In a year of anniversaries which relate to the history of modern Israel, perhaps the centenary of the Balfour Declaration is the most significant. For those who resent the rise of a Hebrew republic in the Land of Israel, it represents a colossal historic mistake. It clearly upsets the ideological applecart, anchored in the belief … Read more
This is a year of anniversaries. One hundred and twenty years since the first Zionist Congress. Fifty years since the victory in the Six Day war. Forty years since the election of Menahem Begin and the first right wing government in Israel – and many other lesser historical events. But perhaps most significantly it is … Read more
Last Sunday Masha Slepak was buried in Jerusalem’s Har HaMenuchot cemetery alongside her husband, Vladimir. For virtually the entire duration of the Soviet Jewry campaign in the UK, they were the central figures among the Moscow refuseniks. For Jewish “tourists” to the USSR, their apartment on Moscow’s Gorky Street was a fixed destination. Masha’s name … Read more
One hundred years ago in August 1917, the London Gazette published an official announcement that “a Jewish regiment” had been established. Based on the international regiments of small oppressed nations in Europe that had fought in foreign armies against great empires during the 19th century, it heralded the Israel Defence Force in 1948. Its formation marked the … Read more
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
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One hundred and twenty years in August since Herzl opened the first Zionist congress in Basel. Seventy years in November since UN Resolution 181 was passed which proclaimed the partition of historic Palestine – one state for the Zionist Jews, the other for the Palestinian Arabs. Fifty years in June since Israel’s victory in the … Read more
THE transformation of Szymon Perski from Vishnyeva in Belarus into Shimon Peres, a founding father of the state of Israel, is a reflection of how the Jews have moved from the margins of history to its mainstream after two millennia of dispersion and persecution. An urbane cultured man who spoke several languages and wrote poetry, … Read more
The political career of Shimon Peres lasted almost as long as a normal lifetime – three score and ten years. The secret of such longevity was his ability to adapt to the political reality – as he saw it – and not to be hidebound by ideological principles. He learned this at the knee of … Read more
Review of Avi Shilon’s Ben-Gurion: His Later Years in the Political Wilderness (Rowman and Littlefield 2016) pp.245 This latest work from Avi Shilon describes in detail Ben-Gurion’s last decade – from stepping down as prime minister in June 1963 until his death in December 1973. They were not glorious years and were peppered by … Read more