Moshe Sneh

(1909 - 1972)

Moshe Sneh

Moshe Sneh was a Haganah commander turned politician whose career was defined by volatile ideological reversals. After abandoning the Zionist establishment to become a central figure in the Israeli Communist Party (Maki), where he championed a staunchly anti-Zionist and pro-Soviet line, Sneh ultimately tore the party asunder. In 1965, he instigated a bitter split, breaking from the majority faction-which became Rakah-to lead a splinter group that rejected subservience to Moscow. In doing so, he abandoned the rigorous anti-Zionism he had preached for a decade, but the move proved politically fatal; while the radical faction endured (eventually reclaiming the Maki name), Sneh's group rapidly lost electoral relevance and faded into obscurity, leaving him politically isolated by the time of his death.

Works

Statement of Resignation | from the Jewish Agency [Jewish Life Vol.2 No.4] (February 1948)

What is Good for Jews? [Jewish Life Vol.2 No.11] (September 1948)

What Orientation for Palestine? (1948)

The Path I Follow (1948)

Who Threatens Israeli Independence? (1950)

New Phase in Israel [Jewish Life] (August 1949)

Which Way for World Jewish Congress? [Jewish Life Vol.3 No.12] (October 1949)

Interview with Dr. Sneh [Jewish Life] (November 1949)

Israel Is In Danger (March 1953)

Israel and Asian Liberation [Jewish Life] (September 1954)

War and Peace in the Middle East [articles by Moshe Sneh, S. Mikunis, Esther Vilenska, Paul Novick] (1967)

Communism - Democracy - The Jewish People [Theses for the 16th Congress of the Communist Party of Israel] (October 1968)

Secondary Literature

Sneh's Defection from MAPAM [Israel Horizons] (March 1953)

Dr. Sneh and the Israeli CP [Jewish Life] (January 1955)

Polemics

The Logic of Our Time [Meir Yaari -reply to Sneh- Israel Horizons] (March and April 1953)

The Mikunis-Sneh Group: A Picture of Political Degeneration [Hyman Lumer - Jewish Affairs] (1970)

The Strange World of Dr. Sneh [Phil Honor - Jewish Affairs] (1971)

Revelations of M. Sneh's Path [Information Bulletin, Communist Party of Israel] (April 1972)