Israel and the Maghreb, From Statehood to Oslo (review)

It Was the First Time in the diplomatic history of Israel that the president, the prime minister, the foreign affairs minister, and other government members participated the funeral of any leader. King Hasan II in 1999 was the exception. Although the Maghreb, or North Africa, is situated far from the center of the Israeli-Arab conflict, its place in the consciousness of Israeli society is growing. The waves of Jews immigrating to Israel from Morocco, the consequences of their integration, the role of Moroccan Jews in the peace process between Israel and the Arab states, and the opening of Morocco to Israeli tourism, are the main reasons for this awareness. In his new book, Laskier describes the many faces of the relationships between Israel and the Maghreb. The book is well documented and uses new archival materiel which has only been open during the last few years. The book opens a broad perspective of the issues which are at the center of the relationships between Israel and the Maghreb. The author deals with four topics:

1. The hostile encounters, back-channel and open contacts, and common or action relating to Maghrebi-Jewish emigration to Israel (Aliyah), inter-Arab affairs, and Arab-Israeli conflict; 2. Israeli involvement in internal Maghreb politics; 3. The pioneering role played by Moroccan and Tunisian political leaders in promoting Middle East peace; and 4. The contribution of the sizeable Moroccan Jewish communities toward weaving the threads of the special secret ties between Jerusalem and Rabat and toward an Arab-Israeli dialogue.

(p. xv)

In seven chapters the author describes different aspects of the relationship between Israel and the Maghreb. It was natural that Morocco, the most populated country in the Maghreb, is the focus of discussion in most of the book.

The author deals with countries of former French North Africa: Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but researchers very often use the term "Maghreb" to include even Libya and Egypt.¹ The background of this comment is the question of Maghreb unity: are we referring to a common Maghreb politic towards Israel or are we dealing with each country's relationship with Israel individually? What are the common interests which constitute the Maghreb unity and consequently its attitude towards Israel?

The title of the book is Israel and the Maghreb, but the question is if there is a Maghreb unity and, more important, is the fundamental question of the connection between that unity and a Maghreb politics towards Israel. The Maghreb unity was molded from the following aspects: the geographical aspects (the Atlas Mountain and the Sahara desert), the composition of its population (Arabs, Berbers, Jews, and other); the Arab language; the Islamic religion; the culture; and the common historical process. But at the same time, those factors are also shaping the diversity among the Maghreb countries. For example, the influence of the Atlas and the Sahara are different in each country. The impact of the Berber's 35 percent of the population on the history and political life of Morocco is greater than the marginal one percent of Berbers in Tunisia. The place of Islam and of the Moroccan king is more important than in Algeria and Tunisia.

The question of Maghreb unity in the 20th century as a political entity with common political aspirations arose mainly as a reaction to the French colonization and during the national anti-colonialist combat after 1945. For example, in the 1920s, North African students created the L'etoil Nord-african, but its impact on national combat was marginal; or, the North-African delegation which worked at Cairo after the creation of the Arab league. This delegation published the uglier anti-Jewish memorandum.² This memorandum was influenced by the place, the time, and the political international and inter-Arab atmosphere, and could be a basis of dealing with the question of Maghreb unity and its influence on the political attitude toward Israel. But to be more precise, even the national anti-colonialist combat was independent...