The Pragmatic Entente: Israeli-Iranian Relations, 1948-1988

"The Pragmatic Entente" is the first comprehensive work on the long standing yet ever changing relationship between Israel and Iran. Sohrab Sobhani draws on the experience and first hand accounts of those individuals involved in Israeli-Iranian relations before and after the 1979 arrival of Khomeini in Tehran. He studies this relationship against the complex background of Middle East politics. Sobhani interviews many former Iranian officials and reveals much new information explaining why Iran and Israel act the way they do and why their interests have converged over the last forty years. The book traces the principle trends in the emergence of the relationship between the two countries and identifies the main factors leading to both continuity and change in their relations. Organized in chronological order, The Pragmatic Entente concludes with a discussion of future Israeli-Iranian relations, examining the reasons why the Tehran-Tel Aviv axis will continue to be an enduring feature of the Middle Eastern power configuration.

The book begins with a discussion of the origins of Israeli-Iranian relations which existed at first in order to aid Iraqi Jews in relocation to Israel. Sobhani goes on to discuss how Iran's religious right used the issue of Israel's recognition by Iran as a political weapon against the central government. Further chapters examine in depth: the Israeli-Iranian alliance against radical Arab states; support of Kurdish rebels inside Iraq; the implications of the 1973 Yom Kippur War; British withdrawal from the Persian Gulf; an Israeli-Iranian plan to develop missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Policymakers as well as students and scholars of Middle Eastern politics will find "The Pragmatic Entente" stimulating reading.