Revisionist Zionism
[1] Developed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky in the 1920s, this ideology advocated a "revision" of the "practical Zionism" of David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann which was focused on the settling of Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) by independent individuals.Differing from other types of Zionism, Revisionists insisted upon the Jewish right to sovereignty over the whole of Eretz Yisrael, including Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan.From the early 1930s, Jabotinsky believed that the United Kingdom could no longer be trusted to advance the Zionist cause, leading to a short-lived alliance with Italy.[6] After the White Paper of 1939 severely limited Jewish immigration to Palestine, just as the Nazis were gaining power, the Irgun and Lehi initiated campaigns against the British.[7][8] By the 1970s, the legitimacy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was no longer questioned and in 1994, an overwhelming majority of Likud Knesset Members (MKs) voted for the Israel–Jordan Treaty of Peace.His main demand was the creation of Greater Israel on both sides of the Jordan River, and was against partitioning Palestine with the Arabs, such as suggested by the Peel Commission.Before Israel achieved statehood in 1948, Revisionist Zionism became known for its advocacy of more belligerent, assertive postures and actions against both British and Arab control of the region.[1] The central committee of the Revisionist Union defined its relationship with Great Britain as one of mutual loyalty but it was at odds with the mandatory administration.[2][page needed] In 1935, the Revisionists seceded from the World Zionist Organization because of its refusal to declare the establishment of a Jewish state as its immediate aim.[10] In Bursztyn, Betar members joined a self-defense unit that was organized by Catholic Poles to defend against the possibility of a Ukrainian invasion into Polish territory.[10] However, almost all of Betar's national leadership in Warsaw fled Poland because of rumors that German troops were executing Polish and Jewish political activists.[10] In October 1937, Jabotinsky met with Marshall Edward Smygly-Rydz to arrange an alliance between Revisionist Zionist and the anti-semitic Polish regime.Following Herut's merger with the Liberal Party in 1965, references to the ideal of Jewish sovereignty over "both banks of the Jordan" appeared less and less frequently.In 1994 the complete practical abandonment of the "both banks" principle was apparent when an overwhelming majority of Likud Knesset Members (MKs) voted in favour of the Israel–Jordan Treaty of Peace.[6] In July 1970, Begin and his colleagues left the National Unity Government under Golda Meir as a protest against the Rogers Peace Plan.In 1968 Begin defined the "eternal patrimony of our ancestors" as "Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem, Judea, [and] Shechem [Nablus]" in the West Bank.When Menachem Begin became leader of the broad Likud coalition (1973) and soon afterwards Prime Minister (in office: 1977–1983), he considerably modified Herut's expansive territorial aims.Instead, Begin spoke of the historic unity of Israel in the West Bank, even hinting that he would make territorial concessions in the Sinai as part of a complete peace settlement.[7][page needed] When Begin finally came to power in the 1977 election, his overriding concern as Prime Minister (1977–1983) was to maintain Israeli control over the West Bank and Gaza.In 1925, Jabotinsky formed the Revisionist Zionist Alliance, in the World Zionist Congress to advocate his views, which included increased cooperation with Britain on transforming the entire Mandate for Palestine territory, including Palestine itself and Transjordan, on opposite sides of the Jordan River, into a sovereign Jewish state, loyal to the British Empire.In the Jewish Diaspora, Revisionism was most established in Poland, where its base of operations was organized in various political parties and Zionist Youth groups, such as Betar.[5] The group did not became completely Revisionist until April 1937 when Tehomi and about a quarter of the 3,000 men in "Haganah-B" returned to the Haganah due to their support for the Mizrachi, General Zionists, and Jewish State Party.[5] Jabotinsky initially adopted the Haganah's doctrine of self-restraint because he wanted a legal legion that was formally affiliated with the military and he thought that an illegal counterinsurgency would make that impossible.Acting often in conflict (but at times, also in coordination) with rival clandestine militias such as the Haganah and the Lehi (or Stern Group), the Irgun's efforts would feature prominently in the armed struggles against British and Arab forces alike in the 1930s and 1940s, and ultimately become decisive in the closing events of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.A group of fighters with particularly militant views in the Irgun formed an underground movement called "The Fighters for the Freedom of Israel" or the Stern Gang.Following Stern's death in 1942—shot by a British police officer—and the arrest of many of its members, the group went into eclipse until it was reformed as "Lehi" under a triumvirate of Israel Eldad, Natan Yellin-Mor, and Yitzhak Shamir.[1] The lack of a coherent ideology was something the movement took pride in since it removed them from the brand of traditional party politics and did not emphasize identification with religion or social class.[6] He wanted a Jewish state that expanded over all of the Land of Israel, including the Emirate of Transjordan which had been established on the eastern part of the mandate of Palestine by the British.[6] The two central points of the Revisionist program were that Trans-Jordan belonged to the Zionists and that the British must reconstitute the Jewish Legion as a permanent part of the military force in Palestine.In 1937, Jabotinsky rejected the conclusion of the Peel Commission, which proposed a partition of Palestine between Jews and Arabs; it was however accepted by the Labor Zionists.[5] Jabotinsky ruled out the possibility of establishing a police state, whether it was under communist or fascist leadership due to his belief in the necessity of having a regime under which the individual could thrive.
ZionismJordan RiverZe'ev Jabotinskypractical ZionismDavid Ben-GurionChaim WeizmannLand of Israeltypes of ZionismMandatory PalestineTransjordanLabor ZionismIsraeliZionist ExecutiveWorld Zionist OrganizationUnited KingdomZionistStern GangWhite Paper of 1939campaigns against the BritishEast BankSix-Day WarWest BankGaza StripHashemite Kingdom of JordanKnessetIsrael–Jordan Treaty of PeaceTheodor HerzlGreater IsraelPeel CommissionBritish establishment ofJordanChurchill White PaperJosiah WedgewoodDominionRevisionist PartyGeneral ZionistsThe 1929 riotsZionist CongressAbba AhimeirUri Zvi GreenbergZeev von WeiselEliyahu GolombHaavara trade agreementHitleranti-Nazi boycottWarsawPolandMenachem BeginItalian fascismBenito MussoliniCivitavecchiaBlackshirtsIsraeli Declaration of IndependenceLiberal Party1977 electionSabra and Shatila massacreWorld War IYishuvZionist OrganizationRevisionist Zionist AllianceWorld Zionist CongressMandate for PalestineBritish EmpireJewish LegionMiddle EastLabour Zionistskibbutzimmiddle classNational Labor Federation in Eretz-IsraelHistadrutHebrewUnited StatesHaganah1948 Arab–Israeli WarAltalena AffairAvraham "Yair" SternRevisionist Zionist partyIsrael EldadNatan Yellin-MorYitzhak ShamirPrime Minister of IsraelWorld War IIguerrilla warfareoccupationparamilitaryConservatism in IsraelConservative JudaismJewish conservatismJewish fundamentalismKahanismReligious conservatismCulturalEthnicNietzscheanReligiousAgrarianismAncestral worshipAnti-ArabismAnti-PalestinianismAnti-Iranian sentimentAnti-IslamismIslamophobiaAuthorityClericalismFamilialismHebrew revivalHomeland for the Jewish peopleIrredentismIsraeli settlementJewish cultureJewish stateJudeo-ChristianityJudeo-Christian ethicsHalachic stateJewish supremacismChosen peopleJewish valuesLaw of ReturnMilitarismBegin DoctrineNatalismNationalismOrthodoxyPatriotismProperty rightsSovereignty