Zionism Leading to Balfour (12 February 2025, 14 Shevat, 5785).
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Contents:
1. The Land.
2. Early Attempts at Organized Settlement.
3. Modern Zionism and Restorationism.
4. The Dreyfus Affair and Theodor Herzl.
5. Jewish Soldiers in Allied Forces World War-1.
6. How Serious Really was The Balfour Declaration?
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1. The Land.
Jacob was renamed Israel. He had 12 sons who became the ancestors of the 12 Tribes of Israel.
One of the 12 sons, Joseph, gave rise to two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. So technically there were 13 Trbies.
Before then, Joseph had been sold by his brothers as a slave and taken down to Egypt.
As a result of this the whole family and their offspring (numbering 70 males and their mates) moved to Egypt.
In Egypt they increased and multiplied and were oppressed.
Under Moses the Israelites came out of Egypt, received the Torah in the Wilderness, then re-entered the Land, conquered it, and divided it amongst the 12 Tribes.
Ten of the Tribes were exiled by the Assyrians and disappeared. They became known as The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.
The tribes who remained (Judah, Benjamin, Levi, and representative minorities of the others), became known collectively as "Judah," i.e. the Jews.
They too were exiled but this time by the Babylonians.
Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to their land.
Judah became quite a large populous province existing along a Jewish Diaspora in Babylon and Persia.
The Romans eventually destroyed Judah (Judaea) and exiled all the Jews who were scattered all over the world and especially in European countries or offshoots from them.
Throughout the generations attempts to return and resettled the Land were made.
In addition to this intermittent agitation was conducted to re-establish a formal polity of Jews in the Holy Land. This became known as Zionism.
The return of the Hebrews to the Land was spoken of in Prophecy.
Various Christian personalities also spoke of the need to return the Land as an independent Kingdom to the Jews. One of the first to do this was Oliver Cromwell who was then ruler of England in the 1600s.
A movement grew up, mainly among Anglophones, to help the matter along. This was known as Restorationism.
Among Jews the incipient movements known as Zionism worked along the same lines.
In Judaism moving to the Land Israel is in principle considered a very important principle as well as being one of the 613 commandments.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Zionism
The 613 Jewish revolt against Heraclius is considered the last serious Jewish attempt to gain autonomy in Palestine in antiquity. In 1160 David Alroy led a Jewish uprising in Upper Mesopotamia that aimed to reconquer the promised land. The Jewish expulsion from Spain led to some Jewish refugees fleeing to Ottoman Palestine.
See:
Answer to Quora Query:
Is it true that Christian Zionism preceded Jewish Zionism?
https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-Christian-Zionism-preceded-Jewish-Zionism/answer/Yair-Davidiy
https://hebrewnations.com/features/vol24/3606.html#a4
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2. Early Attempts at Organized Settlement. Josef Nasi and Donna Gracia.
An early attempt to settle the Land along modern lines was made in 1558 by Dona Gracia Mendes Nasi who had born in Lisbon, Portugal, and was of Anusim (Marrano) Jewish descent though nominally born Christian.
She and her family moved to Antwerp in Belgium and grew rich through the spice trade.
The nephew of Dona Gracia, Joseph Nasi, had become an important official in the Ottoman Empire. Joseph was partly responsible for the Netherlands breaking loose from the Spanish Empire. The Sultan of the Ottoman Turks, Suleiman the Magnificent, through the agency of Joseph Nasi, granted Dona Gracia a long-term lease on the Tiberias region in Galilee which was then considered part of Syria. The Sultan also helped Dona Gracia populate the region with Jewish refugees. After Don Gracia died the project began to peter out but something of it remained. The important Jewish settlement in Tsefat in the Galilee was one of its products.
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3. Modern Zionism and Restorationism.
From the 1700s onwards an increasing number of different groups (some religious and some secular) among the Jews began to organize increased settlement. They spoke of applying political pressures and modern lobbying methods for this purpose.
This is what could be called Modern Zionism.
At about this same time many non-Jewish individuals in the west also spoke of the need to help the Jews return to the Land. Books and articles were written on the subject and political activities initiated.
Most of those involved in this matter were subjects of Britain but prominent individuals also spoke along the same lines in Italy, Spain, Netherlands, France, Germany, USA, etc.
In Britain the movement was known as Restorationism. It did not really precede Modern Zionism but rather evolved parallel to it.
In 1862, German Orthodox Rabbi Kalischer published his tractate "Derishat Tsion" ("Seeking Zion"), arguing that the salvation of the Jews, promised by the Prophets, can come about only by self-help.
He said that the Jews would prepare the infrastructure for the Lost Ten Tribes to return and settle alongside them.
Throughout their history the Jews in the Diaspoa had suffered from discrimination and frequent persecution. Both Jews and Gentile sympathizers saw the creation of a renewed Jewish polity in the Holy land as a possible solution.
The Jewish population in the area grew and by 1914 may have reached ca. 60,000 which was ca. 5% of the population.
Jerusalem, Hebron, and Tiberias had significant Jewish populations. There were also small agricultural communities including co-operatives and socialist type kibbutzim.
In 1850 ca. 4% of the population were Jewish.
British involvement grew:
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Zionism
At the urging of Lord Shaftesbury, Britain established a consulate in Jerusalem in 1838, the first diplomatic appointment in the city. In 1839, the Church of Scotland sent Andrew Bonar and Robert Murray M'Cheyne to report on the condition of the Jews there. The report was widely published[35] and was followed by Memorandum to Protestant Monarchs of Europe for the restoration of the Jews to Palestine. In August 1840, The Times reported that the British government was considering Jewish restoration.[32] Correspondence in 1841-42 between Moses Montefiore, the President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Charles Henry Churchill, the British consul in Damascus, is seen as the first recorded plan proposed for political Zionism.[36][37] ...
In 1851, correspondence between Lord Stanley, whose father became British Prime Minister the following year, and Benjamin Disraeli, who became Chancellor of the Exchequer alongside him, records Disraeli's proto-Zionist views: "He then unfolded a plan of restoring the nation to Palestine, said the country was admirably suited for them, the financiers all over Europe might help, the Porte is weak, the Turks/holders of property could be bought out, this, he said, was the object of his life..."
Moses Montefiore visited the Land of Israel seven times and fostered its development.
Towards the end of his life Disraeli wrote an article entitled "The Jewish Question is the Oriental Quest" (1877) that within fifty years, a nation of one million Jews would reside in Palestine under the guidance of the British.
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4. The Dreyfus Affair and Theodor Herzl.
The Dreyfus Affair, which erupted in France in 1894, was a vile anti-Semitic libel against Jewish officer from Alsace, France, who was falsely accused of spying for Germany. At first the responsible authorities may, or may not, have been genuinely mistaken. Nevertheless even after the innocence of Dreyfus had been proven his punishment continued for some while before his blamelessness being finally accepted. This affair resulted in increased interest in Zionism including that of TheodorHerzl. Herzel helped put the movement on a modern streamlined footing. He negotiated with foreign government such as the British, Prussians, Italoians, Catholic Papacy, Ottoman Sultantate, etc.
In 1881-1882 the Tsar sponsored a huge wave of pogroms in the Russian Empire and a massive wave of Jews began leaving, mainly for America. So many Russian Jews arrived in Jaffa that the town ran out of accommodation and the local Jews began forming communities outside the Jaffa city walls. However, the migrants faced difficulty finding work (the new settlements mainly needed farmers and builders) and 70% ultimately left, mostly moving on to America. One of the migrants in this period, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda set about modernizing Hebrew so that it could be used as a national language.
With the outbreak of WW1 many of the Jews left while others suffered from famine and disease.
# According to another estimate, the Jewish population in 1914 was 85,000 and subsequently fell to 56,000 in 1916-1919[100] as a result of World War I. #
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5. Jewish Soldiers in Allied Forces World War-1.
Zionist activity continued during World War and Jewish support for one or other of the battling parties became important.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Legion
The Jewish Legion.
A series of battalions of Jewish soldiers who served in the British Army during World War I. Some participated in the British conquest of Palestine from the Ottomans. They are referred to collectively as the Jewish Legion.
# The formation of the battalions had several motives: the expulsion of the Ottomans, gaining military experience, and the hope that their contribution would favorably influence the support for a Jewish national home in the land when a new world order was established after the war. The idea for the battalions was proposed by Pinhas Rutenberg, Dov Ber Borochov, and Ze'ev Jabotinsky, and carried out by Jabotinsky and Joseph Trumpeldor, who aspired for the battalions to become the independent military force of the Yishuv in Palestine. #
The Zion Mule Corps preceded the combat Jewish battalions formed later. Its recruits were Jews exiled to Egypt by the Ottoman Empire. It was established in the spring of 1915 and disbanded after the Gallipoli Campaign. A group of 120 former members of the Zion Mule Corps, along with Trumpeldor, joined the 20th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and formed a Jewish company within it. This was later expanded creating "The Jewish Regiment."
"The Jewish Regiment" (a regiment usually consisting of two battalions), and its symbol was a menorah with the slogan "Kadima," meaning "forward" in both "advance" and "eastward." John Henry Patterson was its commander. Patterson had led the Zion Mule Corps throughout its operations in Gallipoli and was well-liked. Patterson was an avid Zionist as well as a believer in British Israel believing the Lost Ten Tribes to be among the British..
See:
Bird Watcher.
Gentile Heroes of Israel
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/16/meiner.html
The battalions were disbanded shortly after the war. However, their activities significantly contributed to the establishment of defense organizations like the Haganah and the Irgun (both of which later became the foundation for the Israel Defense Forces).
At the beginning the concept of the battallion had been opposed by some of the leading Zionists. For instance, the secular socialist activists David Ben-Gurion (Ilater PM of Israel) and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (later President of Israel) were pro-Ottoman and had opposed the battalions. What changed their minds completely was the Balfour Declaration, after which they enlisted in the battalion.
"The Jewish Regiment" included the 39th Battalion also known as "the American Battalion," with most of its soldiers coming from the Jewish community in the United States, and a minority from England.
The existence of these forces may have influenced the Balfour declaration in a positive direction.
After the British drove out the Turks and entered Palestine in December 1917 there was formed the 40th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers which was known as "the Palestinian Battalion" of the Jewish Legion. The primary mission of this battalion was to perform guard and security duties. It was formed after the British forces entered Palestine, and many local youths wanted to participate in the Jewish military effort.
# The decision was made at the First Constituent Assembly on 2 January 1918, following a discussion in which the leadership of "Poalei Zion" supported enlistment and volunteering. Moshe Smilansky and Eliyahu Golomb argued that joining the Jewish Battalions was a political endeavor that elevated the status of the Yishuv in the eyes of its new rulers and contributed to the strength of the community. #
The battalion did not participate in battles, and its soldiers served in support roles for the British army and guarded prisoners. Towards the end the battalion was commanded by Colonel M.P. Scott, who was a Christian.
After his service, Scott remained a supporter of Zionism, quoted as saying: "England has been honored: We tore a page from the Bible inscribed with the oldest prophecy, adding England's pledge to the promissory note of God. Such a signature cannot be renounced by the nation."
The composition of the three battalions by country of origin was estimated as follows: 1,700 Americans, 1,500 Palestinian Jews, 1,400 English, 300 Canadians, 50 Argentinians, and about 50 Jewish prisoners released from Ottoman captivity.
The presence of the battalions in Palestine moderated the Arab population's attitude toward the Yishuv.
Local enthusiasm and British supports for the force waned and its numbers diminished. IKn 1921 there were riots in Palestine and members of the already-diminished Regiment participated in defending Jews from their Arab marauders.
# The "First Judean" battalion was disbanded by the British in May 1921. The disbandment of the battalions thwarted Jabotinsky's vision of establishing an official Jewish army and led the Yishuv to establish a clandestine armed force, the "Haganah," which, as its name suggests, was primarily defensive. The disbandment of the "First Judean" battalion marked a British policy against an independent Jewish defense force in the Yishuv in response to Arab aggression. #
In his book "The Legion Scroll," Jabotinsky wrote:
# The moral value of the battalion is clear to anyone capable of honest and fair thinking. War is a terrible thing, a sacrifice of human lives. But today, no one can accuse us: Where were you? Why didn't you demand: Let us, as Jews, give our lives for Eretz Yisrael? Now we have an answer: Five thousand; and there could have been many more had your leaders not delayed our matter for two and a half years. This moral aspect is invaluable; and this is what the Prime Minister of South Africa, a great lover of peace himself, meant when he said: Letting Jews fight for the land of Israel is one of the most beautiful ideas I have ever heard in my life. #
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6. How Serious Really was The Balfour Declaration?
The Balfour Declamation taken literally does not say that much. It could have been interpreted to mean little more than an expression of a favorable interest in the establishment of a national home.
It was not necessarily committal.
Nevertheless, from the beginning the Zionists understand it to imply a |British Promise for the eventual Jewish possession in principle of all of that area known as Palestine on both sides of the Jordan.
The Arabs in Palestine also understood it that way and demonstrated against it.
The British themselves saw it as promising an independent Jewish entity over most of the region west of the Jordan River. Even British notables who were later against it interpreted it in that manner but simply wished it annulled.
# In 1922, at a dinner at Balfour's residence, three of the era's most renowned statesmen: Lloyd George, Balfour, and Secretary of State for the Colonies Winston Churchill, assured Weizmann that the concept 'Jewish national home', 'always meant an eventual Jewish state.'
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/zionism/balfour.html