THE BRITISH JEWISH/ISRAEL CONNECTION

                                     

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 4^th 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 17^th 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 18^th 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-19^th 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.