Switzerland and Israel, two small states surrounded by bad people

Published on May 5, 2024 at 09:04. / Modified on May 5, 2024 at 09:05.

It is a psychoanalyst and not a Minister of Foreign Affairs who must be contacted to understand Switzerland’s emotional relations with Israel. The therapist will not explain the convoluted and partly contradictory decisions of the National Council’s External Affairs Commission regarding the financing of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. But at least he will explain its origin. Two small peace-loving states but surrounded by hostile people who threaten their existence. This ideological and mental identification of a part of the Swiss with Israel dates back more than sixty years. And even if this pro-Israeli euphoria has diminished significantly over the years, particularly after the war in Lebanon in 1982 and the two Intifadas of 1987 and 2000 to 2006, there remains a strong current of sympathy for the State. Hebrew. First in the most conservative circles, close to the UDC, or among religious fundamentalists. Where the myth of a small armed and ingenious state which resists the forces of evil is part of the ideological baggage. Then within the army where, since the exchange of pilots and information in the 1970s to exploit French Mirage fighters, there has been a real admiration for the military capabilities of the IDF and a strong appetite for military-industrial collaboration. . In this context comes the famous affair of transmission of the Mirage engine plans to Israel by a Swiss spy..

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