RIDING THE ISRAELI TIGER: TRANS-NATIONALISING THE SINGAPORE-ISRAEL RELATIONSHIP (1965-1974)

Abstract

This thesis is an exploration of the Singapore-Israel relationship during the first decade of Singapore’s independence. It is a story about the contested and contingent trajectory of Singapore’s defence-foreign policy nexus evaluated in light of the Singapore-Israel relationship, as well as Singapore’s relationship with its Malay neighbours and other regional powers. In light of Singapore’s Israeli connection, international developments like the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War had significant repercussions on Singapore and this thesis explores how Singapore responded to these challenges.

It is also a story about fears, about the tiger that came to live in the minds of regional players observing the Singapore-Israel relationship and how Singapore exploited the fears for its own purposes. Whether one feels those fears were justified or not, my sense is that these fears were very palpable and all too real for the statesmen and policymakers involved in those dramatic developments.

By exploring the Singapore-Israel relationship from a transnational perspective, this thesis aims to address a sizable gap in the literature and evaluate the external influences on Singapore’s defence-foreign policy nexus. It also hopes to give due recognition to a hitherto under-appreciated topic.