The relationship between the Czech Republic and the State of Israel plays a fundamental role in our foreign policy.
We have traditionally continued to support the State of Israel's right to its independent existence. We perceive Israel as a developed country, a functioning democracy. Israel has managed to create a modern, flourishing state.
Our relations have tradition. Whenever our republic has been free, it has supported Israel. Indeed, the first president of the Czechoslovak Republic, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, was in April 1927 the first head of state to visit Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and kibbutzim in then-Palestine. Through his visit, Masaryk expressed solidarity with Jewish settlement in Palestine and supported Zionism as the national movement of the Jews, whose goal was the creation and maintenance of a Jewish national state on the territory of historical Palestine.
Czechoslovakia was among the first states to recognize the independent State of Israel (May 19, 1948) and provided it with effective assistance in the war of independence. Our country delivered crucial supplies of weapons (rifles, machine guns, ammunition, artillery) and especially aviation technology. It organized secret airlift operations (Operation BALAK) that were decisive for the transportation of weapons despite international embargo. Even former Israeli President Ezer Weizman completed part of his military training in Czechoslovakia in 1948, as part of the famous Czechoslovak assistance in building the Israeli Air Force (IAF).
After the Six-Day War in June 1967, our country was forced by the Soviet Union to break diplomatic relations with Israel. Conversely, on November 18, 1988, the ČSSR irrevocably recognized Palestine as an independent state.
In 1989, we again established diplomatic relations. The extraordinary relationship could continue after the forced interruption.
In 2003, it was explicitly confirmed at the EU level, at the initiative of the Czech Republic among others, that the entire Hamas movement (not just the armed components of Hamas) remains on the European Union's list of terrorist organizations.
Israel has our support in the UN. In 2012 (November 29), our country was among nine states, alongside Israel, the USA, and Canada, that voted against granting Palestine non-member observer state status in the UN. The resolution was nevertheless adopted. At that time, 41 states abstained and 138 states supported the draft resolution. Similarly, after the attack on Israel in 2023 (October 27) by Hamas, our republic was among 14 states that voted against the UN General Assembly resolution demanding an immediate, permanent, and humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, including ensuring unrestricted aid to the civilian population in Gaza. This resolution was also adopted by a majority of 120 votes. The Czech Republic further voted against another resolution (December 12, 2023) calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, unconditional release of hostages, and free access of humanitarian aid to Gaza. This resolution was also adopted, with 153 states voting in favor, 10 against, and 23 states abstaining.
In 2012, 2014, and 2016, government-to-government sessions took place between the Czech Republic and Israel. Each time, Czech government members traveled to Israel. This too is quite unique, for two governments to convene and negotiate together in this manner.
From the above, it follows that our relationship with Israel is extraordinary. We rank among Israel's most friendly states, right alongside the USA. This cannot be doubted. However, deep friendship does not mean that we must necessarily support every decision of the Israeli government.
Contrary to the current position of the Czech Republic, I state that we do not and cannot agree with the Israeli government's decision for complete military occupation of the Gaza Strip, and thus the forced displacement of its inhabitants. The continuation of killing civilians, including persons waiting for water or food, when the number of victims has exceeded 60,000 by the Israeli army, is unjustifiable.
This concerns primarily Israel's domestic politics. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains power solely with the support of the ultra-orthodox part of the political spectrum.
Those who keep the government in power are people who do not serve in the army, have extensive exemptions from paying taxes and contributions, study the Old Testament, and await a new Israel—not the one that was politically established in 1948. In their eyes, Ben Gurion, the founding father of Israel, was not the Messiah, and the new Israel will be created only by the Messiah. These political forces are not and cannot be the foundation of a modern democratic state. Their collective hostility toward Palestinians (concealed behind opposition to the Hamas movement) cannot be accepted.
Our disagreement with this policy is not and cannot be labeled as antisemitism. On the contrary, it is precisely from us, traditional friends, that it is expected that we are not blinded and that we can and have the right to point out the principles of the rule of law, including the three fundamental rights of everyone (including Palestinians in Gaza): the right to live, to be free, and to own property. The rule of law means rejecting collective guilt or responsibility. We have the right to remind of the need for a change in Israel's approach to resolving the situation in Gaza, from a military solution to a political solution.
Cyril Svoboda
