The History of Israel

262 Pages·1998·1.272 MB·English

by  Arnold Blumberg

THE
HISTORY OF
ISRAEL
ADVISORY BOARD
John T. Alexander
Professor of History and Russian and European Studies,
University of Kansas
William B. Cohen
Professor of History,
Indiana University, Bloomington
Robert A. Divine
George W. Littlefield Professor in American History Emeritus,
University of Texas at Austin
John V. Lombardi
Professor of History,
University of Florida
THE
HISTORY OF
ISRAEL
Arnold Blumberg
The GreenwoodHistoriesof the Modern Nations
Frank W. Thackerayand John E. Findling,SeriesEditors
GREENWOOD PRESS
Westport, Connecticut • London
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Blumberg,Arnold,1925–
ThehistoryofIsrael / ArnoldBlumberg.
p. cm. — (TheGreenwoodhistoriesofthemodernnations,
ISSN1096–2905)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0–313–30224–3(alk.paper)
1. Israel—History. 2. Palestine—History—1799–1917.
3. Zionism—History. I. Title. II. Series.
DS125.6.B58 1998
956.94—DC21 97–45659
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:2)1998byArnoldBlumberg
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:97–45659
ISBN:0–313–30224–3
ISSN:1096–2905
Firstpublishedin1998
GreenwoodPress,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
TM
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my brother Nessen,
who climbed Mount Zion
but never found Maale Adumim
To Shulamith and Azriel, Lea and Bernard,
who gave me the keys to Israel

Contents
Series Foreword
by Frank W. Thackeray and John E. Findling ix
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Timeline of Historical Events xix
Prologue xxvii
1 A SURVEY OF ZION’S EARLIER HISTORY 1
2 THE OLD YISHUV, 1833–1880 9
3 THE NEW YISHUV AND ZIONISM’S FIRST TWO
ALIYOTH, 1881–1914 21
4 THE THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH ALIYOTH,
1919–1939 37
viii Contents
5 THE HOLOCAUST AND THE STRUGGLE FOR
SURVIVAL, 1939–1948 59
6 BIRTH OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL, 1947–1949 69
7 YEARS OF GROWTH, 1949–1966 91
8 THE SIX-DAY WAR AND HEADY SELF-
CONFIDENCE, 1967–1973 103
9 THE YOM KIPPUR WAR AND REAPPRAISAL,
1973–1977 117
10 THE LIKUD REVOLUTION, 1977–1983 129
11 THE UNCERTAIN DIRECTION, 1983–1992 147
12 MERETZ HOLDS THE HELM; THE PEACE
PROCESS, 1992–1996 167
Epilogue 181
Notable People in the History of Israel 187
Selected Annotated Bibliography 199
Index 203
Series Foreword
TheGreenwoodHistoriesoftheModernNationsseriesisintendedtoprovide
students and interested laypeople with up-to-date, concise, and analyti-
calhistoriesofmanyofthenationsofthecontemporaryworld.Notsince
the 1960s has there been a systematic attempt to publish a series of na-
tional histories, and, as series editors, we believe that this series will
prove to be a valuable contribution to our understanding of othercoun-
tries in our increasingly interdependent world.
Over thirty years ago, at the end of the 1960s, the Cold War was an
accepted reality of global politics, the process of decolonizationwasstill
in progress, the idea of a unified Europe with a single currency was
unheard of, the United States was mired in a war in Vietnam, and the
economic boom of Asia was still years in the future. RichardNixonwas
presidentoftheUnitedStates,MaoTse-tung(notyetMaoZedong)ruled
China, Leonid Brezhnev guided the Soviet Union, and Harold Wilson
was prime minister of the United Kingdom. Authoritarian dictators still
ruled most of Latin America, the Middle East was reeling in the wake
of the Six-Day War, and Shah Reza Pahlavi was at the height of his
power in Iran. Clearly, thepast thirtyyearshavebeenwitnesstoagreat
deal of historical change, and it is to this change that this series is pri-
marily addressed.
x Series Foreword
With the help of a distinguished advisory board, we have selected
nationswhosepolitical,economic,andsocialaffairsmarkthemasamong
the most important in the waning years of the twentieth century, and
for each nation we have found an author who is recognized as a spe-
cialist in the history of that nation. These authors have worked most
cooperatively with us and with Greenwood Press to produce volumes
that reflect current research on their nation and that are interesting and
informative to their prospective readers.
The importance of a series such as this cannot be underestimated. As
asuperpowerwhoseinfluenceisfeltallovertheworld,theUnitedStates
can claim a ‘‘special’’ relationship with almost every other nation. Yet
many Americans know very little about the historiesofthenationswith
which the United States relates. How did they get to be the way they
are? What kind of political systems have evolved there? What kind of
influence do they have in their own region? What are the dominant po-
litical, religious, and cultural forces that move their leaders? These and
many other questions are answered in the volumes of this series.
The authors who have contributed to this serieshavewrittencompre-
hensive histories of their nations, dating back to prehistoric times in
some cases. Each of them, however, has devoted a significant portionof
the book to events of the past thirty years, because the modern era has
contributedthemosttocontemporaryissuesthathaveanimpactonU.S.
policy. Authors have made an effort to be as up-to-date as possible so
thatreaderscanbenefitfromthemostrecentscholarshipandanarrative
that includes very recent events.
In addition to the historical narrative, each volume in this series con-
tains an introductory overview of the country’s geography, political in-
stitutions, economic structure, and cultural attributes. This is designed
to give readers a picture of the nation as it exists in the contemporary
world. Each volume also contains additional chapters that add interest-
ing and useful detail to the historical narrative. One chapter is a thor-
ough chronology of important historical events, making it easy for
readerstofollowtheflowofa particularnation’shistory.Anotherchap-
ter features biographical sketches of the nation’s most important figures
in order to humanize some of the individuals who have contributed to
the historical development of their nation. Each volume also contains a
comprehensive bibliography, so that those readers whose interest has
beensparkedmayfindoutmoreaboutthenationanditshistory.Finally,
there is a carefully prepared topic and person index.
Readersofthesevolumeswillfindthemfascinatingtoreadanduseful