AEROspeciál 20 Doma i v zámoří - Některé zahraniční mise čs. letectva v 50. a 60. letech: Akce 103 / 106 / 117 / 122 – Irra Miroslav (2025)

The foreign military and air activities of the Czechoslovak Republic (CSR), initiated in 1948 in relation to the newly established state of Israel, are now well known. At that time, it was merely a trade, without direct involvement of Czechoslovak Air Force personnel. This campaign, known by the code name "Operation DI," ended in 1950. In July of that year, the Ministry of National Defense issued a ban on any export of military material to Israel, although Israel's interest in further trade persisted. Despite the fact that this activity brought significant foreign exchange benefits to the state treasury, political reasons prevailed. Both our and the Soviet leadership expected that assistance to Israel would help strengthen the influence of the Communist Party of Israel, which could potentially seize power in the country and thus incorporate it into the Soviet sphere of influence. However, this did not happen; Israeli communists completely failed in the elections in January 1949, and thus there was no further interest in assistance from either our side or the Soviet side. For Czechoslovak foreign policy and trade, Israel was moved to the opposite side of the barricade for 40 years, and five years later, Czechoslovak air missions were helping Arab countries in their efforts for revenge for the defeat in the war for Israel's independence and for the destruction of the state of Israel. The economic effect was likely also significant...