Modern Israel Lecture Notes Lecture 1 INTRODUCTION 7/3/13 Tutors Anna Hirsh Tessa Satherley How and Why Is Israel The Way It Is?

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1 Modern Israel Lecture Notes Lecture 1 INTRODUCTION 7/3/13 Tutors Anna Hirsh Tessa Satherley How and Why Is Israel The Way It Is? Second-most media coverage in the world after USA Is the media reliable on Israel? How do we define the Israeli culture-political psyche? o Why is territory so important? o Why is Zionism so central? o Why is the Holocaust so pivotal? How Did Israel Come to Be? In 1896 o 2% of Palestine was owned by Jewish people, shared amongst about 25,000 Jews o Palestine 500,000 people 5% Jewish (much higher in Jerusalem), 10% Christian, 85% Muslim o Even if were to publicly declare a Jewish state, I would be met with laughter. Theodore Herzl o 99% of Jews lived outside Palestine o 300 million Muslims and 390 million Christians in the world, unthinkable that the tiny Jewish nation should control the incredibly significant Palestine region, especially Jerusalem Factors shaping the formation of Israel o Anti-Semitism o Zionism o Security concerns and territory Anti-Semitism To be anti-semitic is to be anti-jewish, hating a general group of people who identify as Jewish because they are Jewish Zionism Zionism started as a political movement in the late 19 th century amongst massacres, pogroms, and new government policies in the Russian Empire to limit the education and working rights of Jews, and military/government/police sanction of violence Anti-Semitism caused a wave of migration out of Eastern Europe, some to the US, others dreamed of a Jewish state; but many more liberal and accepting states had immigration quotas, especially after the World Wars with all the refugees Having a Jewish state would mean they were no longer a minority and would be able to safeguard themselves from oppression Many Jewish businesses were state controlled, they had little resources, rights or political power Father of Zionism: Theodore Herzl o Born in 1860 in Budapest, raised as a secular Jew, studied journalism in Vienna, cosmopolitan and secular, identified with the: o Jewish Enlightenment of the late 19 th century (Haskala), Moses Mendelsson, Reform Judaism advocated assimilation and reform of religion; at one point a view held by Herzl until he had a cathartic change in perception and political aims at the Dreyfus Affair o France was considered progressive under Napoleonic policies to Judaism; but in 1894 a Jewish man named Dreyfus was convicted of spying, stripped of his military decorations, and sent to a brutal prison island mainly because he was considered guilty due to his Jewishness with little evidence; a wave of anti-semitism rallies saying Death to the Jews ensued in France; Dreyfus became an emblem of hatred towards Jews; Herzl was there as a journalist and this changed his perception to assimilation and began his movement for a Jewish state, assimilation could not work any more o Emil Zola wrote J Accuse to defend Dreyfus and was chased out of the country to England for questioning the President of the Republic for allowing the massive xenophobia against Jews o Herzl began the Zionism movement Hoveivi Zion (Lovers of Zion); wrote Die Judenstadt in 1896, met with fellows Jews, met Kaiser Wilhelm II, met Sultan of Ottoman Empire Abdul Hassan II (refused to allow a Jewish state in Palestive), met with Pope Pius, held first annual Zionist conference in 1897 (208 delegates from 16 countries); travelled far and wide from Russia to London to tell the Jewish people he met, notify and mobilise the media to report on Zionism, and gathered massive support through just personal effort o Because of Herzl, Zionism was considered a legitimate political movement and real option Pogroms o Eastern European pseudohistorical beliefs Blood libel for Passover, the blood of a ritually sacrificed Christian child is used in matzoh If a child was murdered, the Jews would be blamed and a pogrom would ensue o Destruction of synagogues, houses, businesses; rape, torture, murder and public humiliation o Often in Russia (1800s Odessa pogroms, 1905 revolution pogroms), but also in Poland, Italy and even Wales (1911)

2 o Massive migration of 25,000 Jews to Palestine between o Led to a sense of a life or death struggle for safety and survival against persecution Aims of Zionism (1897 Conference) o The right of Jews to have a safe haven in their own state o A formal determination that the Jews are a nation, and the strengthening of that nation through promotion of Hebrew as a unified language as opposed to Yiddish and other vernaculars, as well as of national identity, religion and cultural history o The right for Jews to return to their ancestral Zionism Problems with assimilation o Loss of culture, sacrifice of identity o Desire to conform, not stand out, blend in o Jewish past was still identified with people even after they converted, making them labelled and often persecuted Karl Marx was raised and baptised Christian but is still considered Jewish even today o Levels of assimilation created streams of Judaism from Lapsed to Reformed to Liberal to Orthodox to Ultra- Orthodox and thus disunified Judaism Zion the Temple Mount, Jerusalem and/or Israel as a whole Earlier immigrants believed gradual immigration into Palestine and assimilation would not present a problem for the Jews or the Palestinians. Others saw problems and thus proposed settlement in Argentina, Alaska, Uganda, Tasmania or the Kimberlys these ideas were rejected for historical and religious reasons, the Promised Land and the past in Jerusalem and Palestine Opposition to Zionism Problems with transferring European politics and ideas, as well as European-living people, into a desert environment with little mass urbanisation or agriculture; Palestine was too hot, it was out of sync with how people had lived culturally and professionally before, many Jews didn t want to move, but the idea of Palestine as a Jewish state was considered an inspirational and worthwhile vision. Ultra-Orthodox believed that a return to the homeland had to be led by God/the Messiah after Israel repented and thus a human political movement was misguided This perception almost universally changed amongst Jews as persecution increased and after the Holocaust; however there are many Jews now living in Israel that do not believe in the state, as well as outside of it Immigration Into Israel Aliyah ascending o Spiritual ascent to the Holy Land o Moving up in the world to prosperity, power and freedom from persecution Massive migration of 25,000 Jews to Palestine between (1 st aliyah) ,000 immigrants ,000 immigrants many from Germany because of the 1935 Nuremberg Laws which: o Stripped Jews of their professions o Removed Jewish rights o Removed German citizenship from Jews o Prohibited Jewish-German marriages o Defined Jews as anyone with more than 2 Jewish grandparents, regardless of their religion Character of Early Zionism Strong ideology Political structure A sense of a life or death struggle Development of the Israeli State End of the Ottoman Empire ( ), Rise of Arab Nationalism, WWI o Palestine was Arab in the Ottoman Empire o Rising nationalism called for the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire and Arab state independences o Many Arabs from separatist states fought against the Empire on the Allied side because they were in negotiation with the Allies to have their own states British Mandate, Division of the Levant o After the war ended the Ottoman Empire was divided between British and French administration, with Britain in Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq, and France in Lebanon and Syria, Saudi Arabia and others already extant and independent o 1917 Balfour Declaration said the British would support a Palestinian Jewish state, from Lord Balfour to Baron Rothschild, after consultation with Holm Weismann o 1922 Churchill s White Paper attempted to consolidate the ideas of the Balfour declaration; 1922 the Zionist Federation still wanted to live binationally with the Palestinians US involvement in the oil market of the new states, very strict immigration quotas and policies in the interwar period (Also in Britain and its colonies see White Australia policy, which caused illegal immigration into Palestine and many Jews to stay in German conquests for the war and die) only 100,000 people a year could move to the USA and applicants had to meet very strict conditions even during the refugee-heavy years of WWII

3 Great Depression and economic downturn caused economic desperation in many countries for Jews and others and restricted services and immigration 1936 Arab riots Peel Commission Report of 1937 that proposed a Jewish state and a Palestinian state in the same territory, with both still controlled by the British. The Arabs were not at all happy with what was being forced on them, and this intensified the belief that partition with strict borders was the only decent way Evian Conference of 1938 attended by Britain, USA, Australia, South Africa, the Dominican Republic and others to peruse a petition from German and Eastern European Jews asking for a decrease in immigration quotas to allow Jews to escape from potential or actual persecution; everyone but the DR said no way despite the massive danger the Jews were under. This finally crystallised the need for a Jewish independent state that would rely on nobody for sanctuary or protection White Paper limited immigration into Palestine to 75,000 to appease the Arabs 1939 Arab Palestinian leader declared allegiance to Hitler WWII Jews fought for the Allies in Palestine and elsewhere Key Things to Remember 1. Anti-Semitism was the deciding factor in the inception of Zionism and the Jewish state. Without Anti -Semitism, there would be no Israel 2. Immigration conditions continued during Nazism, WWII and the Holocaust despite the suffering 3. The Holocaust failed to stop the British considering the Arabs and even arming them in the 1948 War 4. The state of Israel happened despite the Holocaust, the death of 6 million Jews and a massive drop in potential population and power (drop by 1/3) 5. Jewish people were a fount of modern ideas, a cross-section of Europe transplanted into a new state that were persecuted despite their contributions to European society 6. Herzl s crazy idea of a Jewish state 7. First footage taken in Palestine shows how it was in 1896 Lecture 2 ROAD TO A STATE 14/3/13 The Road To A State In 1948 The first waves of Jewish immigration to Palestine o Anti-semitism increased o Rights were taken away o Many countries had quotas on Jewish immigration o Many Jews were poor and couldn t afford to leave o Many people clearly identified with the ideologies of Herzl and decided to up and move to Palestine The First Aliyah , , o Increased pogroms in Russia, Poland and the Baltic states created an underlying sense of fear at endlessly possible violence, alongside a lack of belonging as a massive minority o People were less motivated to go to any one place than to find a way to get away o Palestine was being purported as the rightful home of Israel, so people gradually went there; there were already some Jewish people there, especially in religiously significant places (Jerusalem was 50% Jewish) o Religious pilgrims were already moving though Israel constantly Who were the immigrants? o Largely Russian and Eastern European o About 20,000 The BILUs o Bilu (Hebrew: (ו"ביל (also Palestine Pioneers) was a movement whose goal was the agricultural settlement of the Land of Israel. Its members were known as Bilu'im o "Bilu" is an acronym based on a verse from the Book of Isaiah (2:5) לכו יעקב בית" "ונלכה Beit Ya'akov Lekhu Venelkha ("House of Jacob, let us go [up]") o The wave of pogroms of and anti-semitic May Laws of 1882 introduced by Tsar Alexander III of Russia prompted mass emigration of Jews from the Russian Empire. In July 1882, the first group of Bilu pioneers arrived in Ottoman Palestine. The group consisted of fourteen university students from Kharkov led by Israel Belkind, later a prominent writer and historian. After a short stay at the Jewish farming school in Mikveh Israel, they joined Hovevei Zion colonists in establishing Rishon LeZion ("First to Zion"), an agricultural cooperative on land purchased from the Arab village of Ayun Kara. Plagued by water shortages, illness and financial debt, the group abandoned the site within a few months. They then sought help from Baron Edmond James de Rothschild and Maurice de Hirsch, who provided funding that led to the establishment of the local wine industry. In 1886, construction began on a winery in Rishon Lezion that became a successful wine-exporting enterprise. o In the winter of 1884, another group of Bilu pioneers founded Gedera. Gedera was established on a tract of land purchased from the Arab village of Qatra by Yehiel Michel Pines of the Lovers of Zion through the auspices of the French consul in Jaffa. o The Bilu im created the kibbutz (farming commune), based on communal, shared lifestyles and collective selfsufficiency; working in specific tasks that complemented each other and did not compete

4 o The Bilu im created everything necessary for a state (infrastructure, agricultural irrigation, draining of swamps, government) so that it could be a state-in-waiting and ease the transition to a state in the future o Worked as agricultural labourers and manual labourers in sparsely-populated and unused swampland and desert, making it liveable by necessity, to create a Jewish state utopia; bought from absentee landlords needing to sell land and convert assets into liquid funding in a changing political environment Difficulties faced by the immigrants o Funds helped by the international Jewish National Fund, funded by Jewish people who wanted to support Zionism but had no intention of moving there themselves o Weather much hotter and drier than Eastern Europe o Dodgy land and manual labour o Growing enmity from the Palestinians The Second Aliyah Post-WWI Society changing o Electricity, cars, flight o Suffragette movements o Russian Revolution o Independence movements o Industrial developments Ottoman Empire divided up Arab Nationalism growing o Based around Islam (against attempts to Christianise the region), Arab culture, and the Arabic language o Aimed to unify the Arab states across the whole Middle Eastern region o Fighting against the Imperialist mandates o Incompatible with Jewish nationalism Movements within Zionism Secular Reformed Zionism Jabotinsky Balfour Declaration 2/11/1917 His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours 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. o An exercise in diplomacy deliberately vague and ambiguous sentiments; sounds good to a Zionist but also doesn t allocate any area to the Jewish state and makes pretty heavy conditions on protecting the current inhabitants (who by definition are going to object), it also doesn t promise any specific action o However, demonstrates that the British, who were in power in Palestine, would be taking some action and would create a state of some kind that could be negotiated o Note that the British were pretty interested in getting a foothold of loyalty in Palestine as an international crossroads, but they were also interested in keeping the Arabs on side because they were a vast majority; Palestine was still, however, a side issue to WWI and the expansion of Russia into the Middle East and central Asia as well as the independence movements in British colonies o Jews and Arabs saw the intentions of the declaration as very different Jews saw it as a formal recognition and approval of the Zionist aims, and the promise of a Jewish state; the Arabs saw it as a challenge to Arab nationalism and as untenable in and of itself because it would naturally be a massive infraction on the rights of the Palestinians Ben Gurion s sentiments in 1920, 1931, 1947 o 1920 came into power in the newly formed HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael (Hebrew: lit. "General Federation of Laborers in the Land of Israel") (known as,ישראל בארץ העובדים של הכללית ההסתדרות the Histadrut, Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel; unified and directed the party The initial aim of the Histadrut was to take responsibility for all spheres of activity of the workers movement: settlement, defense, trade unions, education, housing construction, health, banking, cooperative ventures, welfare and even culture. The Histadrut took over economic firms operated by the parties, which operated by subcontracting, and their Office of Information, which was expanded into a Labor Exchange. Already after a few months the Histadrut became the single largest employer in the Yishuv. The Histadrut succeeded in improving worker's rights as e.g. the right to strike was recognised, employers had to motivate dismissal and workers got a place to turn to with their complaints. In the first year of its existence the Histadrut lacked central leadership, and many initiatives were taken at the local level. This changed after David Ben-Gurion became appointed in the General Secretariat. Ben-Gurion wanted to transform the Histadrut into a national instrument for the realisation of Zionism. According to Zeev Sternhell Ben-Gurion's exclusive commitment to this goal is illustrated by a December 1922 quote: [...] Our central problem is immigration... and not adapting our lives to this or that doctrine. [...] How can we run our Zionist movement in such a way that [... we] will be able to carry out the conquest of the land by the Jewish worker, and which will find the resources to organise the massive

5 immigration and settlement of workers through their own capabilities? The creation of a new Zi onist movement, a Zionist movement of workers, is the first prerequisite for the fulfillment of Zionism. [...] Without [such] a new Zionist movement that is entirely at our disposal, there is no future or hope for our activities Ben-Gurion transformed the Histadrut in a few months. He set up a well-defined hierarchy and reduced the competencies of local workers' councils. He also centralised the collection of membership dues, most of which were formerly used up by local branches. Absorption of immigration was seen as a very important task of the Histadrut. Providing immigrants with work was often seen as more important than the financial soundness of its operations. The labor leaders saw failure to absorb immigrants as a moral bankruptcy that was much worse than financial bankruptcy. In 1924 the Histadrut's Office for Public Works collapsed and went bankrupt, and in 1927 the same happened to its successor, the privatised Sollel Boneh. In both cases the Zionist Executive bailed them out and recognised the deficit in the category of "expenses for immigration absorption". The Zionist Executive, sharing the goal of stimulating immigration with the Histadrut, had to do this because beside the Histadrut there was no other organisation in Palestine with the ability to absorb immigrants. By 1930 the Histadrut had become the central organisation of the Yishuv. It did what the Zionist Executive wanted, but was unable to do: absorb immigrants and organise agricultural settlement, defense and expansion into new areas of production. According to Tzahor the Histadrut had become "the executive arm of the Zionist movement but an arm acting on its own". It had become a "state in the making". According to Tzahor, while the Histadrut focused on constructive action, its leaders did not "abandon fundamental ideological principles". However according to Ze'ev Sternhell in his book The Founding Myths of Israel, the labor leaders had already abandoned socialist principles by 1920 and only used them as "mobilizing myths". o 1931 called for restraint in defending against Arab attacks, only defence, no attack; in conflict with the right-wing Revisionist Zionists Seeds of the Arab-Israeli conflict o Jewish people living in the Arab region was okay, as subjects who payed taxes o The conflict came when the Jews wanted a state in which they were independent and a majority, and to have this state in the Arab region o The Arabs could not reconcile this with Arab nationalism and became angry at the Jews, resulted in Arab attacks on Jewish communities, which frightened the British into trying to keep down the Jews and appease the Arabs o Actions were taken by the British to mitigate the conflicts made it punishable by death for Jewish people to carry weapons, paramilitary organisations were covertly formed to attack the Arabs and the British; harsh immigration quotas for Jews entering Palestine, British actively turning back ships full of European Jewish immigrants Jewish fear and resentment and desire for a state growing o Nazism Nuremberg laws, Kristallnacht o o Harsh immigration laws worldwide during the Great Depression British apparently siding with the Arabs, in conflict with the Balfour Declaration and the 1922 Churchill White Paper, not doing anything to create a Jewish state, actively suppressing them o Desperation to get out of terrible places Peel Commission Report 1937 o Recommended partition of Jewish and Palestinian states, with British Enclaves in Jerusalem and surrounds o About 20% to a Jewish state o Jewish people not happy but would settle for it o Arabs REALLY NOT HAPPY, Arab revolt continued 1939 McDonald White Paper declared that immigration restrictions into Palestine would continue through the War Aliyah Bet saw 75,000 Jews successfully illegally emigrate to Israel, many others caught and turned back Leader of the Palestinians declared allegiance with Hitler Jewish people couldn t go to Palestine but they couldn't go back to Europe (anti-semitism, houses seized and destroyed, records and documents lost) ships were even sent back to Germany and people were arrested! S.S. Exodus was one Post-WWII British Empire devastated in Britain and elsewhere o Millions dead

6 o Cities bombed o India becoming independent In early 1947, Britain relinquished its mandate in Israel The UN through UNSCOP voted (US and Russia for, Britain abstained, Arabs against) for a Jewish state, with very fragmented allocation of land (difficult to protect borders despite the fact that the war was already going it was like they made it deliberately unstable): o TERMINATION OF MANDATE, PARTITION AND INDEPENDENCE o The Mandate for Palestine shall terminate as soon as possible but in any case not later than 1 August o The armed forces of the mandatory Power shall be progressively withdrawn from Palestine, the withdrawal to be completed as soon as possible but in any case not later than 1 August o The mandatory Power shall advise the Commission, as far in advance as possible, of its intention to terminate the mandate and to evacuate each area. The mandatory Power shall use its best endeavours to ensure that an area situated in the territory of the Jewish State, including a seaport and hinterland adequate to provide facilities for a substantial immigration, shall be evacuated at the earliest possible date and in any event not later than 1 February o Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem, set forth in Part III of this Plan, shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October The boundaries of the Arab State, the Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem shall be as described in Parts II and III below. o The period between the adoption by the General Assembly of its recommendation on the question of Palestine and the establishment of the independence of the Arab and Jewish States shall be a transitional period. o Both sides pretty unhappy with the conclusions: though the Jews were happy just to have a recognised state (larger than the Peel commission because of waves of extant and likely immigration), the Arabs opposed completely the idea of partition o The UNSCOP didn t consult with or advise the Palestinian Arabs on what should be done o The Palestinians were politically disunified (the Grand Mufti had fled to Egypt in the Arab revolts), so they relied on the leadership of the Arab states, and assumed if they just opposed the Jewish state constantly, they would get what they wanted Declaration of Independence and 1948 War Declaration of Independence on May 14 th, 1948, following the end of the British Mandate and buildup of Arab and UN military action, escalating towards the Declaration of Independence Arab states (Egypt, Iraw, Syria, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Arab Liberation Army) invade Israel on May 15 th, 1948 o 29,677 Jewish vs. about 33,800 Arabs (initially) o Jewish areas surrounded o 117,500 Jewish vs. up to 63,500 (by March 1949) o Jewish had no allies, armed by the Czechs o Secret talks between Golda Meir and King Abdallah of Transjordan, Abdallah rejected pulling out of the war because he wanted to be head of the Arab League Progression of the war o Israeli leaders gave them a chance o Israel was under existential threat o The soldiers were tough, militarily experienced and many survivors of the prison camps o Secretary-General of the Arab League Azzam Pasha reportedly threatened a war of extermination and slaughter of the Jews o Ceasefires declared on June and October o Multiple plans proposed by the UN in negotiation with extra territory for non-palestinian states, all rejected

7 o Tide begins to turn in October 1948 as Jews went on the offensive as a unified group of all the splinter operations amongst the Jewish Jewish armies fight back and repulse the Arab armies, taking far more territory than before o Jewish armies put more soldiers in the field in the end despite far larger populations in their states o Every Arab state had different motivations, few completely aimed at the benefit of the Palestinian Arabs o Disunified political and military leadership, each country commanded itself and competed with one another About 750,000 (out of 1.2 million) Palestinian refugees flee into Arab-held areas, creating the enduring Palestinian refugee problem (were they forced out by the Israelis or advised to leave by the Arabs or did they leave of their own accord? There are a lot of people who left, but there are also a lot who stayed) Armistice declared in February-July 1949 About 6,000 Jews dead After The 1948 War About 10,000 Jews moved from Arab states into Israel during the war saw some 700,000 Jews arrive in Israel (more than doubling the population), 300,000 from Muslim countries as part of the exodus (over 100,000 from Iraq) fleeing anti-semitism and persecution and looking for the freedom of a Jewish state 1956 UNRWA created to take care of the Palestinian refugees Opinions on Israel Early and Primary o Moshe Sharett and the UN mediators: Israel was not aware of any conflict between itself and its neighbours that could not be resolved by peaceful means. o Report by Sharett to President Weitzmann o UN Resolution 194 o o Later revisions with opening of Jewish archives in 1980s declared the war leaders not brilliant but had no plans of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians, and there was no unified campaign to kick all the Palestinians out; if it did happen it was isolated incidents o Benny Morris on the Palestinian Exodus neither forced nor advised nor voluntary but all three Lecture 3 EARLY ISRAEL AND THE SIX-DAY WAR 21/3/13 First Election First time ever Jewish people could vote for their own government Provisional Government in the Yishuv had been developing in the preceding decades Even amidst the attacks January 25, parties ran, the question was which party would wind up being the most powerful ; 440,000 voters, 87% turnout Mapai the largest party, founded out of the Social Democrats (1930) as a worker s party, founded the Hagganah military forces, under the leadership of David ben Gurion (46 seats) Mapam second-largest party, left-wing United Workers party (19 seats) Shaky coalition formed, instability, agendas of smaller party o Mapai did not include Mapam because they were pro-soviet and he did not trust the Soviets nor did he want to alienate the US by making Israel seem pro-soviet ($100 million from the US in aid if they didn t include Mapam). Mapam also wanted to allow pro-peace Arabs to return to their homes in Israel o Coalition formed of Mapai, United Religious Front, the Progressive Party, the Sephardim and Oriental Communities and the Democratic List of Nazareth (an Israeli Arab party associated with Mapai) o Coalition made it difficult to get things done and also create long-term plans Ben Gurion sponsored the founding of new settlements along the lines of kibbutzes in underpopul ated areas Considerable tension from conflict with the neighbouring Arabs who entirely opposed the Israeli state 1967 Six-Day War Growing realisation that the Israelis could be attacked at any time o Grievances of the Arabs were becoming more united under the auspices of Arab Nationalism (pan-arabism) o Any criticism of Israel or Judaism was considered to be a call for the overthrow of the Jewish state and the destruction of Judaism o Menachem Begin joins the coalition o Those who know what we are capable of will know not to try to stop us. David ben Gurion