust, and for Albania's allowing Jewish immigration to Israel
over the past year.27
And so ended the chapter of the establishment of diplomatic relations
between Israel and Albania, thus laying the basis for cooperation
in the fields of agriculture, economy, trade, culture, and science. Since
then, the two countries have maintained full diplomatic ties.
* * *
Notes
* This article is an abridged chapter of a book in preparation on The Process
of Renewal of Diplomatic Relations between Israel and the East European
Countries. The article was translated from the Hebrew by Shalom Bronstein.
1. File on Albania's Recognition of Israel, 2391/10 HZ, Israel State Archive
(ISA).
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. For details about Hoxha, who ruled from 1949 to 1985, see HaEncyclopedia
HaIvrit (the Hebrew Encyclopedia), Vol. 3, Supplement A (to Vols. 1-16)
(Tel Aviv: Sifriat Poalim), p. 857 (Hebrew).
5. The 1930 census counted 204 Jews in Albania. In 1939, refugees from
Germany and Austria added to their number and additional refugees from
Croatia and Serbia followed them. During the Nazi occupation, the Germans
deported some four hundred Jews to the Bergen-Belsen death camp, about
half of whom were still alive when the camp was liberated.
6. Albania File, 103.1 HZ, ISA.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid. See also Eliezer Doron, B'tazpit U'vaimut: Miyomano shel Shagrir
(Observing and Confronting: From the Diary of an Israeli Ambassador)
(Jerusalem: Keter, 1978), pp. 136-37 (Hebrew).
15. Albania File, 103.1, HZ, ISA.
16. Ibid.
17. Albania renewed diplomatic relations with the United States on 15 March
1991. See Jerusalem Post, 14 March 1991, which also reports Albania's
intention to establish ties with the European Community.
18. Although confirmation that this was Albania's attitude could not be found,
it is unlikely that the diplomat would have used this rationale if there was
no basis for it.
19. Reported on 14 March 1991 in Haaretz, the Jerusalem Post, Maariv, Yediot
Aharonot, and Davar.
20. Ibid.
21. Albania File, 103.01 HZ, ISA.
22. Davar, 31 March 1991.
23. Davar, Yediot Aharonot, 31 March 1991.
24. Davar, 31 March 1991.
25. Albania File, 103.01 HZ, ISA.
26. Ibid.
27. Between 1990 and 1991, some three hundred Albanian Jews arrived in Israel.
Very few remained in the country after 1991. Between 1948 and 1991, 356
Albanian Jews settled in Israel. See Jewish Communities in the World (Jerusalem:
World Jewish Congress, 1996), p. 132.
* * *
DR. YOSEF GOVRIN joined Israel�s Foreign Ministry in 1953 and served as director of the East European Department and deputy director-general of the Ministry, ambassador to Romania, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, and to the United Nations Organizations in Vienna. Since 1996 he has been a Research Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of several books and many articles on international relations.
The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect
those of the Board of Fellows of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
The above essay appears in the Fall 2005 issue of the Jewish Political Studies Review, the first and only journal dedicated to the study of Jewish political institutions and behavior, Jewish political thought, and Jewish public affairs.
Published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (http://www.jcpa.org/), the JPSR appears twice a year in the form of two double issues, either of a general nature or thematic, with contributors including outstanding scholars from the United States, Israel, and abroad. The hard copy of the Spring 2005 issue will be available in the coming weeks."
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The Forgotten Narrative: Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries by Avi Beker
European Politics: Double Standards toward Israel by Manfred Gerstenfeld
Annals of Israeli-Albanian Contacts on Establishing Diplomatic Relations by Yosef Govrin
Perspectives - Jomo Kenyatta and Israel by Asher Naim
Assessing the American Jewish Institutional Response to Global Anti-Semitism by Steven Windmueller
The New Muslim Anti-Semitism: Exploring Novel Avenues of Hatred by Raphael Israeli
Arab and Muslim Anti-Semitism in Sweden by Mikael Tossavainen
Kill a Jew - Go to Heaven:
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Israel in the Australian Media by Tzvi Fleischer
Barbara Tuchman's Comments on Israel by Moshe Yegar
Hidden in Plain Sight: Alexis de Tocqueville's Recognition of the Jewish Origin of the Idea of Equality by Joel Fishman
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