The Origins of Modern Israel as a State

 

Expulsion, Persecution and Return

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Jews have had an almost uninterrupted presence in Judea, yet the great majority of Jews was dispersed around the world ever since the early exiles (Assyrian and Babylonian) and more so after the defeat by the Roman armies in 70 CE and the smaller attempts of Jewish resistance against Roman rule after that. 'Jerusalem was left a ruined city by the siege, its Temple destroyed, the walls nothing but rubble' (History 1987, 140). Rome crushed the Jews with an iron first, killed hundreds of thousands and enslaved many thousands. 'Nearly the entire land of Judaea was laid waste.' Roman military victory 'effectively ended Jewish state history in antiquity' (History 1987, 142-143). Emperor Hadrian (between 132-135 CE) even renamed the land of the Jews to 'Palestine' (land of the Philistines, one of Israel's archenemies to the southwest), to further humiliate them in cynical manner; he rebuilt the ruins of Jerusalem as a Greek polis (city), calling it 'Aelia Capitolina.' Nevertheless, some Jews remained somewhere in the land, their centre shifted from Jerusalem to Galilee in the north, yet access to their capitol was forbidden 'on pain of death,' with the notable exception of visiting the 'Wailing Wall' (the only remnant of the Temple) on the day of their defeat and expulsion by Rome in order to commemorate that sad day (History 1987, 143).

 

After the expulsion and enslavement by Rome, Jews were scattered to the four corners of the world. Anti-Semitism increased, persecutions were frequent and more expulsions of Jews took place during the Middle Ages, especially in Western Europe. Jews were more welcomed in the East, however, Russia was often very hostile towards them. 'Jewish life in Eastern Europe was hard, and often dangerous,' yet it contributed to 'create a wonderful Jewish spirit' (My People, 91). Golda Meir (1898-1978), later Prime Minister of Israel, recalled her upbringing in 'poverty-stricken, wretched little communities in which Jews eked out a living, comforting themselves with the hope that things would somehow be better one day and with their belief that there was a point to their misery' (My People, 92). Jewish life was 'terribly hard,' nearly every Jew being poor (93). Abba Eban explains that (108):

 

'The early Zionists came to Eretz Yisrael not so much because they were driven there by the hardships of their previous homes, but because they were drawn by the promise of a new life. The wanted the special joy and challenge of building one's home from the very foundations, instead of merely inhabiting a society whose foundations and main structure had already been built. Above all, they wanted a future in which the Jewish people could simply be itself and live within its own origins, its own landscapes, its own language and faith and background. They sought and found a deep harmony between their human and their Jewish identities.'

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A Persecuted People without a Country

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Although driven by 'the promise of a new life,' the suffering of Jews at the hand of Gentile rulers was a decisive factor that showed the need for autonomy in order to be safe. The pogroms in Russia (1881, 1903) had shattered the belief that assimilation was the way to gain protection by the authorities. Following the idea of Mendelssohn that 'when Jews became more and more part of the modern world they would be more and more accepted by Gentile society' (My People, 121) provide an illusion. Jews had loyally served Russia in its war against Japan, yet were not given equal rights as subjects to the czars. The only proper solution was 'a permanent home for Jews in the land of Israel' (My People, 121). Jews were, as Nathan Feinberg so accurately stated,  'a persecuted people without a country' (Holocaust, 39) in need of political autonomy so they could rule and protect themselves, and no longer be exposed to persecution and expulsions. They need a return to Zion.

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In the mid-1800s, around 90% of Jews lived in Eastern Europe, North Africa and Asia. 3 millions Jews were the so-called Ostjuden (Jews of the East), making up 75% of world Jewry (History 1996, 4). Jerusalem had a Jewish majority since 1850, with around 8,000 of the 10,000 Jews living in Palestine residing in the ancient, Davidic capitol. The other Jews lived in Safed (north), Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, Acre and Jaffa (coast). As early as 1700, 1,500 Jews from Poland, Hungary and Moravia moved to the Holy Land, yet 500 died on the journey. In 1777, 300 Hasidic Jewish families emigrated from Poland and in 1812, around 400 followers of one of the enlightened Jewish sages Vilna Gaon from Lithuania made 'Aliyah,' the Jewish concept of 'ascent' (going up, i.e., return) to Zion/Jerusalem (Israel, 3). Between 1864 and 1889, the Jewish majority of Jerusalem grew from 8,000 to 25,000 due mainly to immigration. 14,000 Arabs lived in the city; just under half a million Arabs in the land.

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Early Life in Palestine

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Life was hard in Palestine, many Jews were poor, often living of charity, yet 'the attraction of Palestine was growing.' German Jew Moses Hess advocate for 'the Jewish return to Palestine,' Jewish nationality being inseparably connected with the Holy Land (Eretz Yisrael) and the Eternal City (Jerusalem). In 1870, Charles Netter 'founded an agricultural school at Mikveh Israel (Hope of Israel)' near Jaffa with Ottoman-Turkish approval. British Christian writer Mary Ann Evans published (as George Eliot in 1876) the inspiring novel Daniel Deronda about the Zionist dream, which made its impact on many Jews, including Eliezer Ben-Yehuda who would revive Hebrew as a modern language. Evans cast a vision that 'our dispersed people in all the ends of the earth may share the dignity of a national life.' In 1878, Jews from Jerusalem bought land of a Greek landowner and founded Petah Tikvah (Gateway of Hope) an religious Jews from Safed founded Rosh Pinah. Both projects failed due to hardships (such as malaria, bad harvests, Arab harassment and lack of funds), yet the latter was revived in 1882 by Roumanian Jews fleeing persecution with funds from French Jewish philanthropist Baron Edmond de Rothschild (Israel, 4).

 

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Agriculture to cultivate and 'redeem' the Land

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The vicious pogroms against Jews in Russia in 1881 made many leave for the USA, Britain, South Africa and elsewhere. Some emigrated to the Holy Land. Russian and other Jews, too, sought to establish farming communities in their ancient homeland, often with great sacrifices and loss of life. The secular, socialist Jews from Russia known as Bilu (from the Hebrew Beth Jacob Lechu Venelcha, 'O House of Jacob, come and let us go!') were farmers with a vision to 'redeem' the land by working the land. Judah Leib Pinsker was president of Russian-born movement Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion), stressing the 'importance of the "return to the soil" of Palestine.' The First Aliyah settled 25,000 Russian Jews between 1882 and 1903 in Palestine. The vision was 'to restore to the Jewish people the political independence of which it has been deprived for two thousand years,' as Vladimir Dubnow wrote in 1882 (Israel, 5-6). In the same year, Zichron Yaakov (Memory of Jacob) was found by Romanian Jewish immigrants and Gibraltar-born Jew Hayyim Amzalak (in the Land since 1830) bought the land on which Petah Tikveh had been founded. He later became British vice-consul of Jaffa. He also 'helped to finance the establishment of Rishon le-Zion (First to Zion).' In 1890, a small farming settlement in the Upper Galilee at the Joran river was called Mishmar Ha-Yarden (Guard of the Jordan), established by the Lovers of Zion. They also found Hadera (The Green) which eventually blossomed with citrus fruits. In the same year Rehovot (Wide Expanse) was founded as a Jewish village with land bought from a wealthy Christian Arab landowner. There were frequent attacks by Arabs on some of these Jewish farms (Israel, 8-9).

 

The vastly 'desolate' land, as Mark Twain (and others) famously described it in his book (1869) about his trip to Palestine in 1867, started flourishing again (see map of early settlements). Sir Moses Montefiore and his wife Lady Judith (from the Rothschild family) had a 'deep love of the land of Israel,' and made several trips to the Holy Land from 1827 onwards. Despite the dangers of the journey, they sought to improve the 'pitiful condition' of the land and help the Jews living under 'harsh Turkish rule.' They sought to make 'the Jewish settlement financially independent,' 'helped set up farm colonies' (Jaffa, Safe, Tiberias), 'opened an industrial school and a girls' school, began building a hospital, and ordered the construction of a windmill' to grind grain. They practically and generously supported the 'new vision' they gave to the Jews of Palestine (My People, 64-65).

 

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The Dream becomes an Idea with Support

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Hence, 'slowly, with enormous difficulties, and yet with an incredible tenacity of purpose, the Jewish enterprise in Palestine grew... Despite the hazards of life imposed by nature, and by man, each year saw some new efforts at Jewish settlement... the nineteenth century was coming to an end with considerable Jewish activity in Palestine' (Israel, 6-9). Jews had settled along the coast, mainly in the north-west, after land purchases to establish small communities to revive and redeem the land. As Jewish immigration and foreign investment increased (e.g., Rothschild agricultural and wine-growing, notably the Carmel Oriental wine cellars), more Arabs from surrounding places found better paid work in Jewish enterprise. Jews like Herzl sought international support in the West to establish a secure homeland for the Jews. His ideas and the Zionist programme of the Basle Congress of 'a determine effort to secure a Jewish homeland, caught the imagination of vast numbers of Jews throughout the world, but especially in Eastern Europe and Russia, where life under the rule of Christian sovereigns was fraught with problems' (Israel, 16).

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