The Anti-Allende Jews

Chapter 3 is about Jewish opposition to Allende’s government and comprises four sections. The first section examines anti-Allende Jews who were unaffiliated with the institutions of Chilean Jewry. Like their Allendista coreligionists, these anti-Allende Jews were predominantly Chilean-born, educated males of Eastern European background who became involved in national politics during their time at public high schools or at the University of Chile. However, a number of Allende’s Jewish detractors shifted toward right-wing politics. The second section focuses on affiliated anti-Allende Jews such as Gil Sinay, the perennial leader of the organized Jewish-Chilean community. The third section contextualizes the weakness of right-wing antisemitism in Allende’s Chile. Despite the radicalization process undergone by Chilean right-wingers at the time, most refrained from antisemitic rhetoric, and even far-right terrorists did not plan acts of antisemitic violence. This absence of antisemitism meant that there were no barriers preventing anti-Allende Jews from aligning with the Right. The fourth and final section of this chapter highlights the most distinctive aspects of this story—President Allende and the Jews—constituting the conclusion of this study’s Part 1 . It does so by contrasting the Chilean experience with those of neighboring South American countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.