Prospects for Israel-Cuba Relations Amid Recent Developments

Following the historic announcement on Wednesday, December 17, by the leaders of the United States and Cuba to end 53 years of hostility and severed relations and to establish full diplomatic ties, members of the Jewish community in Cuba have expressed hope that this will lead to a rapid improvement in trade with the United States, benefiting Cuban Jews. Enrico Rosenberg, a Jewish businessman within the Cuban Jewish community, stated in an interview with the Hebrew section of Israel Radio on Thursday, December 18, that Jews will be at the forefront of advancing trade relations between their homeland and the United States, noting that many companies in the U.S. are eager to engage economically in Cuba, some of which belong to American Jews. Rosenberg also mentioned that the Castro brothers have always maintained good relations with Cuban Jews and that anti-Semitism has not existed in Cuba. At the same time, Alan Gross, who was imprisoned in Cuba for five years on charges of espionage for the U.S., expressed satisfaction with the status of the Jewish community in Cuba upon his return to America on Wednesday, describing it as largely free and increasingly economically prosperous. According to the Jerusalem Post, Gross acknowledged the efforts of those who worked for his release, mentioning both the Cuban Jewish community and American Jews. The 65-year-old Gross was arrested in 2009 while working with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to 'help expand communications and telecommunications for the Jewish community in Cuba.' Gross himself is Jewish and was accused by Cuba of being a member of the U.S. intelligence agency. He began his return to America with the Hebrew phrase 'Chag Hanukkah Sameach' (Happy Hanukkah). Gross was detained by Cuba on the grounds that under the guise of promoting freedoms for the Jewish community in Cuba, he was on a 'mission' against Cuba's 'national security.' Barack Obama also congratulated Jews during the Hanukkah ceremony at the White House for Gross's release. In exchange for Gross's release, the U.S. freed three Cuban spies. This mutual release was seen as a goodwill gesture ahead of the historic announcement by the leaders of the two countries. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Friday, December 19, that there is 'hope' that following the opening of the U.S. embassy in Havana, Israel could also establish political relations with Cuba. Haaretz added that the reasons for Cuba severing relations with the U.S. are completely different from those that distanced Cuba from Israel. Less than three years after Fidel Castro's socialist revolution in 1959, which freed Cuba from U.S. colonial rule, and following the October 1962 missile crisis that nearly led to World War III, Cuba severed relations with the U.S. but maintained its embassy with Israel. Haaretz noted that Israel and Cuba had very close and cordial relations from the establishment of Israel until 1973, praising mutual revolutionary spirit. According to Haaretz, similar initiatives in Israel and Cuba during the first 25 years after Israel's establishment increased the commonalities and spirit of understanding between the two countries and brought them closer together. Even during the Six-Day War in 1967 and Israel's victory over several Arab countries, which had ties with Cuba and the Soviet Union, Fidel Castro maintained full political relations with Israel. However, during the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and after the joint attack by Egypt and Syria on Israel, while Cuba expanded its relations with Egypt, Algeria, and the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat, relations between the governments of Jerusalem and Havana were severed. Israel was surprised and displeased by this unilateral severance, especially since Fidel Castro suddenly announced this decision while attending a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Algeria, where Muammar Gaddafi of Libya embraced Castro several times in delight over the decision. Haaretz reported that despite this, Fidel Castro correctly distinguished between severing relations with Israel and continuing relations with Cuban Jews, who still had the opportunity to operate. However, in 1978, coinciding with the events of the Iranian revolution and increasing signs of Castro's support for Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian revolutionaries, the Cuban government ordered the closure of the Jewish organization in Cuba. Haaretz writes that Cuba's increasing dependence on Venezuelan oil and economic assistance from the Islamic Republic of Iran in recent years has been an obstacle to improving relations between Cuba and Israel in the recent period, but now, following the historical developments of recent days, a new window for re-establishing relations between Israel and Cuba may have opened. The number of Jews remaining in Cuba is 1,500, but this number still constitutes a relatively significant community among the countries of the Caribbean and Central America. The roots of Jewish life in Cuba date back to 1492, following the widespread expulsion of Jews from Spain and Andalusia. At that time, Jews expelled from Spain arrived in Cuba alongside Christopher Columbus. Later, Jews expelled from Portugal during the Inquisition also joined the previously arrived Jews in Cuba. At the same time, Jews and 'New Christians' from Brazil and Jewish immigrants from the Netherlands made their way to Cuba. The first Jewish organization in Cuba was established in 1914; at that time, about 2,000 Jews lived in Cuba, mostly residing in Havana. This number increased to 8,000 in 1925 and to 20,000 in 1935. Cuban Jews, following World War II, preferred to move to the U.S. due to concerns about the atmosphere created by the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the U.S., as the Soviet Union was a supporter of Fidel Castro and his revolution. In 1952, at the time of the Cuban revolution and Fidel's rise to power, 15,000 Jews remained in Cuba, most of whom also moved to the U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Israel. The Castro government granted Jews relative freedom to hold their religious ceremonies, but in 1991, these freedoms increased, allowing Jews to hold their ceremonies in public. Raul Castro himself has participated at least once in recent years in the lighting of Hanukkah candles at the Jewish synagogue.