“Relying on Your Great Influence Throughout the World”: Appeals to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus from the Middle East at the Onset of the Middle East Conflict

This article introduces into scholarly circulation appeals to Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow and All Rus from various religious groups in the Middle East between 1947 and 1950, and analyzes the phenomenon of the Moscow Patriarch being perceived as a potential protector in regional conflicts. In addition to the letter from an individual calling himself the “Chief Rabbi of Palestine”, N. Wachtfogel (1948), the article examines a collective appeal from 140 Coptic Christians in Egypt (1947) for protection against attacks by Islamists, and the visit of Emir Lotfallah to the Soviet envoy in Egypt (1950) requesting aid for Orthodox Arab refugees from Palestine. Drawing on archival evidence, the article demonstrates that these appeals became possible due to the sharp rise in the international authority of the Moscow Patriarchate following the 1945 Local Council and the subsequent extensive visit of Patriarch Alexy I to the Middle East. An analysis of the reaction of Soviet state institutions, which recommended the Patriarch refrain from responding to Wachtfogels appeal due to risks to relations with the Arab world, reveals the mechanisms of interaction between secular and ecclesiastical diplomacy within the framework of the “new course” of Soviet religious policy. The documents introduced into scholarly circulation serve as a valuable source for studying the formation of the image of the USSR and the Russian Orthodox Church in the Middle East during the early Cold War period.