‘Technical assistance’ as the basis of a diplomatic relationship : the building of Israel-Singapore relations, 1959-1969

• Main Author: Dinesh Prem Nair
• Other Authors: Koh Keng We
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::History::Asia::Singapore::Politics and government
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/66238
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The history of the State of Israel’s relationship with the Republic of Singapore during its formative years (1959-1969) has long been shrouded in relative secrecy and has not been given significant attention beyond passing references or its now well-known role in developing the Singapore Armed Forces. More importantly, this relationship has long been assessed primarily from the Singaporean point of reference. Virtually no attempt has been made to evaluate Israel’s objectives and approaches in provisioning such assistance and developing its relationship with Singapore. This paper attempts to do that. It argues that the success of Israel’s attempt to forge an official diplomatic relationship with Singapore was the result of a series of carefully calibrated technical assistance programs that were adapted to meet Singapore’s requirements. These were in turn shaped and dictated by a careful appraisal of Singapore’s geopolitical circumstances. This success ultimately proved to be the genesis of the strong Israel-Singapore relationship that persists up till the present day.