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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Israel and the Socio-Economic Status of South Africa's Jewish Community |
Author: | Marmont, Jean-Jacques |
Year: | 1989 |
Periodical: | Journal of Modern African Studies |
Volume: | 27 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 143-152 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | South Africa Israel |
Subjects: | Jews foreign policy Ethnic and Race Relations international relations |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/161360 |
Abstract: | The links that the Israelis have forged with Pretoria are strongly affected by the role and importance of the local Jewish community, including its delicate relationship with the Afrikaner-controlled regime. While 120,000 Jews may appear to be trivial in number, their concentration in the main urban centres helped to make them a significant commercial and economic force in South Africa prior to 1948. Although the magnitude of Jewish financial power never created the strong political leverage that is to be found in a number of highly industrialized nations, the community's contribution to the besieged economy of South Africa has had a profound effect on key Afrikaner decisionmakers, notably as regards their willingness to approve the outflow of funds to Israel. Explaining the relationships between the two governments as a function of Israel's concern for Jewry presents an immediate, short-term excuse for that State's long-term economic interests. Notes, ref. |