Raul Don't Rumba

In 1961, about 500 Jewish Cubans secretly left their island and flew to Israel on three planes to start new lives in the Jewish homeland. Once the Jews disembarked, the planes were serviced, cleaned and loaded with dozens of sheep - a gift from the Kibbutz Movement to the government of Cuba - then turned around and headed back to Havana.

The operation, kept secret for years, was a deal cooked up between Cuba’s new revolutionary ruler Fidel Castro and the Jewish Agency, and reflects an underlying theme in Cuban-Israeli relations since Castro’s rise to power: no real reason for the direct enmity which exists nonetheless, and which is expressed openly, because of each country’s relations with the US.

The two nations have no territorial disputes and no “usual” reason two countries choose to be enemies. But due to geopolitical considerations, Havana and Jerusalem have no official diplomatic ties and are outwardly hostile to each other - a situation not likely to change in the immediate wake of Castro’s resignation as Cuban president on Tuesday.

Well, at least Cuba is outwardly hostile to Israel. Castro let Arab terrorists train on his soil, deployed military advisers against Israel and embraced Yasser Arafat as a man he “deeply loved and admired.” Israel has backed America in every single UN General Assembly vote to maintain the economic embargo on Cuba, now in its 45th year.

But despite the acrimonious tone of their relations in public diplomatic forums, Israelis and Cubans have been quietly doing business for years, with at least one current Israeli minister, Rafi Eitan, having extensive business dealings in Cuba.

There have been in the past, and are in the present, a large number of Israeli companies doing business in Cuba, mostly in the agriculture and construction sectors.