What if Einstein became president of Isreal in 1948?

[Ksaweri]

Excerpt from Carl Sagan's book 'Broca's Brain'...

Einstein's identification of himself as a Jew, despite his profound estrangement of traditional religions, was due entirely to the upsurge of anti-semitism in Germany in the 1920s. For this reason he also became a Zionist. But according to his biographer Philipp Frank, not all Zionist groups welcomed him, because he demanded that the Jews make an effort to befriend the Arabs and to understand their way of life- a devotion to cultural relativism made more impressive by the difficult emotional issues involved. However, he continued to support Zionism, particulary as the increasing desperation of the European Jews became known in the late 1930s. (In 1948 Einstein was offered the presidency of Isreal, but politely declined. It is interesting to speculate what differences in the politics of the Near East, if any, might have been produced by Albert Einstein as the president of Isreal.)

So what if Einstein, instead of being a powerful defender of civil liberties in the United States during the darkest period of McCarthyism in the late 1940s and early 1950s decided to politely accept the offer of the presidency instead?

I haven't got a clue, if I did there would be a timeline just about here wouldn't there? I also apologise if this has been done before.


Ksaweri
(13 posts? I think I'll never post again.)

 

[tinfoil]

Can we assume that Einstein was privy to enough nuclear secrets that the surrounding countries fear Isreal has the bomb by, say, 1955?

If he could come across as a SERIOUS supporter of 'everybody getting along' AND 'We have a big, big stick', he might be able to make a real long-term difference (assuming he doesn't get assassinated).

How about:

No arab-Isreali wars after 1955...

Real lasting peace with external and internal arabic peoples, particularly the Palestinians, before entire generations grow up 'knowing' that 'the bad guys must die'. Say, peaceful coexistance of all people and faiths within Israel, WITHOUT a need to re-partition the land.

No mid-east wars, no crises, means no United Arab Republic stuff, maybe even no OPEC for another decade or so.

Hmmm....

 

[fortyseven]

Ya it's been done before but a long time ago, so don't worry.

tinfoil why would OPEC's formation be delayed?

 

[tinfoil]

Ya it's been done before but a long time ago, so don't worry.

tinfoil why would OPEC's formation be delayed?

In OTL, the initial cooperation between Arabic (and other) oil-producing mideast nations was somewhat triggered by the mutual 'need' to eradicate Israel. When Syria and Egypt united in the short-lived United Arab Republic in 1958, it was as a direct response to Israel's existence and recent military successes.

The need to fight a common enemy is what caused the various Arab states to cooperate (which required actually talking to each other) in the first place.
This germinated an environment which can be argued to have led to the formation of OPEC in 1960.

Even if OPEC still forms on schedule, its real teeth were only exposed in OTL in 1973, during the 'oil crisis', which was DIRECTLY triggered by the Yom Kippur war. Better Arab-Israeli relations would prevent this war outright, and therefore the 'oil crisis'.


Without Israel as a common cause, the Arab nations would probably still have eventually found common ground, but in the midst of a truely equalitarian Israel, the results might have been far different.

Representative goverments might take hold sooner.

The various Arab states might not be lumped in with other Islamic states as 'The Muslims' in the eyes of the western world in OTL. People do not often realize that Iran is NOT an arabic culture, nor is any Islamic country east of there.

The whole 'terrorist culture' that has (erroneously) been linked with 'islamic culture' might never have taken root, without the Palestinian 'gadfly' to fan the flames.

I'm sure the region would still find reasons for conflict, but they might not have linked in the USA as the 'great Satan', if the USA was never required to prop up the Isrealis.

 

[BurningWickerman]

In OTL, the initial cooperation between Arabic (and other) oil-producing mideast nations was somewhat triggered by the mutual 'need' to eradicate Israel. When Syria and Egypt united in the short-lived United Arab Republic in 1958, it was as a direct response to Israel's existence and recent military successes.

The need to fight a common enemy is what caused the various Arab states to cooperate (which required actually talking to each other) in the first place.
This germinated an environment which can be argued to have led to the formation of OPEC in 1960.

Even if OPEC still forms on schedule, its real teeth were only exposed in OTL in 1973, during the 'oil crisis', which was DIRECTLY triggered by the Yom Kippur war. Better Arab-Israeli relations would prevent this war outright, and therefore the 'oil crisis'.


Without Israel as a common cause, the Arab nations would probably still have eventually found common ground, but in the midst of a truely equalitarian Israel, the results might have been far different.

Representative goverments might take hold sooner.

The various Arab states might not be lumped in with other Islamic states as 'The Muslims' in the eyes of the western world in OTL. People do not often realize that Iran is NOT an arabic culture, nor is any Islamic country east of there.

The whole 'terrorist culture' that has (erroneously) been linked with 'islamic culture' might never have taken root, without the Palestinian 'gadfly' to fan the flames.

I'm sure the region would still find reasons for conflict, but they might not have linked in the USA as the 'great Satan', if the USA was never required to prop up the Isrealis.

Or reality strikes, Einstein is seen as soft after riot, chucked out of office in 6 months. Hard-wingers take over, back to the square that is calleth one.