Common values, different interests: early Israeli-Swedish cooperation on development aid to Africa

Abstract

Since its establishment in 1961 the Mount Carmel Training Centre, located in Haifa (Israel), has had a significant as well as unique role as a bridge to North-South relations. This article focuses, however, on a less known but not less important role of the center, namely its contribution to the development of Israeli-Swedish bilateral relations. The success of the joint venture derived not only from the fact that Israel and Sweden acted upon similar socialist values at the time, but also that both greatly benefitted from it: the young Israeli state, lacking in financial resources and not least in international allies, enjoyed a Swedish substantial budget supplement and the constructive rapprochement between the countries that followed; while Sweden, joining rather late the race of developed countries to the recently established African states, enjoyed Israel’s pioneering experience in the field of development aid. Thus, the article presents an intriguing case study of the winding ways that knowledge circulated within the dominant Social Democratic mid-twentieth century sphere of influence.