Summary
The Sneh affair, the internal ideological struggle in Mapam and ha-Kibutz ha-Artzi set off by the Prague trial of Mordehai Oren and Rudolf Slansky, which split MAPAM in January 1953 and led to the expulsion of between 160 and 220 kibutz members — among them most of the Egyptian gar’inim at Kibutz ‘Ein-Shemer, Kibutz Mesilot and Kibutz Yir’on (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 2370-2407).
Details
- Mordehai Oren of Kibutz Mizra’, who had travelled to Prague to represent MAPAM at a World Federation of Trade Unions meeting in November 1952, was charged by the Czechoslovak authorities with espionage to substantiate charges against Rudolf Slansky and other mostly Jewish party leaders; the chapter calls the Slansky and Oren trials “anti-Semitic frame-ups” whose objective was to smash residual Titoist tendencies and impose Soviet authority over Eastern Europe (Chapter 5, note 36) (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 2370-2380).
- MAPAM’s centrist leaders Me’ir Ya’ari and Ya’akov Hazan demanded a resolution denouncing the Prague trial; the left wing led by Moshe Sneh, Ya’akov Riftin and ‘Elazar Peri refused. Speaking on November 23, 1952, Riftin argued, “It is impossible to be an inseparable part [of the world of revolution] without being for Prague,” and Sneh presented the trial as “a choice between national solidarity and international solidarity” (Chapter 5, note 37). In January 1953 the left announced a new faction, the Left Section, and was expelled; Riftin and Peri accepted the leadership’s decisions at the last minute, while Sneh led several hundred activists out to form the Left Socialist Party, about 250 of whom joined the Communist Party of Israel a year and a half later (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 2370-2390).
- On January 4, 1953 ha-Kibutz ha-Artzi’s Executive Committee required every kibutz to hold a three-part referendum/loyalty oath denouncing the Prague trial, affirming the “absolute obligation” to support MAPAM and ha-Kibutz ha-Artzi decisions, and denouncing factional activity. The vote of 13.5 percent, or 1,334 members, against clause one represented a substantial ideological crisis; those who persisted against clauses two and three — between 160 and 220 members — were expelled (Chapter 5, note 38). Note 38 cautions that all published numbers underestimate the left opposition, because many quiet sympathizers may not have expressed themselves in public votes (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 2380-2407).
- Egyptians were expelled in disproportionate numbers: twenty-three members of the Egyptian gar’in at ‘Ein-Shemer voted against the referendum and were effectively expelled, twenty-four Egyptians eventually left Kibutz Mesilot over the affair, and seven Egyptians at Kibutz Yir’on were expelled, leaving with twenty others for Yad Hanah. The similarity across the three kibutzim suggests, the chapter argues, that the political and cultural formation of Egyptian ha-Shomer ha-Tza’ir was incompatible with the orientation of MAPAM and ha-Kibutz ha-Artzi once the synthesis of Zionism and socialism was strained by the cold war and by Arab-Jewish and intra-Jewish ethnic relations in Israel (The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, lines 2390-2407).
Related pages
The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, Kibutz ‘Ein-Shemer, Mapam, Moshe Sneh, Hashomer Hatza’ir