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164-578: Revisionist Zionism is a form of Zionism characterized by territorial maximalism. Revisionist Zionism promoted expansionism and the establishment of a Jewish majority on both sides of the Jordan River . Developed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky , this ideology advocated a "revision" of the " practical Zionism " of David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann which was focused on the settling of Eretz Yisrael ( Land of Israel ) by independent individuals. Differing from other types of Zionism , Revisionists insisted upon

328-576: A Jewish state in Palestine with as much land, as many Jews , and as few Palestinian Arabs as possible. Following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Zionism became Israel's national or state ideology . Zionism initially emerged in Central and Eastern Europe as a secular nationalist movement in the late 19th century, in reaction to newer waves of antisemitism and in response to

492-641: A Semitic language which flourished as a spoken language in the ancient Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during the period from about 1200 to 586 BCE, and continued to be used in some parts of Judea during the Second Temple period and up until 200 CE. It is the language of the Hebrew Bible and the Mishnah , central texts in Judaism . Hebrew was largely preserved throughout later history as

656-527: A settler colonialist movement. Some proponents of Zionism accept the characterization of Zionism as settler-colonial or exceptionalist. The term "Zionism" is derived from the word Zion ( Hebrew : ציון , romanized :  Tzi-yon ) or Mount Zion , a hill in Jerusalem , widely symbolizing the Land of Israel. Mount Zion is also a term used in the Hebrew Bible . Throughout eastern Europe in

820-491: A "pure Jewish settlement" in Palestine on the basis of "100 per cent Jewish labor" and the claim to an exclusively Jewish economy. The Zionist leadership aimed to establish a fully autonomous and independent Jewish economic sector to create a new type of Jewish society. This new society was intended to reverse the traditional economic structure seen in the Jewish Diaspora, characterized by a high number of middlemen and

984-459: A Jewish demographic majority, the Zionist movement was faced with a problem, namely the presence of the local Arab (and primarily non-Jewish) population. The practical issue of establishing a Jewish state in a majority non-Jewish region was an issue of fundamental practical importance for the Zionist movement. Zionists used the term "transfer" as a euphemism for the removal, or ethnic cleansing, of

1148-766: A Jewish state would be in the best interest of the British Empire, perhaps even an autonomous extension of it in the Middle East . When, in 1935, the Zionist Organization failed to accept Jabotinsky's program, he and his followers seceded to form the New Zionist Organization . The NZO rejoined the ZO in 1946. The Zionist Organization was roughly composed of General Zionists , who were in the majority, followers of Jabotinsky, who came in

1312-529: A Polish officer that a Jewish brigade should be established within the Polish army to defend against a German attack. Many of the activists who had fled Poland returned to organize underground activity to resist the German troops occupying the country. In October 1937, Jabotinsky met with Marshall Edward Smygly-Rydz to arrange an alliance between Revisionist Zionist and the anti-semitic Polish regime. Jabotinsky used

1476-547: A boycott center, but this was also unsuccessful. There were 10 Revisionist Zionist youth groups in Warsaw , Poland , one of which was Betar . Jabotinsky became head of Betar in 1929, but the actual organization was founded by Aron Propes in 1923. Menachem Begin joined Betar in 1929 in Poland and was head of the national unit, which was the largest branch of Betar in the world. Socialist Zionist youth movements in Poland warned of

1640-404: A call to Jews to take it upon themselves to appropriate the land. Zionism saw itself as bringing Jews into the modern world by redefining what it means to be Jewish in terms of identification with a sovereign state, rather than Judaic faith and tradition. Zionism sought to reconfigure Jewish identity and culture in nationalist and secular terms. This new identity would be based on a rejection of

1804-441: A century after the beginnings of emancipation , Jews had moved from the margins to the forefront of European society. In the urban centers of Europe and America, Jews played an influential role in professional and intellectual life, considered in proportion to their numbers. During this period as Jewish assimilation was still progressing most promisingly, some Jewish intellectuals and religious traditionalists framed assimilation as

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1968-433: A clearly defined ideology which was more of a feature of Zionists on the left. Initially, the stance of the movement was to reject the policies of the contemporary Zionist leadership under Chaim Weizmann. The lack of a coherent ideology was something the movement took pride in since it removed them from the brand of traditional party politics and did not emphasize identification with religion or social class. However, despite

2132-509: A close second, and Labour Zionists , led by David Ben-Gurion , who comprised a minority yet had much influence where it mattered, in the Yishuv . Despite its strong representation in the Zionist Organization, Revisionist Zionism had a small presence in the Yishuv, in contrast to Labour Zionism, which was dominant among kibbutzim and workers, and hence the settlement enterprise. General Zionism

2296-427: A government-in-exile. Jabotinsky changed the invasion plan after the 1939 White Paper. Britain restricted Zionist land purchases, limited immigration to 75,000 for the next five years, and suggested an Arab-dominated state be formed in the next 10 years. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Jabotinsky focused on creating another Jewish Legion. The only place where he could recruit people to join this organization

2460-587: A humiliating negation of Jewish cultural distinctiveness. The development of Zionism and other Jewish nationalist movements grew out of these sentiments, which began to emerge even before the appearance of modern antisemitism as a major factor. In this sense, Zionism can be read as a response to the Haskala and the challenges of modernity and liberalism, rather than purely a response to antisemitism. Emancipation in Eastern Europe progressed more slowly, to

2624-406: A leading role. The settlements established by Hibbat Zion lacked sufficient funds and were ultimately not very successful but are seen as the first of several aliyahs, or waves of settlement, that led to the eventual establishment of the state of Israel. The conditions in Eastern Europe would eventually provide Zionism with a base of Jews seeking to overcome the challenges of external ostracism, from

2788-476: A liberated, dignified person eager to defend both personal and national pride. The Zionist goal of reframing of Jewish identity in secular-nationalist terms meant primarily the decline of the status of religion in the Jewish community. Prominent Zionist thinkers frame this development as nationalism serving the same role as religion, functionally replacing it. Zionism sought to make Jewish ethnic-nationalism

2952-464: A like attempt to bring to Palestine the Jewish proletariat of Poland, Lithuania, Romania, and the Turkish Empire (1879 and 1882). Reform Jews rejected this idea of a return to Zion. The conference of rabbis held at Frankfurt am Main over July 15–28, 1845, deleted from the ritual all prayers for a return to Zion and a restoration of a Jewish state. The Philadelphia Conference, 1869, followed

3116-603: A more active way than most Christians viewed the Second Coming." The religious Judaic notion of being a nation was distinct from the modern European notion of nationalism. Ultra-Orthodox Jews strongly opposed collective Jewish settlement in Palestine, viewing it as a violation of the three oaths sworn to God: not to force their way into the homeland, not to hasten the end times , and not to rebel against other nations . They believed that any attempt to achieve redemption through human actions, rather than divine intervention and

3280-681: A much more hawkish outlook towards Britain's involvement in the Mandate, and it had an ardently nationalist vision of society and government. After the establishment of the State of Israel , it was the Irgun wing of the Revisionist Party that formed Herut , which in turn eventually formed the Gahal party when Herut and the Liberal parties formed a united list called Gush Herut Liberalim (or

3444-569: A nation is reflected in the nature of the symbolism of the movement, which are drawn from modern sources and appropriated as Zionist, instancing the fact that the melody of the Hatikvah anthem drew on the version composed by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana . The rejection of life in the diaspora was not limited to secular Zionism; many religious Zionists shared this opinion, but not all religious Zionism did. Abraham Isaac Kook , considered one of

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3608-402: A national liberation movement for the repatriation of an indigenous people (which were subject to persecution and share a national identity through national consciousness ), to the homeland of their ancestors as noted in ancient history . Similarly, anti-Zionism has many aspects, which include criticism of Zionism as a colonialist , racist , or exceptionalist ideology or as

3772-469: A national language was the sense of legitimacy it gave the movement, by suggesting a connection between the Jews of ancient Israel and the Jews of the Zionist movement. These developments are seen in Zionist historiography as a revolt against tradition, with the development of Modern Hebrew providing the basis on which a Jewish cultural renaissance might develop. Zionists generally preferred to speak Hebrew ,

3936-555: A nationalist project. They drew on religious Jewish sources and non-Jewish texts in reconstructing a national identity and consciousness. This new Jewish historiography divorced from and, at times at odds with, traditional Jewish collective memory. It was particularly important in early nation building in Israel, because Jews in Israel are ethnically diverse and the origins of Ashkenazi Jews were not known. Notable proponents of this racial idea included Max Nordau , Herzl's co-founder of

4100-495: A nationalistic context. It adapted traditional Jewish religious concepts, such as the devotion to the God of Israel, reverence for the biblical Land of Israel, and the belief in a future Jewish return during the messianic era, into a modern nationalist framework. To be sure, the yearning for a return to the land of Israel "was entirely quietistic" and the daily prayers of a return to Zion were all accompanied by an appeal to God, rather than

4264-601: A political platform called 'The Ultimate Objective' which demanded that Congress proclaim that the ultimate objective of Zionism was the establishment of a Jewish state that had a Jewish majority on both sides of the Jordan River. If the Congress accepted the platform, that would indicate that it supported Revisionist ideas and leadership. If it did not accept the platform, the Revisionists would secede. Ultimately,

4428-768: A possible invasion of Palestine in April 1940. In August 1939, Menachem Begin told the Irgun that he wanted the invasion to take place in October 1939. He planned to lead the Betar who would land on the beach at Tel Aviv and the Irgun would occupy the Government House in Jerusalem, hold it for 24 hours, and declare a provisional government. After Jabotinsky died or was arrested, Revisionists in Europe and America would proclaim

4592-615: A quarter of the 3,000 men in "Haganah-B" returned to the Haganah due to their support for the Mizrachi, General Zionists, and Jewish State Party. "Haganah B" was transformed into the Irgun after Tehomi split from the group to join the Haganah. Jabotinsky initially adopted the Haganah's doctrine of self-restraint because he wanted a legal legion that was formally affiliated with the military and he thought that an illegal counterinsurgency would make that impossible. However, once "Haganah B" became

4756-473: A reality. The Zionist solution to the perceived deficiencies of diasporic life (or the " Jewish Question ") was dependent on the territorial concentration of Jews in Palestine, with the longer-term goal of establishing a Jewish demographic majority there. Early Zionists were the primary Jewish supporters of the idea that Jews are a race, as it "offered scientific 'proof' of the ethno-nationalist myth of common descent". According to Raphael Falk , as early as

4920-427: A reinterpretation of Messianism along traditionalist lines in which human intervention would prepare (and specifically only prepare) for the final redemption. Accordingly, the Jewish immigration in this vein was intended to be selective, involving only the most devout Jews. Their idea of Jews as a collective was strongly tied to religious notions distinct from the secular movement referred to as Zionism which developed at

5084-526: A sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning a Jewish state". Jewish settlements were proposed for establishment in the upper Mississippi region by W.D. Robinson in 1819. Ideas of Jewish cultural unity developed a specifically political expression in the 1860s as Jewish intellectuals began promoting the idea of Jewish nationalism. Zionism would be just one of several Jewish national movements which would develop, others included diaspora nationalist groups such as

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5248-443: A scarcity of productive workers. By developing fundamental sectors such as industry, agriculture, and mining, the goal was to "normalize" Jewish life which had grown "abnormal" as a result of living amongst non-Jews. Most of the Zionist leadership saw it as imperative to employ strictly Jewish workers in order to ensure the Jewish character of the colonies; indeed they sought to minimize mixing with Arabs to, amongst other reasons, avoid

5412-492: A self-defense unit that was organized by Catholic Poles to defend against the possibility of a Ukrainian invasion into Polish territory. Jabotinsky and Menachem Begin both expressed solidarity with Poland following the German invasion. However, almost all of Betar's national leadership in Warsaw fled Poland because of rumors that German troops were executing Polish and Jewish political activists. Begin also fled Poland and proposed to

5576-484: A settlement in Gaza, but moved later to Smyrna . After deposing the old rabbi Aaron Lapapa in the spring of 1666, the Jewish community of Avignon, France , prepared to emigrate to the new kingdom. Proto-Zionist figures in the eighteeenth and nineteenth centuries include the rabbis Yehuda Bibas (1789–1852), Tzvi Kalischer (1795–1874), and Judah Alkalai (1798–1878). Alkalai and Kalischer developed their ideas as

5740-615: Is ingrained in the man's 'blood', in his physical-racial type, and only in it." According to Hassan S. Haddad, the application of the Biblical concepts of Jews as the chosen people and the " Promised Land " in Zionism, particularly to secular Jews, requires the belief that modern Jews are the primary descendants of biblical Jews and Israelites. This is considered important to the State of Israel, because its founding narrative centers around

5904-435: Is not a psychosis... nor is it a lie. Anti-Semitism is a necessary outcome of a collision between two kinds of selfhood [or 'essence']. Hate is dependent upon the amount of 'agents of fermentation' that are pushed into the general organism [i.e., the non-Jewish group], whether they are active in it and irritate it, or are neutralized in it. In this sense, Zionism did not seek to challenge anti-semitism, but rather accepted it as

6068-444: Is viewed as an essentially negative factor, even in religious Zionist ideology, and seen as responsible for the diminishing status of Jews living as a minority. Responding to the challenges of modernity, Zionism sought to replace religious and community institutions with secular-nationalistic ones, defining Judaism in "terms of Christianity." Indeed, Zionism maintained primarily the outward symbols of Jewish tradition, redefining them in

6232-604: The Ashkenazi an augury—" Next year in Jerusalem —which was then included in the thrice-daily Amidah (Standing prayer). The biblical prophecy of Kibbutz Galuyot , the ingathering of exiles in the Land of Israel as foretold by the Prophets , became a central idea in Zionism. The forerunners of Zionism, rather than being causally connected to the later development of Zionism, are thinkers and activists who expressed some notion of Jewish national consciousness or advocated for

6396-533: The General Zionists . The 1929 riots by Arabs in Palestine led to the radicalization of the Zionist movement. This led to the dwindling of the General Zionist movement and the struggle for leadership in the 1931 elections to the 17th Zionist Congress between Revisionist Zionists and Labor Zionists. In the 1929 elections to the 16th Congress, the Revisionists won only 7% of the votes, but in

6560-633: The Haskalah , or Jewish Enlightenment. During this period, as Jewish assimilation in Europe was progressing, some Jewish intellectuals framed assimilation as a humiliating negation of Jewish cultural distinctiveness. The development of Zionism and other Jewish nationalist movements grew out of these sentiments, which began to emerge even before the appearance of modern antisemitism as a major factor. Assimilation progressed more slowly in Tsarist Russia where pogroms and official Russian policies led to

6724-823: The Israeli Declaration of Independence in May 1948, the main revisionist party, Herut (founded in June 1948), remained in opposition. The party slowly began to revise its ideology in an effort to change this situation and to gain political power. While Begin maintained the Revisionist claim to Jewish sovereignty over all of Eretz Israel, by the late 1950s, control over the East Bank of the Jordan ceased to be integral to Revisionist ideology. Following Herut's merger with

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6888-641: The Israel–Jordan Treaty of Peace . The Herut party in 1948 won 14 seats in the 1949 elections. The official Revisionist party did not win any seats in the 1949 elections and would merge with Herut in 1950. In 1965, Herut became Gahal after merging with the Liberal Party. Gahal joined the government for the first time in 1967 and Menachem Begin became minister without portfolio in Levi Eshkol's government. In July 1970, Begin and his colleagues left

7052-581: The Jordan River , and was against partitioning Palestine with the Arabs, such as suggested by the Peel Commission . The 1921 British establishment of Transjordan (the modern-day state of Jordan ) adversely affected this goal, and it was a great setback for the movement. Before Israel achieved statehood in 1948, Revisionist Zionism became known for its advocacy of more belligerent, assertive postures and actions against both British and Arab control of

7216-520: The Kadimah nationalist Jewish students' movement; he used the term in 1890 in his journal Selbst-Emancipation ( Self-Emancipation ), itself named almost identically to Leon Pinsker 's 1882 book Auto-Emancipation . Fundamental to Zionism is the belief that Jews constitute a nation and have a moral and historic right and need for self-determination in Palestine . This belief developed out of

7380-556: The Knesset , Israel's parliament, are deemed to fulfill this function, and Zionist parties represented in the Knesset are apportioned a number of Congress delegates proportional to their strength in the Knesset. The late left-wing leader Shulamit Aloni on several occasions criticized this practice, stating that "Most Israeli citizens neither know nor care that when they go to the polls they are among other things also electing delegates to

7544-531: The Liberal Party in 1965, references to the ideal of Jewish sovereignty over "both banks of the Jordan" appeared less and less frequently. By the 1970s, the legitimacy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was no longer questioned. In 1994 the complete practical abandonment of the "both banks" principle was apparent when an overwhelming majority of Likud Knesset Members (MKs) voted in favour of

7708-896: The Stern Gang emerged. Both the Irgun and the Stern Gang were responsible for several attacks against the British to try to expel them from Palestine. In 1935, after the Zionist Executive rejected Jabotinsky's political program and refused to state that "the aim of Zionism was the establishment of a Jewish state", Jabotinsky resigned from the World Zionist Organization . He founded the New Zionist Organization (NZO), known in Hebrew as Tzakh , to conduct independent political activity for free immigration and

7872-635: The Yishuv , with little Zionist resources being deployed in support of European Jews. The State of Israel would be established in 1948 over 78% of mandatory Palestine following a civil war and the first Arab-Israeli war . Primarily due to expulsions by Zionist forces, and later the Israeli army, only a Palestinian minority would remain in the land over which Israel was established. The Zionist mainstream has historically included liberal , labor , revisionist , and cultural Zionism , while groups like Brit Shalom and Ihud have been dissident factions within

8036-406: The "Messianists". Jabotinsky later argued for establishing a base in the Yishuv and developed a vision to guide the Revisionist movement and the new Jewish society on economic and social policy centered around the ideal of the Jewish middle class in Europe. Jabotinsky believed that basing the movement on a philosophy contrasting with the socialist-oriented Labour Zionists would attract the support of

8200-493: The "Stern Gang" by the British, was led by Avraham "Yair" Stern until his death. Stern did not join the Revisionist Zionist party in university but instead joined another group called Hulda. He formed Lehi in 1940 as an offshoot from Irgun, which was initially named Irgun Zvai Leumi be-Yisrael (National Military Organization in Israel or NMO). Following Stern's death in 1942—shot by a British police officer—and

8364-595: The "surplus of Jews, the inassimilable residue" from Eastern Europe who had arrived in Germany in response to the pogroms. The pogroms motivated a small number of Jews to establish various groups in the Pale of Settlement and Poland aimed at supporting Jewish emigration to Palestine. The publication of Autoemancipation provided these groups with an ideological charter around which they would be confederated into Hibbat Zion ("Lovers of Zion") in 1887 where Pinsker would take

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8528-418: The 1870s Zionist and pre-Zionist thinkers conceived of Jews as belonging to a distinct biological group. This re-conceptualization of Jewishness cast the " volk " of the Jewish community as a nation-race, in contrast to centuries-old conceptions of the Jewish people as a religious socio-cultural grouping. The Jewish historians Heinrich Graetz and Simon Dubnow are largely credited with this creation of Zionism as

8692-551: The 1890s, Theodor Herzl (the father of political Zionism) infused Zionism with a practical urgency and would work to unify the various strands of the movement. His efforts would lead to the First Zionist Congress at Basel in 1897, which created the Zionist Organization (ZO), renamed in 1960 as World Zionist Organization (WZO). The Zionist Organization was to be the main administrative body of

8856-423: The 1930s, agreeing with the outlawing of strikes and militarism that fascism entailed. Leftist propaganda described Jabotinsky as a fascist during the 1930s and he was seen as a fascist by many other Zionists. Jabotinsky supported the outlawing of strikes because he was fervently anti-socialist and saw socialism as incompatible with Zionism. He was sympathetic to the ideology of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini during

9020-522: The 1930s. This changed when Mussolini aligned himself with Adolf Hitler, at which point Jabotinsky ceased to associate with Mussolini. However, Jabotinsky retained his belief that the goals of Zionism could only be achieved by taking over Palestine through a military effort. Jabotinsky organized the Jewish Legion which was a force of 5,000 soldiers that contributed to the British conquest of Palestine during World War I. In addition, Jabotinsky organized

9184-668: The 1931 elections, they won 21% of the votes. In 1931, Jabotinsky forced Chaim Weizmann to resign as president of the World Zionist Organization. Jabotinsky wanted to establish Revisionist Zionism as a separate movement that existed independent from the general Zionist movement. However, Revisionist delegates would not join Jabotinsky in announcing immediate secession from the Zionist movement. Supporters of Jabotinsky's idea to secede were Abba Ahimeir , Uri Zvi Greenberg , and Zeev von Weisel . Jabotinsky created

9348-527: The Arab Palestinian population. The concept of "transfer" had a long pedigree in Zionist thought, with moral considerations rarely entering into the discussions of what was viewed as a logical solution-opposition to transferring the Arab population outside Palestine was typically expressed on practical, rather than moral grounds. The concept of forcibly removing the non-Jewish population from Palestine

9512-510: The Arabs), Jabotinsky's statements were ambiguous. In some writings he supported the notion, but only as an act of self-defense, in others he argued that Arabs should be included in the liberal democratic society that he was advocating, and in others still, he completely disregarded the potency of Arab resistance to Jewish settlement, and stated that settlement should continue, and the Arabs be ignored. Jabotinsky believed Arab opposition to Zionism

9676-481: The Bund . Zionism emerged towards the end of the "best century" for Jews who for the first time were allowed as equals into European society. During this time, Jews would have equality before the law and gain access to schools, universities, and professions which were previously closed to them. By the 1870s, Jews had achieved almost complete civic emancipation in all the states of western and central Europe. By 1914,

9840-732: The Congress was held every two years in various European cities, save for interruptions during the two World Wars. Their goal was to build an infrastructure to further the cause of Jewish settlement in Palestine. Since the Second World War, meetings have been held approximately every four years. Also, since the creation of the State of Israel , the Congress has met every four or five years in Jerusalem. The 38th World Zionist Congress took place in 2020. The World Zionist Congress includes representatives of Zionist World Unions , Women's Zionist Organizations with Special Status and International Jewish Organizations . Zionist participants in

10004-700: The East Bank of the Jordan and most of the areas within Israel's post-1949 borders. In 1968 Begin defined the "eternal patrimony of our ancestors" as "Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem, Judea, [and] Shechem [Nablus]" in the West Bank. In 1973 Herut's election platform called for the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza. When Menachem Begin became leader of the broad Likud coalition (1973) and soon afterwards Prime Minister (in office: 1977–1983), he considerably modified Herut's expansive territorial aims. The party's aspiration to unite all of mandatory Palestine under Jewish rule

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10168-830: The General Zionists. In line with this thinking, the Revisionists transplanted into the Yishuv a youth movement, Betar. They also set up a paramilitary group, Irgun, a labour union, the National Labor Federation in Eretz-Israel , and health services. The latter were intended to counteract the increasing hegemony of Labour Zionism over community services via the Histadrut and address the Histadrut's refusal to make its services available to Revisionist Party members. The paramilitary organization of

10332-411: The Great Powers, and would "form part of a defensive wall for Europe in Asia, an outpost of civilization against barbarism." In 1902, Herzl published Altneuland , a utopian novel which portrays a Jewish state where Jews and Arabs live together. In the novel, Jewish immigration had not forced the Arabs to leave, orange exports had multiplied tenfold, and Arab landowners profited from selling land to

10496-542: The Haganah in 1920 which became a central part of the Israeli army in the future. Jabotinsky ruled out the possibility of establishing a police state, whether it was under communist or fascist leadership due to his belief in the necessity of having a regime under which the individual could thrive. However, he still viewed fascism as a pragmatic option and believed that democracy had not worked well in any country except for England. Jabotinsky said that there were three common factors between fascism and Revisionist Zionism which were

10660-408: The Haganah in 1931 because they opposed its domination by the Histadrut. They formed the "Haganah-B" which was commanded by a Revisionist Zionist, Abraham Tehomi. "Haganah B" was founded by Avraham Tehomi in 1931. Tehomi led "Haganah-B" until December 1936 when he agreed to give the leadership position to Jabotinsky. The group did not became completely Revisionist until April 1937 when Tehomi and about

10824-405: The Herut-Liberal Bloc). In 1973 the new Likud Party was formed by a group of parties which were dominated by the Revisionist Herut/Gahal. After the 1977 Knesset elections it became the dominant party in a governing coalition, and up to the present day it has remained an important force in Israeli politics. In the 2006 elections , Likud lost many of its seats to the Kadima party which had formed

10988-430: The Irgun formed an underground movement called "The Fighters for the Freedom of Israel" or the Stern Gang. This group used terrorism and political assassinations to try to expel the British from Palestine. Following Israel's declaration of independence in May 1948, both the Irgun and the Stern Gang were dissolved and many of the organization's members joined the Israel Defense Forces. The movement called Lehi, and nicknamed

11152-410: The Irgun set off another bomb in the Arab market in Haifa which killed 35 and wounded 70. On August 26, 1938, the Irgun set off a bomb in the market in Jaffa which killed 24 and injured 35. In response to the White Paper in 1939, the Irgun bombed British facilities. The British responded by arresting Irgun commander David Raziel in May. In addition, on August 31, 1939, the rest of the Irgun high command

11316-402: The Irgun, following Jabotinsky's death, wanted to conquer both sides of the river independently of the British. The Irgun stream of Revisionism opposed power-sharing with Arabs. In 1937, Jabotinsky rejected the conclusion of the Peel Commission , which proposed a partition of Palestine between Jews and Arabs; it was however accepted by the Labor Zionists. On the topic of " transfer " (expulsion of

11480-550: The Irgun, the organization became an independent underground organization. The Irgun carried out a number of attacks against the British and Arabs. In September 1937, the Irgun killed 13 Arabs which was said to be in retaliation for the deaths of three Jews. The summer of 1938 was the high point of the Irgun's campaign. On July 6, 1938, the Irgun set off a bomb in a milk can in the Arab market in Haifa which killed 21 and injured 52. On July 15, 1938, an electric mine in David Street in Jerusalem killed 10 and injured 30. On July 25, 1938,

11644-415: The Israeli war in Lebanon in 1982 and the Sabra and Shatila massacre carried out by Israel's Lebanese Christian allies, Begin resigned as prime minister of Israel. Begin was replaced by Yitzhak Shamir who was also a member of Likud in 1983. Another member of Likud, Benjamin Netanyahu, came from a family of Revisionist Zionists. He was elected prime minister of Israel in 1996. After World War I , Jabotinsky

11808-415: The Jewish identity which developed while living amongst non-Jews . Accordingly, the early Zionists sought to develop a nationalist Jewish political life in a territory where Jews constitute a demographic majority. The early Zionist thinkers saw the integration of Jews into non-Jewish society as both unrealistic (or insufficient to address the deficiencies associated with the demographic minority status of

11972-465: The Jewish right to sovereignty over the whole of Eretz Yisrael , which they equated to Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan . It was the main ideological opponent to the dominant socialist Labor Zionism . Revisionist Zionism directly opposed Labor Zionism within the general Zionist movement. Revisionist Zionism had its own paramilitary group called the Irgun , out of which another organization known as

12136-543: The Jews in Europe) and undesirable, since assimilation was accompanied by the dilution of Jewish cultural distinctiveness. Moses Hess , a leading precursor of Zionism, commented on the perceived insufficiency of assimilation: "The German hates the Jewish race more than the religion; he objects less to the Jews' peculiar beliefs than to their peculiar noses." Prominent leaders of the Zionist movement expressed an "understanding" of antisemitism , echoing its beliefs: Anti-Semitism

12300-452: The Jews. Walter Laqueur describes Herzl in real life as emphasizing the importance of close relationships between Jews and Muslims on several occasions. Altneuland also reflected Herzl's belief in the importance of technology and progress. The Jewish state in the novel is a highly advanced society, where scientific and technological innovation is celebrated and valued. Before World War I, although led by Austrian and German Jews, Zionism

12464-773: The National Unity Government under Golda Meir as a protest against the Rogers Peace Plan. Gahal would become Likud in 1973 after merging with three nationalist splinter groups. In 1977, Menachem Begin and Likud took power in Israel, with Begin becoming Israel's prime minister. Following Israel's capture of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day War, Revisionism's territorial aspirations concentrated on these territories. These areas were far more central to ancient Jewish history than

12628-460: The Nazis were gaining power. Revisionist Zionism has strongly influenced modern right-wing Israeli parties, principally Herut and its successor Likud . Revisionist Zionism was based on a vision of "political Zionism", which Jabotinsky regarded as following the legacy of Theodor Herzl , the founder of modern political Zionism. His main demand was the creation of Greater Israel on both sides of

12792-529: The Polish press to call for the evacuation of 1.5 million Jews from eastern Europe, mostly from Poland. In spring 1939, Poles set up a guerrilla training school for Revisionist Zionists at Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains. 25 members of the Irgun were brought to Poland from Palestine and were taught sabotage and insurrection by the Polish Army. The Polish Army also provided weapons for 10,000 men for

12956-622: The Revisionist movement was called the National Military Organization, or the Irgun. The Irgun (short for Irgun Tsvai Leumi , Hebrew for "National Military Organization" ארגון צבאי לאומי ) had its roots initially in the Betar youth movement in Poland, which Jabotinsky founded. By the 1940s, they had transplanted many of its members from Europe and the United States to Palestine. The Revisionists split from

13120-574: The Tsarist regime, and internal changes within the Jewish communities there. The groups which formed Hibbat Zion included the Bilu group which began its settlements in 1882. Shapira describes the Bilu as serving the role of a prototype for the settlement groups that followed. At the end of the 19th century, Jews remained a small minority in Palestine. At this point, Zionism remained a scattered movement. In

13284-540: The World Zionist Congress are free to form Brit Olamit or Zionist World Unions (ideological groupings), which are somewhat like political parties . While Israeli political parties can participate in the Congress, brits are also organized and voted into the Congress by non-Israelis, making the Congress a multinational deliberative body for the Jewish diaspora. However, as aliyah has brought Jews to Israel from other countries, Israeli representation in

13448-568: The World Zionist Congress. (...) Had the Zionist Movement been required to do in Israel what it does in other countries - i.e., recruit paying members and get these members to hold specific elections to the World Zionist Congress - there might have been revealed an embarrassing low number of committed Zionists in Israel". Two women's organizations have special status in the Zionist Organization and have full voting rights: The international Jewish organizations have also been represented in

13612-682: The Zionist Congress since 1972, provided that they accept the Jerusalem Program , even if not all their members are declared Zionists. These bodies have limited voting rights – they do not vote on matters of candidature and elections to the institutions of the WZO. The following are the International Jewish Organizations (limited voting rights): The Zionist Congress is conducted by

13776-441: The Zionist effort also held similar beliefs regarding Jewish and Arab rights in Palestine. Unlike other forms of nationalism, the Zionist claim to Palestine was aspirational and required a mechanism by which the claim could be realized. The territorial concentration of Jews in Palestine and the subsequent goal of establishing a Jewish majority there was the main mechanism by which Zionist groups sought to realize this claim. By

13940-465: The Zionist movement, meaning that he wanted a military force independent of the Arab population that the Arabs would not be able to resist successfully. This military force would protect Jewish immigration to Palestine and would allow the goals of Zionism to be achieved. This was one of the more radical and militant perspectives among Zionist thinkers. Jabotinsky believed that it was necessary for people to own private property in order to have liberty which

14104-406: The Zionist settlers of the first aliyah had ventured to create a "pure Jewish settlement," they did grow to rely on Arab labor due to the lack of availability of Jewish laborers during this period. With the arrival of the more ideologically driven settlers of the second aliyah, the idea of "avoda ivrit" would become more central. The future leaders of the Zionist movement saw an existential threat in

14268-420: The anticipation of restoration were based on messianic beliefs and religious practices, not material nationalistic conceptions. The Zionist claim to Palestine was based on the notion that Jews had a historical right to the land which outweighed the rights of the Arabs, which were "of no moral or historical significance." According to Israeli historian Simha Flapan, the view expressed by the proclamation " there

14432-478: The arrest of many of its members, the group went into eclipse until it was reformed as "Lehi" under a triumvirate of Israel Eldad , Natan Yellin-Mor , and Yitzhak Shamir . Shamir became the Prime Minister of Israel forty years later. Stern viewed Zionism as a national liberation movement and supported armed struggle to achieve independence. He did not want to wait until Britain's war against Nazi Germany

14596-469: The claim has "remained forever elusive". With the arrival in Palestine of more ideologically motivated settlers after the turn of the century, the Zionist movement began to emphasize the importance of the productivization of Jewish society and the so-called "conquest of labor," the belief that the employment of exclusively Jewish labour was the pre-condition for the development of an independent Jewish society in Palestine. The Zionist movement sought to build

14760-511: The coming of the Messiah , constituted a rebellion against divine will and a dangerous heresy. The cultural memory of Jews in the diaspora revered the Land of Israel. Religious tradition held that a future messianic age would usher in their return as a people., a 'return to Zion' commemorated particularly at Passover and in Yom Kippur prayers. In late medieval times, there arose among

14924-442: The concept of an " Ingathering of the exiles " and the " Return to Zion ", on the assumption that all modern Jews are the direct lineal descendants of the biblical Jews. The question has thus been focused on by supporters of Zionism and anti-Zionists alike, as in the absence of this biblical primacy, "the Zionist project falls prey to the pejorative categorization as 'settler colonialism' pursued under false assumptions, playing into

15088-418: The concept of das völk : people of shared ancestry should pursue separation and establish a unified state. Zionist thinkers view the movement as a "revolt against a tradition of many centuries" of living parasitically at the margins of Western society. Indeed, Zionism was uncomfortable with the term "Jewish," associating it with passivity, spirituality and the stain of "galut". Instead, Zionist thinkers preferred

15252-536: The construction of Zionist identity as a militarized nationalism arose in contrast to the imputed identity of the Diaspora Jew as a "feminised" Other . She describes this as a relationship of contempt towards the previous identity of the Jewish Diaspora viewed as unable to resist antisemitism and the Holocaust. Lentin argues that Zionism's rejection of this "feminised" identity and its obsession with constructing

15416-458: The context of ideological developments within modern European nations in the 19th century. The concept of the "return" remained a powerful symbol within religious Jewish belief which emphasized that their return should be determined by Divine Providence rather than human action. Leading Zionist historian Shlomo Avineri describes this connection: "Jews did not relate to the vision of the Return in

15580-447: The creation of a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River , that is, a state which would include all of present-day Israel, as well as the West Bank , Gaza and either all or part of the modern state of Jordan . Nevertheless, the terms of the Mandate allowed the mandatory authority, Britain, to restrict Jewish settlement in parts of the mandate territory. In 1922, before the Mandate officially came into effect in 1923, Transjordan

15744-474: The denial of a class struggle, "compulsory arbitration" of labor disputes, and prioritizing national interests over the interests of a specific social or economic class. The organization of the Revisionist movement under Jabotinsky was flawed since Jabotinsky's control of the movement was akin to European far-right groups in the 1930s. The Irgun largely followed the Centrists' ideals but it followed them with

15908-436: The distinctive trait of Jews rather than their commitment to Judaism. Zionism instead adopted a racial understanding of Jewish identity, which paradoxically mirrored anti-Semitic views by suggesting that Jewishness is an inherent, unchangeable trait found in one's "blood." Framed this way, Jewish identity is only secondarily a matter of tradition or culture. Zionist nationalism embraced pan-Germanic ideologies, which stressed

16072-602: The eastern part of the mandate of Palestine by the British. The two central points of the Revisionist program were that Trans-Jordan belonged to the Zionists and that the British must reconstitute the Jewish Legion as a permanent part of the military force in Palestine. The British had dissolved the Jewish Legion and separated Trans-Jordan from the territory given to the Jewish state under the Balfour Declaration after World War I. Ideologically, Revisionism advocated

16236-549: The elections, Jabotinsky suspended the activities of all party institutions and deposed all central party functionaries. He also appointed himself sole leader of the Revisionist movement. In 1935, the Revisionists seceded from the World Zionist Organization because of its refusal to declare the establishment of a Jewish state as its immediate aim. The Revisionists formed the New Zionist Organization and elected Jabotinsky as its president. The Revisionist movement

16400-486: The emigration of three million Jews between 1882 and 1914, only 1% of which went to Palestine. Those who went to Palestine were driven primarily by a sense of self-determination and Jewish identity, rather than just in response to pogroms or economic insecurity. The arrival of Zionist settlers to Palestine during this period is widely seen as the start of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The Zionist claim to Palestine

16564-411: The employment of Arab labor-the fear that the "half-wild natives" would rise up against their "Jewish masters" motivated the movement on a practical level to work towards a society based on purely Jewish labor. Zionism rejected traditional Judaic definitions of what it means to be Jewish, but struggled to offer a new interpretation of Jewish identity independent of rabbinical tradition. Jewish religion

16728-407: The emptiness and futility of trying to 'combat' anti-Semitism." Herzl's project was purely secular, the selection of Palestine, after considering other locations, was motivated by the credibility the name would give to the movement. From early on, Herzl recognized that Zionism could not succeed without the support of a Great Power. His view was that this Judenstaat would serve the interests of

16892-491: The end of the century. In contrast, Hess advocated for the establishment of an independent Jewish state in pursuit of the economic and social normalization of the Jewish people. Hess believed that emancipation alone was not a sufficient solution to the problems faced by European Jewry; he perceived a shift of anti-Jewish sentiment from a religious to a racial basis. For Hess, religious conversion would not fix this anti-Jewish hostility. Christian restorationist ideas promoting

17056-463: The entire Mandate for Palestine territory, including Palestine itself and Transjordan, on opposite sides of the Jordan River , into a sovereign Jewish state, loyal to the British Empire . To this end, Jabotinsky advocated for mass Jewish immigration from Europe and the creation of a second Jewish Legion to guard a nascent Jewish state at inception. Jabotinsky wished to convince Britain that

17220-462: The envisioned European and German culture of the state where Jews were simply the transmitters of imperialist culture rather than producers or creators of culture. Like Pinsker, Herzl saw antisemitism as a reality that could only be addressed by the territorial concentration of Jews in a Jewish state. He wrote in his diary: "I achieved a freer attitude toward anti-Semitism, which I now began to understand historically and to pardon. Above all, I recognized

17384-471: The establishment of a Jewish State. In its early years under Jabotinsky's leadership, Revisionist Zionism was focused on gaining support from Britain for settlement. Later, Revisionist groups independent of Jabotinsky initiated campaigns against the British to open up immigration during the 1930s following the White Paper , which severely limited Jews' right to immigrate at a time considered critical as

17548-467: The experiences of European Jewry, which the early Zionists believed demonstrated the danger inherent to their status as a minority. In contrast to the Zionist notion of nationhood, the Judaic sense of being a nation was rooted in religious beliefs of unique chosenness and divine providence, rather than in ethnicity. Daily prayers emphasized distinctiveness from other nations; a connection to Eretz Israel and

17712-504: The hands of Israel's critics and fueling the indignation of the displaced and stateless Palestinian people," whilst right-wing Israelis look for "a way of proving the occupation is legitimate, of authenticating the ethnos as a natural fact, and of defending Zionism as a return". A Jewish "biological self-definition" has become a standard belief for many Jewish nationalists, and most Israeli population researchers have never doubted that evidence will one day be found, even though so far proof for

17876-446: The ideas of Giuseppe Garibaldi because of Garibaldi's emphasis on European nationalism. Garibaldi believed that it was necessary for the rich and poor of a country to unite through love of their homeland. The strong emphasis on nationalism translated into Jabotinsky's own ideas about establishing a Jewish homeland. Jabotinsky was unsympathetic towards fascism in his early years. However, he became increasingly aligned with fascism during

18040-481: The ideological basis for Zionism, Der Judenstaat , is typically translated as The Jewish State. Herzl sought to establish a state where Jews would be the majority and as a result, politically dominant. Ahad Ha'am , the founder of cultural Zionism criticized the lack of Jewish cultural activity and creativity in Herzl's envisioned state which Ha'am referred to as "the state of the Jews." Specifically, Ha'am points to

18204-473: The lack of a clear ideology, one clear belief of the original Revisionist leadership was the need to create a Jewish majority in Palestine despite the protests of the indigenous Arab population in the land. Jabotinsky would not accept the partition of Palestine into two states. He wanted a Jewish state that expanded over all of the Land of Israel, including the Emirate of Transjordan which had been established on

18368-424: The late 19th century was among assimilated Central European Jews who, despite their formal emancipation, still felt excluded from high society. Many of these Jews had moved away from traditional religious observances and were largely secular, mirroring a broader trend of secularization in Europe. Despite their efforts to integrate, the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe were frustrated by continued lack of acceptance by

18532-539: The late 19th century, numerous grassroots groups promoted the national resettlement of the Jews in their homeland, as well as the revitalization and cultivation of the Hebrew language . These groups were collectively called the " Lovers of Zion " and were seen as countering a growing Jewish movement toward assimilation. The first use of the term is attributed to the Austrian Nathan Birnbaum , founder of

18696-554: The lead of the German rabbis and decreed that the Messianic hope of Israel is "the union of all the children of God in the confession of the unity of God". In 1885 the Pittsburgh Conference reiterated this interpretation of the Messianic idea of Reform Judaism, expressing in a resolution that "we consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community; and we therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor

18860-505: The legislature has increased at the expense of non-Israeli Jewish diaspora representation. A Brit Olamit (World Union) must have representation in at least five countries to send a delegation to the Congress. There are currently six Zionist World Unions (with full voting rights): Since the creation of the State of Israel, there are no elections held for Israeli delegates to the World Zionist Congress. Rather, elections to

19024-498: The life of exile. Zionism portrayed the Diaspora Jew as mentally unstable, physically frail, and prone to engaging in transient businesses like peddling or acting as intermediaries. They were seen as detached from nature, purely materialistic, and focused solely on their personal gains. In contrast, the vision for the new Jew was radically different: an individual of strong moral and aesthetic values, not shackled by religion, driven by ideals and willing to challenge degrading circumstances;

19188-462: The local national movements which tended toward intolerance and exclusivity. For the early Zionists, if nationalism posed a challenge to European Jewry, it also proposed a solution. In the wake of the 1881 Russian pogroms , Leo Pinsker , who was previously an assimilationist, came to the conclusion that the root of the Jewish problem was that Jews formed a distinctive element which could not be assimilated. For Pinsker, emancipation could not resolve

19352-457: The main liturgical language of Judaism. Zionists worked to modernize Hebrew and adapt it for everyday use. They sometimes refused to speak Yiddish , a language they thought had developed in the context of European persecution . Once they moved to Israel, many Zionists refused to speak their (diasporic) mother tongues and adopted new, Hebrew names . Hebrew was preferred not only for ideological reasons, but also because it allowed all citizens of

19516-404: The main messages of Betar was that Jews would only be able to survive if they fought back against violence or even struck first through violent means. Betar members defended Poland during the German invasion in 1939. In Sosnoweic, Betar members joined Catholic Polish youth in a civilian defense battalion. In Sanok, Betar members set up bomb shelters and dug trenches. In Bursztyn, Betar members joined

19680-401: The migration of Jews to Palestine contributed to the ideological and historical context that gave a sense of credibility to these pre-Zionist initiatives. Restorationist ideas were a prerequisite for the success of Zionism, since although it was created by Jews, Zionism was dependent on support from Christians, although it is unclear how much Christian ideas influenced the early Zionists. Zionism

19844-455: The migration of Jews to Palestine. These attempts were not continuous as national movements typically are. The most notable precursors to Zionism were thinkers such as Judah Alkalai and Zvi Hirsch Kalischer (who were both rabbinical figures), as well as Moses Hess who is regarded as the first modern Jewish nationalist. The Jewish expulsion from Spain led to some Jewish refugees fleeing to Ottoman Palestine . In 1564, Joseph Nasi , with

20008-421: The most important religious Zionist thinkers, characterized the diaspora as a flawed and alienated existence marked by decline, narrowness, displacement, solitude, and frailty. He believed that the diasporan way of life is diametrically opposed to a "national renaissance," which manifests itself not only in the return to Zion but also in the return to nature and creativity, revival of heroic and aesthetic values, and

20172-472: The movement and would go on to establish the Jewish Colonial Trust , whose objectives were to encourage European Jewish emigration to Palestine and to assist with the economic development of the colonies. The first Zionist Congress would also adopt the official objective of establishing a legally recognized home for the Jewish people in Palestine. The title of Herzl's 1896 manifesto providing

20336-546: The movement, Britain restricted Jewish immigration with the White Paper of 1939 in an attempt to ease local tensions. Despite the White Paper, Zionist immigration and settlement efforts continued during WWII . While immigration had previously been selective, once the details of the Nazi Holocaust reached Palestine in 1942, selectivity was abandoned. The Zionist war effort focused on the survival and development of

20500-462: The movement. Mainstream Zionist groups for the most part differ more in style than substance, having in some cases adopted similar strategies to achieve their goals, such as violence or compulsory transfer to deal with the Palestinians. Religious Zionism is a variant of Zionist ideology which brings together secular nationalism and religious conservatism. Advocates of Zionism have viewed it as

20664-679: The new state to have a common language, thus furthering the political and cultural bonds among Zionists. The revival of the Hebrew language and the establishment of Modern Hebrew is most closely associated with the linguist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and the Committee of the Hebrew Language (later replaced by the Academy of the Hebrew Language ). The transformation of a religious and primarily passive connection between Jews and Palestine into an active, secular, nationalist movement arose in

20828-517: The original Zionist Organization , Ze'ev Jabotinsky , the prominent architect of early statist Zionism and the founder of what became Israel's Likud party, and Arthur Ruppin , considered the "father of Israeli sociology". Birnbaum, who is widely attributed with the first use of the term "Zionism" in reference to a political movement, viewed race as the foundation of nationality, Jabotinsky wrote that Jewish national integrity relies on "racial purity", and that "(t)he feeling of national self-identity

20992-554: The other Allied powers. Acting often in conflict (but at times, also in coordination) with rival clandestine militias such as the Haganah and the Lehi (or Stern Group), the Irgun's efforts would feature prominently in the armed struggles against British and Arab forces alike in the 1930s and 1940s, and ultimately become decisive in the closing events of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . A group of fighters with particularly militant views in

21156-492: The other underground movements, which were also involved in fighting against Arab paramilitary groups). Stern reached out to Nazi Germany under Hitler and Italy under Mussolini since both of these regimes opposed the British. After World War Two, the triumvirate that replaced Stern reached out to the Soviet Union to try to find an ally against Britain. Defunct Defunct The Revisionist Zionist movement did not have

21320-479: The passing of "Arab values" into Zionist society. The employment of exclusively Jewish labor was also intended to avoid the development of a national conflict in conjunction with a class-based conflict. The Zionist leadership believed that by excluding Arab workers they would stimulate class conflict only within Arab society and prevent the Jewish-Arab national conflict from attaining a class dimension. While

21484-436: The platform was rejected after a cable was sent from Palestine by Eliyahu Golomb and Saadia Shoshani. The cable said that acceptance of the platform would lead to an Arab pogrom in Palestine. In response to the rejection of the platform, Jabotinsky tore up his membership card. The debate over secession continued for two years until shortly before the elections for the 18th Congress in 1933. In March 1933, three months before

21648-490: The point that Deickoff writes "social conditions were such that they made the idea of individual assimilation pointless." Antisemitism, pogroms and official policies in Tsarist Russia led to the emigration of three million Jews in the years between 1882 and 1914, only 1% of which went to Palestine. Those who went to Palestine were driven primarily by ideas of self-determination and Jewish identity, rather than just in response to pogroms or economic insecurity. Zionism's emergence in

21812-483: The previous year when Ariel Sharon and others split to the left from Likud. The Likud bounced back in Israel's 2009 Knesset elections , garnering 27 seats, though still outnumbered by Kadima's 28. In spite of the fact that these right-of-center parties favored a Likud-led coalition, a coalition in which the members of the Likud party comprised the majority; the Likud was chosen to form the coalition. The party re-emerged as

21976-401: The problems of the Jewish people. In Pinsker's analysis, Judeophobia was the cause of antisemitism and was primiarily driven by Jews' lack of a homeland. The solution Pinsker proposed in his pamphlet, Autoemancipation , was for Jews to become a "normal" nation and acquire a homeland over which Jews would have sovereignty. Pinsker primarily viewed Jewish emigration a solution for dealing with

22140-492: The proposal of British MP Josiah Wedgewood to make Palestine a Seventh Dominion of the British Empire. The proposal was ratified at the third Revisionist world conference which took place from December 26, 1928, to December 30, 1928. A year later, the proposal was approved by the executive committee as part of its working plan. Jabotinsky established the Revisionist Party in 1925 with the intention of replacing

22304-571: The region. Criticism of the Churchill White Paper of 1922 sparked the establishment of the Revisionist Union. The central committee of the Revisionist Union defined its relationship with Great Britain as one of mutual loyalty but it was at odds with the mandatory administration. In the 1920s, Revisionist leadership wanted clearly to define the relationship of the Revisionist movement and the British Empire. It supported

22468-406: The resurgence of individual and societal power. The revival of the Hebrew language in Eastern Europe as a secular literary medium marked a significant cultural shift among Jews, who per Judaic tradition used Hebrew only for religious purposes. This secularization of Hebrew, which included its use in novels, poems, and journalism, was met with resistance from rabbis who viewed it as a desecration of

22632-532: The rise of fascism in Poland in reference to the activities of Betar. Chaim Weizmann, the president of the World Zionist organization, referred to Betar's connection with Italian fascism . In November 1934, Benito Mussolini organized a Betar squadron at Civitavecchia where 134 cadets were trained by the Blackshirts . Their training was ended in 1937 after Mussolini aligned himself with Hitler. One of

22796-417: The sacred language. While some rabbinical authorities did support the development of Hebrew as a common vernacular, they did so on the basis of nationalistic ideas, rather than on the basis of Jewish tradition. Eliezer Ben Yehuda , a key figure in the revival, envisioned Hebrew as serving a "national spirit" and cultural renaissance in the Land of Israel. The primary motivator for establishing modern Hebrew as

22960-597: The strongest party in the Knesset in the 2013 elections and today it leads the government. In the years since the 1977 election, particularly in the last decade, Likud has undergone a number of splits to the right, including the 1998 departure of Benny Begin , the son of Herut's founder Menachem Begin (he rejoined Likud in 2008). While the initial core group of Likud's leaders such as Israeli Prime Ministers Begin and Yitzhak Shamir came from Likud's Herut faction, later leaders, such as Benjamin Netanyahu (whose father

23124-592: The success of Zionism and in 1917 the Balfour Declaration established Britain's support for the movement. In 1922, the British Mandate for Palestine would explicitly privilege the Jewish settlers over the local Palestinian population. The British would assist in the establishment and development of Zionist institutions and a Zionist quasi-state which operated in parallel to the British mandate government. After over two decades of British support for

23288-705: The support of the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, attempted to create a Jewish province in the Galilee, but he died in 1579 and his plans weren't completed. However, the community in Safed continued as did small-scale aliyah into the 17th century. In the 17th century Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676) announced himself as the Messiah and gained many Jews to his side, forming a base in Salonika. He first tried to establish

23452-592: The term "Hebrew" to describe their identity which they associated with the healthy and modern sabra. In Zionist thought, the new Jew would be productive and work the land, in contrast to the diaspora Jew who, mirroring the anti-semitic portrayals, was depicted as lazy and parasitic on society. Zionism linked the term "Jewish" with these negative characteristics prevalent in European anti-Semitic stereotypes, which Zionists believed could be remedied only through sovereignty. Israeli-Irish scholar Ronit Lentin has argued that

23616-421: The time of the 1936 Arab Revolt , the political differences between the various Zionist groups had shrunk further, with almost all Zionist groups seeking a Jewish state in Palestine. While not every Zionist group openly called for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, every group in the Zionist mainstream was wedded to the idea of establishing a Jewish demographic majority there. In order to achieve

23780-467: The two more militant streams, which would become Irgun and Lehi, supported Jewish settlement on both sides of the Jordan River ; in most cases, they differed only on how this should be achieved. (Some supporters within Labor Zionism, such as Mapai 's Ben-Gurion also accepted this interpretation for the Jewish homeland.) Jabotinsky wanted to gain the help of Britain in this endeavour, while Lehi and

23944-509: The world, including the attempt to rescue Edgardo Mortara , established a colony for Jews in Palestine. In 1854, his friend Judah Touro bequeathed money to fund Jewish residential settlement in Palestine. Montefiore was appointed executor of his will, and used the funds for a variety of projects, including building in 1860 the first Jewish residential settlement and almshouse outside of the old walled city of Jerusalem—today known as Hebrew : Mishkenot Sha'ananim . Laurence Oliphant failed in

24108-622: The year considered as the start of practical Zionism. Moral but not practical efforts were made in Prague to organize a Jewish emigration, by Abraham Benisch and Moritz Steinschneider in 1835. In the United States, Mordecai Noah attempted to establish a Jewish refuge opposite Buffalo, New York , on Grand Isle, 1825. These early Jewish nation building efforts of Cresson, Benisch, Steinschneider and Noah failed. Sir Moses Montefiore , famous for his intervention in favor of Jews around

24272-643: Was Jabotinsky's secretary) and Ariel Sharon, have come from or moved to the "pragmatic" Revisionist wing. Zionism Zionism is the ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century and aimed for the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people through the colonization of Palestine , an area roughly corresponding to the Land of Israel in Judaism , and of central importance in Jewish history . Zionists wanted to create

24436-441: Was a notion that garnered support across the entire spectrum of Zionist groups, including its farthest left factions, from early on in the movement's development. "Transfer" was not only seen as desirable but also as an ideal solution by the Zionist leadership. The notion of forcible transfer was so appealing to the movement's leaders that it was considered the most attractive provision in the Peel Commission . Indeed, this sentiment

24600-465: Was also dependent on the thinkers of the Haskalah or Jewish enlightenment, such as Peretz Smolenskin in 1872, although it often depicted it as its opponent. The idea of returning to Palestine was rejected by the conferences of rabbis held in that epoch. Individual efforts supported the emigration of groups of Jews to Palestine, pre-Zionist Aliyah , even before the First Zionist Congress in 1897,

24764-455: Was apprehended while discussing Jabotinsky's plan to invade Palestine. The Irgun was commanded by Jabotinsky until his death in 1940. Menachem Begin commanded the Irgun from 1943 until the organization was dissolved in June 1948. In 1939, the Irgun called off their campaign against the British mandatory authorities for the duration of World War Two as the British fought against the Axis powers with

24928-459: Was based on the notion that the Jews' historical right to the land outweighed that of the Arabs. In 1884, proto-Zionist groups established the Lovers of Zion , and in 1897 the first Zionist Congress was organized. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a large number of Jews immigrated first to Ottoman and later to Mandatory Palestine . The support of a Great Power was seen as fundamental to

25092-470: Was deeply ingrained to the extent that Ben Gurion's acceptance of partition was contingent upon the removal of the Palestinian population. He would go as far as to say that transfer was such an ideal solution that it "must happen some day". From the perspective of the early Zionist thinkers, Jews living amongst non-Jews are abnormal and suffer from impediments which can only be addressed by rejecting

25256-451: Was dominant among the middle class , which later aligned itself with the Revisionists. In the Jewish Diaspora, Revisionism was most established in Poland , where its base of operations was organized in various political parties and Zionist Youth groups, such as Betar . By the late 1930s, Revisionist Zionism was divided into three distinct ideological streams: the "Centrists", the Irgun , and

25420-643: Was elected to the first legislative assembly in the Yishuv , and in 1921 he was elected to the Executive Council of the Zionist Organization (known as the World Zionist Organization after 1960). He quit the latter group in 1923, thanks mainly to differences of opinion with its chairman, Chaim Weizmann . In 1925, Jabotinsky formed the Revisionist Zionist Alliance , in the World Zionist Congress to advocate his views, which included increased cooperation with Britain on transforming

25584-500: Was excluded from the terms regarding Jewish settlement. In the Churchill White Paper of 1922, the British Government had made clear that the intent expressed by the Balfour Declaration was that a Jewish National Home should be created 'in' Palestine, not that the whole of Palestine would become a Jewish National Home. All three Revisionist streams, including Centrists who advocated a British-style liberal democracy , and

25748-469: Was inevitable and that any efforts at reconciliation with Arabs would be unsuccessful. He believed that voluntary consent from the Arabs to turn Palestine into a country with a Jewish majority was not possible. Since Jabotinsky anticipated that the Arabs would resist against Jewish settlement in Palestine, he believed that superior military force was the only way to make them accept a Jewish state. Because of this, Jabotinsky advocated for an "iron wall" to assist

25912-471: Was no such thing as Palestinians " was a cornerstone of Zionist policy initiated by Ben-Gurion, Weizmann and continued by their successors. Flapan further writes that the non-recognition of Palestinians remains a basic tenet of Israeli policy. This perspective was also shared by those on the far-left of the Zionist movement, including Martin Buber and other members of Brit Shalom. British officials supporting

26076-404: Was over to begin an armed revolt against the British occupation of Palestine. While the Irgun stopped its activities against the British during World War II , at least until 1944, Lehi continued guerrilla warfare against the British authorities. It considered the British rule of Mandatory Palestine to be an illegal occupation , and concentrated its attacks mainly against British targets (unlike

26240-684: Was part of his anti-materialist, anti-communist world view. Despite this belief, he still promised that the bourgeois regime that he wanted to take power in the Jewish state would eliminate poverty. The economic crises of the Yishuv in 1926 and 1927 caused Revisionists to shift their support to urban development and private capital investment. Five figures in particular contributed to the formation of Jabotinsky's ideology: English historian Henry Thomas Buckle , Italian philosopher and historian Benedetto Croce , social reformer Josef Popper-Lynkeus , philosopher Antonio Labriola , and Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno . In particular, Jabotinsky sympathized with

26404-483: Was primarily composed of Russian Jews. Initially, Zionists were a minority, both in Russia and worldwide. Russian Zionism quickly became a major force within the movement, making up about half the delegates at Zionist Congresses. World Zionist Congress After the First Zionist Congress in 1897, the Zionist Congress met every year until 1901, then every second year from 1903 to 1913 and 1921 to 1939. Until 1946,

26568-456: Was scaled down. Instead, Begin spoke of the historic unity of Israel in the West Bank, even hinting that he would make territorial concessions in the Sinai as part of a complete peace settlement. When Begin finally came to power in the 1977 election , his overriding concern as Prime Minister (1977–1983) was to maintain Israeli control over the West Bank and Gaza. In 1983, following criticism of

26732-466: Was the United States and he did not arrive there until March 1940. He also attempted to convince British politicians to help him recruit this army, but they did not agree to do so. The British believed that they had Jewish support in their war against Nazi Germany and they believed that the creation of another Jewish Legion would create tension in the Middle East. During the first two decades after

26896-538: Was threatened with bankruptcy in 1936 when Jabotinsky moved his headquarters from Paris to London. The Revisionists opposed the World Zionist Organization's attempts to negotiate the Haavara trade agreement with Hitler . Jabotinsky attempted to get a motion passed to support an anti-Nazi boycott which was defeated 249 to 43. After this, Jabotinsky attempted to set up the Revisionist World Union as

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