Britain’s relationship with Israel since 1948 could best be described as love/hate. Indeed, when the current war between Israel and the “Palestinians” broke out, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stood fully in support of Israel – with conditions. Typical of previous British governments, in times of conflict, it stood by Israel, as long as it “played by the rules”, a formula reserved only for the Jewish state. But at least the government sympathized with Israel a little bit. The British media (as with the rest of the news media in Europe) proved themselves to be very hostile – a European tradition that dates back over 2000 years. It would be no stretch of the imagination to say that news venues like the BBC or Sky News were very instrumental in stoking the current flames of violent anti-Semitism presently taking place in Britain, simply by reporting the usual lies and slanders on their newscasts. London has become an unsafe place for Jews and it is expected that there will be a rise in British Aliyah after the conclusion of the current war, if not sooner. But anti-Semitism or no anti-Semitism, the British Jewish connection to Israel is nothing new.
Since
Israeli independence in 1948, many thousands of British Jews have returned to
their to their ancestral homeland and made new lives for themselves there.
Whether they actually stayed is a different story. But for those who did, they
made their mark on Israeli society with not a few of them presently fighting in
the IDF.
These
connections, like that from most other Diaspora communities, occurred over many
centuries (when Jews were allowed to live in England, that is). In the case of
the British Jewish community, it may be said to indirectly begin with the rule
of Herod Archelaus over Judea in the first years of the Common Era, and the
genesis of the Jewish community in France. In the year 6 CE, he and his
entourage left Judea and they settled in, what is now, the south of France. Whether
this was a banishment or voluntary is not entirely clear. Herod Antipas, ruler
of the Galilee, left and went to Lugdunum, today Lyons, in the year 39. This
alone didn’t necessarily establish a “Jewish community” in France, but most
assuredly, other Jews followed them and by the 4th century, Jews had
settled throughout that country, and a French Jewish community was definitely established.
It wasn’t until 1066, when William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, conquered
England and with him was a company of Jewish merchants from Rouen who
established a community there, and thus, the English Jewish community was
established. Eventually, a connection was made to the Land of Israel. In 1211,
for a variety of reasons, not least of which was the incessant persecution of King
John, a convoy of rabbis joined with some of their French counterparts, and
made their way to Israel. This was not only the first immigration from England,
but was one of the largest such Aliyah at that time. The English section was
led by Yosef ben Baruch of Colchester and Meir of Angelterre.
In
1290, the Jews were expelled from England and weren’t allowed to live there
until the 17th century. Only a small handful made their way to
Israel. Most of the rest settled in other parts of Europe where many were
likewise expelled in later years. In 1656, due to the influence of Rabbi
Menashe ben Yisrael of Amsterdam, Jews were allowed to re-settle in England.
They remained there ever since and if they did leave, it was usually voluntary.
Later, some Jews did make Aliyah, being influenced mainly by the stream of
Halukkah emissaries from Israel who often visited England, on their
fund-raising missions. Among the first of these emissaries was Rabbi Natan
Spira who not only influenced many Jews, but also some Christians. At this
time, many evangelical Christians in England, actively worked, and advocated, for
the return of the Jews to their ancestral homeland. Sometimes, this belief was
so strong, that ironically, it was actually Christians, rather than Jews, who
would take on the messianic mantle in order to lead the Jews back to the Land
of Israel. Such was the case with Col. Richard Brothers at the end of the 18th
century. In the 1870s and 1880s, Laurence Oliphant, a Christian student of
Kabbalah, visited Israel and advocated for a Jewish Return. He was one of those
who offered assistance to the first Zionist pioneers.
After the Napoleonic
invasion in 1799, English Christians increased their activity to pursue the Jewish
return to Israel. Since the 1820s, this would often take the form of missionary
activity, eventually consolidated into the London Society for Promoting
Christianity Amongst the Jews. This activity went alongside other missionary
activity from the United States, Germany, France, and Poland, and often,
represented by converted Jews such as Michael Solomon Alexander, Polish born
Jewish convert to the Anglican Church and first official representative of the
London missionaries. Ironically, this increased the interest of British Jews to
the Homeland as the rabbis and other Jewish leaders, were keen to preventing any
damage done by the missionaries. One such individual was not a rabbi, but a
merchant and banker – Sir Moses Montefiore. From 1827-1875, he made a total of
seven trips to Israel, but forestalling the missionaries was not his only
activity. Indeed, he would seek ways to improve the life of the Jews in Israel
with building and agricultural projects. Such projects were often under his
supervision even when he wasn’t in the country. Aside from Montefiore, other
British Jews also visited Israel such as, then novelist, Benjamin Disraeli, who
was thereafter inspired to keep a close interest in Jewish affairs in Israel. By
the mid-19th century, London became a center, in the Western
European Diaspora, of Halukkah activity, under the supervision of the Chief
Rabbi of the British Commonwealth Nathan Marcus Adler. In 1864, the Evelina de
Rothschild School was established, named after a member of the London
Rothschilds. Zerach Barnett, a London taylor, was one of the founders of Petah
Tikva in 1878. The next year, the yeshiva Gedalia was established by Haim
Guedalla, the nephew of Sir Moses Montefiore.
In 1838,
the first British consulate was established in the Land of Israel, and among
its duties, was to assist the English missionaries; and in fact, in 1845, under
the consular leadership of James Finn, Christ Church was established in order
to entice the Jews to convert. But on the other hand, the other duty of the
consulate was to afford protection to the Jews from the constant persecution of
the local Arabs and Turks. And in fact, thousands of Jews in Israel obtained
British passports and the accompanying citizenship. Nobody would dare abuse a
British citizen. Jews from prominent local families, were often appointed as
British consular officials - Moses Abraham Finzi, Abraham Finzi, Haim Amazalag
and his son Yosef, who had helped the first Zionist settlers acquire plots of
land. Yosef Antebi was his assistant.
The
following is a brief summary of British, and British Jewish activity since the
beginning of the Zionist era: 1883 visit of Major Albert Goldsmid,
active in the Hovevei Tzion and later leader of the British Zionist movement,
close associate of Theodor Herzl; Jacob Nathanson, philanthropist from
Plymouth, and Levi Solomon from London, often gave to Jewish upbuilding in
Israel; 1897 pilgrimage of the Ancient Order of Maccabbees which
included the lawyer Herbert Bentwich and author Israel Zangwill; 1902
British Jews such as Albert Goldsmid and Leopold Kessler figure prominently in
the unsuccessful plan to establish a Jewish “colony” in el Arish in the Sinai; 1911
Murray Rosenberg of the English Zionist Federation, filmed the first ever Zionist
film, “First Film of Palestine”; the modern village of Karkur was established
by British pioneer and Zionist leader David Harris; 1915 NILI was established
as a Palestinian Jewish spy network on behalf of the British army during World
War I; 1916 Zion Mule Corps established. Jews begin to enlist in Jewish
units attached to the British army; 1917 Jewish Legion established, they
helped the British liberate the Land of Israel from Turkish rule; issuing of
the Balfour Declaration recognizing the historic attachment of the Jews to
their ancestral homeland; 1917-1922 British authorities assume Mandatory
rule over Israel; immigration of members of the Legion including Thomas Cousin
of Glasgow who became paymaster to the Mandatory Police, Julius Jacobs and
Victor Levy who were civil servants in the Mandatory government, Leonard
Jacques Stein – military governor of Safed; 1919 British authorities
help to form the Zionist Commission led by Chaim Weizmann, a naturalized
British citizen and prominent scientist. Other British members were Sir Leon
Simon, James de Rothschild, Joseph Cowen, Edwin Samuel, David Eder, and Norman
Bentwich son of Herbert Bentwich; 1920 Harry Sacher becomes a prominent
lawyer defending Jewish rights; 1920-1925 Sir Herbert Samuel becomes
first High Commissioner of Palestine; 1922 Frederick Kisch, British
military hero, becomes a leader in the Zionist movement; 1924
microbiologist Saul Adler becomes Director of the Dept. of Parasitology at
Hadassah Hospital;1925 British Jews, led by British Chief Rabbi Joseph
Hertz, help to establish Hebrew University in Jerusalem; Leon Roth is HU
professor of philosophy; 1926 visit of Sir Rufus Isaacs who was
president of Palestine Electric Corp.; 1929 visit of industrialist
Alfred Mond who greatly assisted in the Jewish upbuilding of the Homeland; Sir
Israel Gollancz established the British School of Archeology; 1934
Rebecca Sieff established the Daniel Sieff Institute for scientific research, named
in memory of her son. It later became the Weizmann Institute of Science; 1935
British olim establish a support organization for other British olim – heHalutz
b’Anglia; 1936 actress Judith Beilin becomes a prominent radio
personality; Sidney Seal, though not Jewish, was married to a Jew, and became a
famous pianist on radio in Jewish, and sometimes British programs; Harriet
Cohen, visiting pianist, often performed with the Israel Philharmonic
Orchestra; Orde Wingate, a non-Jewish soldier, helped train the Haganah during
the Arab riots of the 30s and at the beginning of World War II; Isaac Halevy
Herzog, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland became Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel,
his son Chaim served with distinction in the Haganah; Robert Briscoe became a
prominent Zionist activist in Ireland and an ally of Jabotinsky, he later
became mayor of Dublin; 1941 British Jews establish the village of Bet
Haemek. 1943 British Jews help establish the village of Kfar Blum; 1946
British Jews help established the village of Amiad.
Since independence: London-born Tamar Eshel was a prominent
Israeli diplomat and politician; Shuli Natan, also born in London, is a famous
Israeli singer, probably most famous for her performance of “Yereushalayim Shel
Zahav”; David Landau was a prolific journalist, having worked for the Jerusalem
Post, then Haaretz, and also Israel correspondent for The Economist; David
Horovitz is a prolific journalist having worked for the Jerusalem Post and the
Jerusalem Report, eventually, he co-founded the Times of Israel; Jonathan Spyer
is an analyst, writer, and journalist of Middle Eastern affairs and director of
research at the Middle
East Forum; Jeremy Issacharoff is an Israeli diplomat who also
served as Israeli ambassador to Germany; Daniel Sperber, born in Wales, is an
academic and is professor of Talmud at Bar Ilan University.
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