The Rothschilds and Israel
The Jews and British Together Created the State of Israel
It was drawn to our attention that renewed calumnies have gone forth against Jews and the State of Israel. Some of them center on the Rothschild family.
It is time to set the record straight.
A Video Clip referred to:
"Lord Rothschild Claims His Family Created Israel"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUpZT5hEh8Q&t=3s
The clip goes on to speak of the Rothschild family in a negative way but does not really say why.
Apart from accusing them of using inside information to make money on the Stock Exchange and bad-mouthing them it does not explicitly accuse them of anything. At the time in question such activity as described was commonly accepted and was not even illegal.
The tite of the video is taken from an article that quotes Lord Jacob Rothschild as saying that his family created Israel. Lord Jacob Rothschild apparently DID NOT actually say his family "created" Israel only that they were "crucial" in doing so. That is not the same thing. "Crucial" is usually taken to mean "very important" but not necessarily indispensable.
Lord Jacob Rothschild did say that his cousin, Dorothy de Rothschild, helped Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann familiarize himself with the British establishment. It said that: "Weizmann met members of the British Government and convinced them to issue the Balfour Declaration in 1917 recognizing the need for a National Home for the Jews in the Holy Land." This may be somewhat gross exagerrated. Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952) indeed was very important in preparing the way for the Balfour Declaration but he was not the only personage lobbying for it. it may or may not have gone ahead without him.
The establishment of the State of Israel was a joint British-Jewish enterprise.
Another claim (mentioned elsewhere) against the Rothschilds is that:
The Rothschilds are commonly believed to have engineered WWI and waited until 1917 when Britain showed signs of trouble. The Zionist family then promised the British Government that they could convince the US to enter the war and ensure Britain's victory over Germany on the basis that the British government handed control of Palestine to the Zionists.
This is ridiculous, a sheer invention. The Balfour Declaration was the outcome of considered policy reaching back for centuries. It was issued when World War-1 was going well for the Allies and Germany on the way to defeat. The USA declared war on the German Empire on April 6, 1917. The Balfour declaration was issued on November 2, 1917. At the time Britain was hoping for increaded US assistance to recover from the after-effects of the war. This may have affected the timing of the Declaration but only marginally so. The USA under President Woodrow Wilson was favorable to Zionist ambitions but not any more, possibly much less, than Britain was.
The British Cabinet at the time included:
David Lloyd George - Prime Minister
Lord Birkenhead - Lord Chancellor
Lord Curzon of Kedleston - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords
Bonar Law - Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons
Austen Chamberlain - Chancellor of the Exchequer
Edward Shortt - Secretary of State for the Home Department
Arthur Balfour - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Lord Milner - Secretary of State for the Colonies
Winston Churchill - Secretary of State for War and Air
Edwin Montagu - Secretary of State for India
Walter Long - First Lord of the Admiralty
Sir Albert Stanley - President of the Board of Trade
Robert Munro - Secretary for Scotland
Ian Macpherson - Chief Secretary for Ireland
Lord French - Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
Christopher Addison - President of the Local Government Board
Rowland Prothero - President of the Board of Agriculture
H. A. L. Fisher - President of the Board of Education
Lord Inverforth - Minister of Munitions
Sir Robert Horne - Minister of Labour
George Barnes - Minister without Portfolio
Sir Eric Geddes - Minister without Portfolio
Out of these most were positive and the the following at the time were very strongly in favor:
David Lloyd George - Prime Minister, a Welshman and Restorationist from birth,
Arthur Balfour - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the equivalent in modern terms of a Christian Zionist.
Lord Milner - Secretary of State for the Colonies
Winston Churchill - Secretary of State for War and Air.
Probably the only one that was strongly reserved about the Balfour Declaration was
Edwin Montagu - Secretary of State for India, who happened to be Jewish.
Other politicians of importance who supported the measure at the time included Herbert Samuel, Mark Sykes, Jan Smuts of South Africa.
The Balfour Declaration was issued on November 2, 1917.
It took the form of a letter to Lord Rothschild.
The Rothschild family:
...was founded by Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744- 1812, Frankfurt) and his five sons, Amschel Mayer, Salomon Mayer, Nathan Mayer , Karl Mayer, and Jakob, or James, Mayer . Starting out in a Frankfurt banking house, Mayer and his sons became international bankers, establishing branches in London, Paris, Vienna, and Naples by the 1820s. In addition to banking and finance, the Rothschild businesses have encompassed mining, energy, real estate, and winemaking. From the early 19th century the family has been known for its considerable charitable activities, particularly in the arts and education.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rothschild-family
The Balfour Declaration was contained in a letter dated 2 November 1917 from the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Walter Lionel Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland.
His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
This actually does not say that much but in lieu of anything else it was made into a foundational document.
Ever since the 1600s, if not beforehand, English leaders and prominent figures had spoken of the need to create an independent polity for the Jews in the Holy Land. Anyone who reads the Bible and takes it literally sees the need for that. Recurring Jewish refugee crises had exacerbated the situation. The Jews did not really want to go elsewhere and "elsewhere" was not always enthusiastic about taking them anyway. The Jews were admired and had proven their potential capability. The Ottoman Empire which had ruled over the area was being dissolved. The Russians were in the midst of a Revolution and could not interfere. The Germans were defeated. The French were receving Lebanon and Syria. The Holy Land was up for grabs. It was poorly populated at the time and seriously under-developed. The British felt a need to be in that region and already had placed themselves in Egypt and by the Suez Canal. It was an opportune moment that might not last. Nearly all members of the Cabinet were in favor of it. The British Public would like it. The US, France, the Dominions, and others were also in favor. Everything seemed to have come together for that moment and it was seized. The result was the Ballour Declaration which was put into effect almost immediately afterwards.
The Balfour Declaration had been addressed to:
Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (1868 - 1937) who was a British banker, politician, zoologist and soldier. He was the son of Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild the first practising Jew to sit as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
Lionel Walter was a great-grandson of Meyer Rothschild founder of the Roshschild dynasty.
Lionel Walter was socially important and prominent in local Jewish and Zionist activities. He later became the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews from 1925 to 1926.
He was also the first Jewish peer in England.
An article in "The Times" reports that (Lord Jacob "James") Rothschild said his family at the time was divided on the idea of Israel, noting that some members "didn't think it was a good thing that this national home be established there".
Even before this the Rothshcilds had been invovled with the Zionist Movement.
An early Rothschild supporter of Zionism was Baron Abraham Benjamin Edmond James de Rothschild (1792-1868). He was the son of Jakob Mayer Rothschild (1792 - 1868) and the grandson of the founder of the Rothschild family, Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812). Edmond, played a major role in financing the construction of railroads and the mining business that helped make France an industrial power. He also invested in the importation of tea and in the wine industry. He became one of the richest men in the world. He was a leader of the French Jewish community and faithful to the Laws of Judaism. In France Edmund Rothschild had been a strong supporter of Zionism almost from the beginning. Edmund, together with his brother Alphonse, had been supporting Jews in Russia since 1880. More Pogroms in Russia (1881-2), and accompanying increased anti-Semitic agitation created a refugee problem. A need was felt to locate alternate areas of Settlement.
Rabbi Shemu'el Mohilewer (Mohilever) (1824 - 1898) appealed to Edmund Rothschild to help support Jewish settlement in Palestine. Rabbi Mohilever believed that only in Palestine would Jewish agricultural settlement succeed, because of the Jews' special relationship to their ancient homeland.
Rabbi Mohilever worked closely with Laurence Oliphant, a Christian Zionist and an emissary of the Lord Mayor of London. Both men sought to help as many Jews emigrate to Palestine as possible. Rav Mohilever even issued a public statement of support for Oliphant:
Our brethren should not suspect that his intention is to strengthen the Christian religion and divert our people from their faith. He and his wife wish only for the fulfillment of the words of the prophets that Israel will be restored to its Land, and that [the Jews] should do this in a way that enables them to keep every detail of the Jewish religion.
Edmund responded immediately to the appeal of Mohilever and may well have already been considering such action beforehand. At that time Palestine was ruled by the Ottoman Turks.
In 1850 the Jewish population in the Holy Land had been recorded at about 14,730. It had increased to 24,000 by 1882. Over the period 1882-1889 Baron Edmund acquired or gained control over a series of small settlements. He encouraged agriculture especially viniculture and the production of wine. The supported settlements included Metulla, Rosh Pina, Zichron Ya'acov, Mazkeret Batya, Rishon Lezion and others. From 1901 control of these settlements was given over to Baron Morris Hirsch. At that time they comrpised about 66% of the Jewish-owned land in Palestine. Additional Rothschild settlements such as Pardes Hanna, Binyamina, Givat Ada, came later.
In 1923, after the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the beginning of the British Mandate over Palestine, Baron Edmund founded the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association (PJCA) administered by his son James Armand Rothschild. It is estimated that Edmund Rothschild spent over $50 million in supporting the settlements. He backed research in electricity by engineers and financed the development of an electric generating station in Palestine.
The Rothschild family have continued their support for Israel. They have contributed to Israeli charities and businesses.
James A. de Rothschild financed the Knesset building as a gift to the State of Israel and the Supreme Court of Israel building was donated to Israel by Dorothy de Rothschild.
Someone should tell them about Brit-Am.
In a speech to the early settlers Edmund Rothschild had declared:
I have not come to your aid because of your poverty and suffering, as there are many cases of similar distress in the world; I have done this because I have seen in you the fulfillers of Israel's dream of resurrection and of the precious ideal of us all - the sacred goal of Israel's return to the homeland of its forefathers.