The Jewish Legion was five battalions formed during the course of World War I, made up mainly of Jewish soldiers. Originally created with the hope of fulfilling the desire for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, the brigade was controversial and divided opinion. Following Turkey’s entry into the war in November 1914, the Sultan’s representative in … Read more
Review of City on a Hilltop by Sara Yael Hirschhorn ‘HOW DOES a nice Jewish boy from East Flatbush, Brooklyn, a gifted social worker, marcher for civil rights, loving husband and father, end up blowing off the legs of the PLO mayor of Nablus?” This question, asked of Era Rapaport, member of the Jewish underground, … Read more
Martin Kramer has rightly attempted to resurrect Nahum Sokolow’s role in the Zionist diplomacy that led up to the Balfour Declaration. He demonstrates clearly the incremental progress of that diplomacy during World War I, and how the Zionist diplomats ensured that political significance was attached to each new step, no matter how seemingly insignificant. He … Read more
“The crowds cheered wildly when the announcement came that 40 Israeli planes had been shot down, then 70 planes and then 86 — against a loss of two to the Egyptians whose pilots were saved.” So wrote the Associated Press correspondent in Cairo on 5 June 1967. Fake news has its forefathers. Yet such falsehoods … Read more
”Israel is in mortal danger: she stands encircled by enemies who declare their intent to destroy her.” So began an appeal by the leadership of British Jewry to the community to make “a personal financial sacrifice” four days before the start of the Six Day war in June 1967. The appeal was not heard by … Read more
Two recent UK election campaign moments provide a window into the electoral dilemma of many British Jews: should they maintain their lifelong allegiance to the Labour party – or not? The first, earlier this week, concerns a BBC radio interview conducted by journalist Emma Barnett with Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour party. … Read more
The Six Day War: The Breaking of the Middle East (Yale University Press) by Guy Laron THE SIX-DAY war was partly an accidental conflict into which all parties drifted — a war in which the balance of influence between politicians and the generals tipped towards the military. Only one of Levi Eshkol’s government — average … Read more
The Last of the Tsars: Nicholas II and the Russian Revolution (Macmillan) 400 pages; £25 By Robert Service The tale of Nicholas and Alexandra has been romanticized in film and verse, demythologized by academics in numerous books and promoted by Vladimir Putin as a means of fortifying Russian nationalism in the public arena. A hundred years later, … Read more
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The refusal of the Labour party’s National Constitutional Committee to expel Ken Livingstone was not unexpected. The verdict of effectively extending Livingstone’s suspension for another year was simply a case of choosing the line of least resistance between Labour’s warring factions. It also reflected the desire of many ordinary Labour members not to believe the … Read more