The Impact of the Suez Crisis on Soviet Jews

On 29 October 1956, the Israel Defense Forces, acting in accordance with a secret agreement reached with Britain and France, launched a military operation against Egyptian positions in the Sinai Peninsula.

The Suez Crisis, which erupted 68 years ago, affected not only international politics but also the situation of Jews in the Soviet Union. The USSR’s official position was to support Egypt and condemn the actions of Israel, Britain, and France. This led to an intensification of anti-Israel rhetoric in the Soviet media, which indirectly contributed to the growth of antisemitic sentiment in society.

The reaction of Soviet Jews to these events varied widely. Documents from the period testify to a range of views and moods among the Jewish population of the USSR. For example, secret reports from the KGB Directorate for Kyiv Oblast on the reactions of Kyiv residents to events in Poland, Hungary, and Egypt contain revealing evidence.

Some Soviet Jews expressed support for Israel despite the USSR’s official position. Shabashkevich, described as a “Jewish bourgeois nationalist,” told an agent that he considered Israel’s actions justified: “The Jews are not such fools. They know what they are doing. If they were not confident, they would not have begun military action.”

He also criticised Soviet media coverage of the conflict, arguing that the real causes of the conflict were not being revealed and accusing Egypt of provocations on the border with Israel.

A Kyiv resident named Volovik, who worked as head of a department in a commission shop, expressed the following opinion in a conversation with the agent “Nine”: “There is no need to worry about Israel; it will still show what it can do. People have grown used to seeing Jews as an oppressed and despised people who can be harassed and destroyed with impunity. Yet history proves that the Sinai Peninsula rightfully belongs to Israel, just as Western Ukraine was an integral part of Ukraine.

Why, then, does Israel not have the right to fight for its national territory?”

The Suez Crisis contributed to an awakening of national self-awareness among Soviet Jews. Many began to take a greater interest in their roots, the history of Israel, and the contemporary situation of the Jewish state. This later became one of the factors that helped shape the movement for the right to emigrate to Israel.

It is interesting to note that sympathy for Israel was expressed not only by Jews. Kyiv resident Mikhail Iozefi, who said that he was not Jewish, voiced support for Israel, calling it a “cultured state.” He criticised the Soviet decision to break diplomatic relations with Israel and expressed a desire to help send volunteers to Israel rather than to Egypt.

These testimonies show that, despite official propaganda, part of the Soviet population — including both Jews and non-Jews — sympathised with Israel.

Read more about Soviet citizens’ reactions to events in the Middle East in those years on our website.

Freddy Rotman