daniel gordis israel – a concise history of a nation reborn narrated by arian stanley and morag sims in the years leading up to the world wars, the jewish people of europe and russia desperately needed a safe haven.

anti-semitic pogroms took place with alarming regularity.

all across the continent, jewish people were oppressed, terrorized, and killed.

they yearned for safety, a home of their own.

by the end of world war ii, after the horror of the holocaust, that dream began to take shape in the middle east.

soon, the dream was a reality, and israel was recognized as a jewish state.

but this accomplishment engendered new challenges.

challenges that, since the country's creation, have tested the ideals and morals of its leadership.

the zionist movement began as a response to persistent anti-semitism in europe.#

chapter 1 of 9 by the end of the 19th century, jewish people were deserting eastern europe in massive numbers.

between 1882 and the start of the first world war, 2.5 million jews fled places like poland, romania, and austria, even though they'd been living and building communities in these countries for centuries.

throughout europe, there were ever-present restrictions.

laws dictated what jewish people were and weren't allowed to do.

then there were the pogroms – attacks against jewish communities that, if not spurred on by the authorities, were ignored by them.

yet even under these unfavorable conditions, a number of jewish people were able to achieve esteemed positions in society.

in places like germany, however, this success only had the tendency to make the non-jewish population more resentful, leading to more attacks and an increase in anti-semitic propaganda.

as a result, millions of jews continued to wonder if there was something better somewhere else.

the key message here is, the zionist movement began as a response to persistent anti-semitism in europe.

the idea for a jewish homeland in palestine took hold in the 19th century.

in the 1880s, the founder of hungary's national anti-semitic party proposed the establishment of a jewish state in palestine as a possible solution to the so-called jewish problem.

in fact, this proposal, made by an anti-semite, may have inspired the founder of the zionist movement, a man named theodor herzl.

herzl was born in hungary in 1860.

he cherished intellectual and artistic pursuits, especially writing and theatre, and went on to study at the university of vienna.

there, he read a book by the respected intellectual eugen karl düring called the jewish problem as a problem of race, morals and culture.

the book claimed that jews had been harmful to european society and argued for a move back towards segregation.

herzl despaired over the fact that someone as intelligent as düring would take such a position.

indeed, during his studies and later as a writer in paris, herzl could not escape the anti-semitic attitudes of his fellow europeans.

as a reporter, herzl wrote about the dreyfus affair, the case of a french military officer of jewish descent who was falsely accused of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment.

it was clear that even supposedly democratic institutions were not immune to anti-semitism.

all of this led to herzl writing something that would kickstart the zionist movement and change the course of history.

views on the nature and existence of a jewish state differed from the very beginning.#

chapter 2 of 9 in 1896, theodor herzl published the jewish state, a small book that advocated the establishment of an independent state for jewish people, which is the main cause of the zionist movement.

the book was an immediate sensation.

it was quickly published in multiple languages and prompted the first zionist congress, which was held in basel in 1897.

from the very start, there were divisions among jewish people about the concept of a jewish state.

even among self-proclaimed zionists, there were widely varying ideas about what this state should be like and where it should be located.

the key message here is, views on the nature and existence of a jewish state differed from the very beginning.

should there be a jewish state?

if so, what should its founding principles be?

what would its existence mean for jewish people as well as for neighbouring states?

these were all important questions.

and just as they continue to be debated today, they were controversial subjects back then, even among the attendees of the annual zionist congress.

some of the debate stemmed from the bible.

in the jewish state, herzl mentions palestine as a possible location.

in the biblical stories about abraham, moses, and the plight of the israelites, palestine is the location of the land of israel.

it is from there that the babylonians, greeks, and romans drove the jewish people some two thousand years ago, thus depriving them of both a homeland and political autonomy.

according to the bible, a time will come when god shall bring his people back to their homeland.

and for some jewish people, this is not what the zionist movement represented.

it was not up to man to lead the people back home.

it was up to god.

there were also some sceptics among the diaspora, especially those in the us, who felt that a place like america offered enough freedom to make the whole zionist movement unnecessary.

amid the debate came the kishinev pogrom of 1903.

an entire community of russian jews were horribly beaten, tortured, and raped, their homes and businesses destroyed.

during the pogrom, 32 men, 2 babies, and 7 women were murdered.

8 more would later die from their wounds.

the tragic event further galvanized the zionists.

this was precisely why an independent state was needed.

people under threat of death needed a place to go, a place where they'd be safe.

but as we'll see in the next chapter, the kishinev pogrom also inspired some more fundamental ideas among the zionists.

events of the early twentieth century helped push the zionist movement forward.#

chapter 3 of 9 some dark ideas emerged in the wake of the kishinev pogrom.

an image took shape in the imaginations of many.

an image of jewish men hiding in fear while russian thugs had their way with jewish women.

whether accurate or not, this image animated zionists who argued that european jews, content to read books and lead a life of thinking and debating, were an easy target for racist violence.

a number of the zionist leaders began to support the idea of the new jews – people who would work the land, have dirt under their nails, and be strong, proud, capable, and unbendable.

these people, though culturally jewish, would also be secular.

this idea, combined with the reordering of the middle east in the wake of world war i, influenced the shape that the jewish state eventually took.

the key message here is, events of the early 20th century helped push the zionist movement forward.

the idea of the new jew served as the foundation for the kibbutz movement, which called for an agriculturally-minded, communal approach to living.

this movement would play a significant part in helping to develop the agriculture and infrastructure of the region, as would ongoing negotiations among zionist leaders and the british empire.

as europe tumbled into world war i, those negotiations began to bear fruit.

a central figure was chaim weizmann, a charismatic zionist who was also a skilled biochemist.

during the war, he discovered a process that helped the british produce acetone, an ingredient in the explosive propellants used by the allied forces in both world wars.

as director of the british admiralty laboratories, weizmann had status and access to influential members of british politics, including foreign ministry representative sir mark sykes.

long before the first world war was over, sykes met with france's representative, françois-georges picot, and the two agreed on how britain and france would split up the middle east.

this agreement, known as the sykes-picot agreement, was made public before the war's end, as was the balfour declaration, which stated that the british officially supported the creation of a jewish state within palestine.

weizmann's contributions to the war effort, as well as his diplomatic skills, had paid off in unprecedented ways.

while the balfour declaration mentioned palestine, it wasn't specific about where in palestine or how big this proposed state would be.

but what was becoming apparent was that this region would be a source of continued conflict, thanks in part to the sykes-picot agreement, which was ratified in 1916.

this led to an area that became known as the occupied enemy territory administration.

stretching along the eastern coast of the mediterranean sea, it included former ottoman empire regions that today are part of syria, lebanon, palestine, and turkey.

it was here that the new jewish state would be created.

despite the unfriendly conditions, jewish immigration quickly transformed the region.#

before world war i, there was the honest if naive belief among zionists that jewish immigration to palestine would lead to a harmonious coexistence.

the theory went that jewish investment in palestine would help develop that region and improve the economy.

everyone would benefit.

but given how britain and france had carved up the region before the war was even over, and how little regard they had for the arab people and leadership in their decision-making, it was all but assured that there would be animosity from the beginning.

the key message here is, despite the unfriendly conditions, jewish immigration quickly transformed the region.

the first aliyah, a term that refers to the immigration of jewish people to the historic land of israel, took place between 1882 and 1903.

around 30,000 newcomers joined the 20,000 jewish people who were already living there.

but the combination of inhospitable swampland, barren desert, and the ever-present threat of malaria made many of these early arrivals give up and leave.

a similar fate befell the 40,000 jews who were part of the second aliyah, which took place between 1904 and 1914.

still, this wave established the first kibbutz and the first jewish self-defence organisation.

those who managed to hang in there became iconic, inspirational pioneers for all who followed.

in both the first and second waves, many jews were fleeing the pogroms of russia.

in the third, fourth, and fifth waves, from 1919 to 1939, the years between the two world wars, many european jews were fleeing anti-semitic violence and pogroms throughout europe.

between 1880 and 1940, the jewish population in the region rose from 20,000 to around 450,000.

this occurred despite a strict limit on immigration imposed by the british government, which had been controlling the region under what was known as the mandate for palestine since 1922.

this massive influx angered the arab population, but what the immigrants were able to accomplish was, as one visiting scientist from the us government described it, astounding.

swamps were drained, cutting-edge water technology was implemented, the area was soon an agriculturally viable region, and a budding metropolis began to take shape.

jewish defense groups fought both arab and british forces as hopes of independence grew.#

chapter 5 of 9 while thousands of jewish people were escaping the threat of violence in europe, those who were able to immigrate to palestine in the 1920s and 30s were entering a region with its own escalating violence.

ever since the balfour declaration was officially ratified by france, italy, japan, and britain at the san remo conference in april 1920, there had been outbursts of violence by a deeply incensed arab population.

in 1920, riots in jerusalem led to the deaths of six jewish people.

in 1921, riots in jaffa killed 48 more.

in 1929, 133 jews died in riots that began in hebron and spread outward.

early riots led to organised defence groups like hashemah, but as the violence increased, splinter groups emerged that were less focused on the hashemah principle of restraint and more inclined to meet violence with violence.

the key message here is, jewish defence groups fought both arab and british forces as hopes of independence grew.

the violence that had the biggest effect on mandatory palestine was occurring outside its borders.

as the 1930s progressed and the decade ended with the nazi invasion of poland, the jewish agency in palestine was desperate to take in as many jews as possible.

it was literally a matter of life and death.

however, immigration into palestine was tightly limited by the british government.

approval required a certificate, and obtaining one was a difficult and competitive ordeal.

the agency was able to illegally smuggle in thousands of jewish refugees, but thousands more were turned away, even when boats of german jews arrived on the shores.

meanwhile, the british authorities in palestine were beset on both sides.

they were being targeted by both arabs and the jewish resistance movement, which was determined to achieve liberation and provide a safe haven for jewish refugees.

those hopes began to materialise in 1947, when the united nations assembly voted in favour of ending the british mandate.

33 countries, including the soviet union, the us and much of south america and europe, voted in favour.

13 countries, including iraq, iran, egypt and saudi arabia, voted against the proposal.

israeli independence was proclaimed around six months later.

but immediately following the un vote, arab attacks intensified into an all-out war.

israel was born amid controversy, and it faced a great challenge in balancing democratic rights.#

the war left no one unscathed.

nearly 2,000 people were killed in the first six months alone – 1,069 arabs, 769 jews and 123 britons.

in the end, israel got its independence, but in the process, over 300,000 arab palestinians became refugees.

prior to the war, the un had proposed a jewish state with a population of 498,000 jews and 407,000 arabs.

the jewish agency accepted this proposal.

the arab higher committee did not, just as it rejected all proposals that included the establishment of a jewish state.

blame for the horrible tragedy of the arab refugees has been variously assigned.

but there's no avoiding the fact that it all began as a result of plan dalet.

the key message here is, israel was born amid controversy and it faced a great challenge in balancing democratic rights.

plan dalet was launched by david ben-gurion, who later became israel's first prime minister.

it stated that if an arab town showed no resistance, the population could stay and be included under jewish sovereignty.

but if the town was considered a threat, the arabs would be driven out.

today, many left-leaning israeli historians are critical of ben-gurion's decisions.

to them, the forced removal of hundreds of thousands of arabs has come to seem less like a defensive action than a plot to ensure that israel's democracy would operate under a significant jewish majority.

it was clear to both arabs and jews that plan dalet had caused immense suffering.

but plan dalet was just the beginning.

the war raged on until mid-1949.

by the end, around 6,000 israelis had been killed and over 700,000 palestinian arabs had become refugees, on top of the thousands more that had died during the war.

after the war, israel's arab population stood at roughly 156,000.

this was only 20% of the total population.

many in the international community didn't think israel would survive these first two years.

but an armistice agreement was finally struck, and a period of uneasy and relative peace followed.

as israel established itself as an independent, democratic state, a glaring question persisted.

how can israel be implicitly jewish and still grant equal rights to its non-jewish residents?

there has yet to be an easy answer to this question.

in fact, to this day, israel has not created a formal constitution.

as israel grew, it evolved into a more militaristic and religious country.#

there were many principles and ideals that the zionist leaders envisioned as being foundational to a jewish state.

these included the establishment of a new, secular jewishness that would champion collectivism and the protection of jews from around the world.

but as the newly independent israel began to establish itself, many of these initial ideals proved impossible to square with political and social developments.

the key message here is, as israel grew, it evolved into a more militaristic and religious country.

one of david ben-gurion's principles was that the political sphere would be kept separate from the military sphere.

but this became increasingly untenable as israel moved forward.

it was clear that israel's war of independence would not be its last conflict.

throughout the 1950s and 60s, there were frequent raids from palestinian militants known as the fedayeen.

these attacks culminated in the six-day war in 1967.

military in this war helped to establish the growing power of israel's military.

not only that, but from this point forward, many of israel's prime ministers would come from military backgrounds.

the six-day war also led to the capture of new territories to the south and the east, which gave rise to more questions about arabs living in israel.

but questions of equality weren't limited to jews and non-jews.

israel would also have to grapple with how different types of jews were treated within its own borders.

prior to its independence, many of the people who immigrated to the region were ashkenazi jews from russia and eastern europe.

after gaining independence, israel opened its doors to jewish people from around the world.

it became home to sephardic, haredi, and mizrahi immigrants, as well as ethiopian jews whose practices date back to before the creation of the talmud.

these new arrivals signalled the fulfilment of israel's promise to all jewish people.

but they ushered in new complications.

for one, they were so culturally different that they often ended up being segregated from the more secularly inclined ashkenazi jews.

many in these segregated communities of devout jews from north africa and west asia felt like they were being pushed to the side and left behind.

but before long, they would come to represent a voting bloc that could not be ignored.

by the 1970s, the more religiously devout mizrahi jews began to enter the mainstream, especially through their popular music.

at the same time, politics also became more religious as israel's right-wing candidates made direct appeals to the more devout voters.

the times were changing.

as violence persisted, it began to take a toll on civilians and soldiers alike.#

chapter 8 of 9 at the end of the six-day war, israel was in possession of the west bank and gaza strip regions.

this meant that many of the palestinians who fled during previous conflicts were now, once again, living under israeli rule.

the future of israel hinged on a question – what's next?

it's no coincidence that this movement gave rise to a peace movement.

israeli citizens, including a famous group of 58 teenagers, wondered aloud if the nation could sustain a seemingly endless war.

but just as these calls for peace were being voiced, a new conflict began – one which proved that the israeli military wasn't infallible.

the key message here is, as violence persisted, it began to take a toll on civilians and soldiers alike.

the yom kippur war broke out in october of 1973.

it mainly involved syria and egypt, although iraq and lebanon also joined the fray.

it lasted only 16 days, but the cost was high.

by the end, arab casualties were anywhere between 8,000 and 15,000, while israel lost 2,656 soldiers.

tens of thousands more were wounded.

both sides agreed to a ceasefire.

israel and egypt had made small gains, but the conflict was considered a fiasco for the israeli military, with three times as many casualties as the six-day war and little to show for it.

more violence still loomed on the horizon, and the lines of battle were only going to get blurrier.

shortly after the yom kippur war, david ben-gurion died.

in 1977, menachem begin, gurion's political rival, became prime minister.

begin made monumental strides toward peace.

first, he struck a peace deal with egypt, an accomplishment that earned him a nobel peace prize, which he shared with egypt's president.

but this modicum of peace was overshadowed by violence in lebanon.

in 1982, begin had approved a plan to send troops into lebanon to assist the christian falangist party, which was attempting to root out the palestine liberation organization – or plo – a militant group committed to the destruction of israel.

the operation did not go as planned.

losses were heavy on both sides, and the leader of the christian falangist party, bashir jamail, was killed.

shortly afterward, a new plan was devised.

plo fighters were supposedly living in a refugee camp called shatila, which was near beirut.

a bloodbath ensued.

after israeli forces secured the area, christian falangist forces brutally avenged jamail's death.

they massacred some 700 to 800 people, including women and children, in both the shatila and neighbouring sabra camp.

the massacre prompted huge protests in tel aviv, as well as a further reckoning with israel's military agenda.

stalled peace talks in the 1990s led to israel’s withdrawal from gaza in the 2000s.#

the events of the 1970s greatly diminished israel's standing in the international community.

not only was the violence increasing with no end in sight, there were also new issues.

arab states were enacting oil embargoes on israel's allies.

and aeroplanes were being hijacked by plo supporters, with travellers from around the world being held hostage in front of international news cameras.

amid this turmoil in the 1980s, a new antagonist emerged – hamas.

this militant group called upon islam to destroy the jewish state.

hamas brought violence to the streets of israel, a development that began taking an even greater toll on israeli soldiers, who were now fighting arab teenagers wielding stones in gaza and the west bank.

clearly, something needed to be done.

the key message here is, stalled peace talks in the 1990s led to israel's withdrawal from gaza in the 2000s.

back in 1967, israeli philosopher yeshayahu leibowitz said, israel had to liberate itself from this curse of dominating another people, or else bring about a catastrophe for the jewish people as a whole.

in the 1980s and 90s, the question was whether or not israel could safely create a palestinian state.

this was a central issue in the oslo accords, which were the result of ongoing negotiations between the plo and israel during the 1990s.

the result of the oslo accords was to have israel withdraw from portions of gaza and the west bank, and to create a palestinian authority that could assume control.

the reality was anything but peaceful, however.

it soon became obvious that yasser arafat, the plo's leader, had no intention of maintaining peace.

violence only increased after the accords.

between 1994 and 1996, more israelis were killed by terror attacks than during any other two-year period.

things changed following the election of prime minister ariel sharon in 2001.

quickly, sharon announced that he was in favour of the creation of a palestinian state, and he set in motion the unilateral withdrawal from gaza.

the decision divided sharon's own party, but it was done.

since then, hamas has maintained a strong hold on the palestinian parliament.

and in lebanon, the militant islamist organisation hezbollah has remained a threat to israel.

but despite all these threats and constant unease, israel has not diminished.

for a country that many predicted would not last two years past its independence, israel's economy has risen to achieve one of the highest annual gdp growth rates in the world.

it is home to the highest concentration of start-ups and has more venture capital investments per capita than anywhere in the world.

the story of israel is ongoing.

since the beginning, the nation has undergone continuous self-reflection, trying to balance its principles of democracy, self-preservation and security.

it's been a process that has, at times, been far from successful.

but it's a cause israelis will continue to strive for.

final summary#

Conclusion

the key message in these chapters is that the state of israel was born of necessity – to harbour jews facing oppressive restrictions and an increasing number of violent pogroms.

the zionist movement was created at the end of the first world war and it gained the approval of the british government and the united nations.

but from the outset, the arab population in the middle east was opposed to the idea of a jewish state and the influx of immigrants.

pledging and defending israel's independence has challenged the original ideals of zionists, who hoped to create a secular state that was free of oppression and at peace with its neighbours.

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Table of Contents

Book Summary

what’s in it for me? take a quick tour through the turbulent history of israel.#

the zionist movement began as a response to persistent anti-semitism in europe.#

views on the nature and existence of a jewish state differed from the very beginning.#

events of the early twentieth century helped push the zionist movement forward.#

despite the unfriendly conditions, jewish immigration quickly transformed the region.#

jewish defense groups fought both arab and british forces as hopes of independence grew.#

israel was born amid controversy, and it faced a great challenge in balancing democratic rights.#

as israel grew, it evolved into a more militaristic and religious country.#

as violence persisted, it began to take a toll on civilians and soldiers alike.#

stalled peace talks in the 1990s led to israel’s withdrawal from gaza in the 2000s.#

final summary#

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