Israeli-Romanian Relations at the End of the Ceausescu Era: As Seen by Israel's Ambassador to Romania 1985-1989

Based on the diaries and political reports of Yosef Govrin, and written during his mission as Israel's Ambassador to Romania (1985-1989), this work exposes the fact that daily diplomatic activity was aimed at deepening Israel's political dialogue with the Romanian leadership - the only one within the communist bloc not to have broken with Israel following the Six Day War (June 1967) - on ways to settle the Madrid Conference on peace in the Middle East. At the same time, this diplomatic activity enlarged the local Jewish communities (an unheard-of phenomenon in the Communist States), combating anti-Semitic manifestations and Romania's historian's denial of the Holocaust of Jews under Romania's facist regime (1941-1944). This book also makes public for the first time the political assessments made at the time by the author concerning the main events that lead gradually to Ceausescu's internal and external policies, to his execution and, finally, to the collapse of his regime at the end of 1989. Theinter-connection's exposed here constitute a first-hand documentary source for all those interested in getting to know this period - probably the most dramatic chapter in Romania's history in its relations with Israel, the USA, the USSR and Hungary.

Dr Govrin is a widely published author on Jewish -- Eastern European relationships and in 1991 received the Israeli Prime Minister's Prize for Israeli -- Soviet Relations 1953-1967 Dr Yosef Govrin joined Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1953. His diplomatic service between 1955 and 1970 took him to Sydney, Moscow and Buenos Aires. From 1976 to 1985 he was Director of the Ministry's East European Department, after which he was appointed Israel's Ambassador to Romania (1985-89), Deputy Director-General of the Ministry (1989-93), and Ambassador to Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and to the UNO in Vienna (1993-95). Since his retirement from the MFA in 1996, he has been Research Fellow at the L. Davis Institute of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of The Jewish Factor in the Relations between Nazi Germany and the USSR (1986, in Hebrew), Israeli -- Soviet Relations 1953-1967 (1990, in Hebrew, awarded in 1991 the Israel's Prime Minster's Prize; 1994, in Russian; 1998, in English); and many essays and research papers.