'In the strategic interests of Canada': Canadian arms sales to Israel and other Middle East states, 1949-1956

The general subject of this thesis is Canada's Middle East policies since the May 1948 establishment of Israel. Specifically, the focus is on the sale of Canadian arms and military equipment to Israel, from 1949 to 1956, as a reflection of the nature and development of Canadian foreign policy. The last part of the thesis is devoted to a discussion of Canada's September 1956 decision to sell Israel a squadron of F-86 'Sabre' jet fighter planes, an analysis based on the view that this decision represented a continuation and logical extension of Canada's foreign policy, rather than a radical departure.;Canada's record during the immediate postwar period has been recalled by many authors with fondness and an over-emphasis on the idealism and peaceable goals of Canada's policy-makers, particularly with regard to the Middle East.;This paper relies heavily on primary sources gleaned from archives in both Canada and Israel during 1990, including a mass of documents which have been declassified only recently. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).