HISTORY OF ISRAEL

Tegemeo Mwenegoha Friday, January 30, 2015

History of Israel

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History of Israel

Ancient Israel and Judah
Prehistory Hebrews Israelites United monarchy Northern Kingdom Kingdom of Judah Babylonian rule Persian rule Hasmonean dynasty
Rome Byzantium
Herodian kingdom Tetrarchy Roman Judea Syria Palaestina Palaestina Prima Palaestina Secunda Jewish-Sasanian commonwealth
Caliphate Crusades
Jund Filastin Jund al-Urdunn Kingdom of Jerusalem Ayyubid dynasty Mamluk Sultanate Ottoman rule (Mutasarrifate)
Zionism State of Israel
Old Yishuv Aliyah British Mandate Independence Arab–Israeli conflict Timeline Years
Topics
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The history of Israel encompasses the history of the modern State of Israel, as well as that of the Jews in the Land of Israel. The area of modern Israel is small, about the size of Wales or half the size of Costa Rica, and is located roughly on the site of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah except that these ancient kingdoms also included what is now the West Bank. It is the birthplace of the Hebrew language spoken in Israel, and of the Abrahamic religions. It contains sites believed to be sacred to Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Druze and Bahá'í Faith.

Although coming under the sway of various empires and home to a variety of ethnicities, the area of ancient Israel was predominantly Jewish[citation needed] until the Jewish–Roman wars after which Jews became a minority in most regions, except Galilee. The area became increasingly Christian after the 3rd century and then largely Muslim from the 7th century conquest until the middle of the 20th century. It was a focal point of conflict between Christianity and Islam between 1096 and 1291, and from the end of the Crusades until the British conquest in 1917 was part of the Syrian province of first the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and then (from 1517) the Ottoman Empire.

In the late-19th century, persecution of Jews, particularly in Europe, led to the creation of the Zionist movement. Following the British conquest of Syria, the Balfour Declaration in World War I and the formation of the Mandate of Palestine, Aliyah (Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel) increased and gave rise to Arab–Jewish tensions, and a collision of the Arab and Jewish nationalist movements. Israeli independence in 1948 was marked by massive migration of Jews from both Europe and the Muslim countries to Israel, and of Arabs from Israel leading to the extensive Arab–Israeli conflict.[1] About 42% of the world's Jews live in Israel today.

Since about 1970, the United States has become the principal ally of Israel. In 1979 an uneasy Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty was signed, based on the Camp David Accords. In 1993 Israel signed Oslo I Accord with the Palestine Liberation Organization and in 1994 Israel–Jordan Treaty of Peace was signed. Despite efforts to establish peace between Israel and Palestinians, many of whom live in Israel or in Israeli-occupied territories, the conflict continues to play a major role in Israeli and international political, social and economic life.

The economy of Israel was initially primarily socialist and the country dominated by social democratic parties until the 1970s. Since then the Israeli economy has gradually moved to capitalism and a free market economy, partially retaining the social welfare system.

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Prehistory[edit]

Further information: Prehistory of the Levant

Between 2.6 and 0.9 million years ago, at least four episodes of hominine dispersal from Africa to the Levant are known, each culturally distinct. The flint tool artifacts of these early humans have been discovered on the territory of the current state of Israel, including, at Yiron, the oldest stone tools found anywhere outside Africa. Other groups include 1.4 million years old Acheulean industry, the Bizat Ruhama group and Gesher Bnot Yaakov.[2]

In the Carmel mountain range at el-Tabun, and Es Skhul,[3] Neanderthal and early modern human remains were found, including the skeleton of a Neanderthal female, named Tabun I, which is regarded as one of the most important human fossils ever found.[4] The excavation at el-Tabun produced the longest stratigraphic record in the region, spanning 600,000 or more years of human activity,[5] from the Lower Paleolithic to the present day, representing roughly a million years ofhuman evolution.[6]

Ancient times[edit]

Main article: History of ancient Israel and Judah

Egyptian rule[edit]

Map of the Ancient Near East during the Amarna Period, showing the great powers of the day: Egypt (orange), Hatti(blue), the Kassite kingdom of Babylon (black), Middle Assyrian Empire (yellow), and Mitanni (brown). The extent of the Achaean/Mycenaean civilization is shown in purple.

During the 2nd millennium BC, Canaan, part of which later became known as Israel, was dominated byEgypt.

Early Israelites[edit]

Main articles: Hebrews, Israelites and Biblical judges

The Merneptah stele. While alternative translations exist, the majority of biblical archeologists translate a set of hieroglyphs as "Israel", representing the first instance of the name Israel in the historical record.

The first record of the name Israel (as ysrỉꜣr) occurs in the Merneptah stele, erected for Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah c. 1209 BCE, "Israel is laid waste and his seed is not."[7] William Dever sees this "Israel" in the central highlands as a cultural and probably political entity, more an ethnic group rather than an organized state.[8]

Ancestors of the Israelites may have included Semites native to Canaan and the Sea Peoples.[9] McNutt says, "It is probably safe to assume that sometime during Iron Age I a population began to identify itself as 'Israelite'", differentiating itself from the Canaanites through such markers as the prohibition of intermarriage, an emphasis on family history and genealogy, and religion.[10]

The first use of grapheme-based writing originated in the area, probably among Canaanite peoples resident in Egypt. All modern alphabets are descended from this writing. Written evidence of the use of Classical Hebrew exists from about 1000 BCE. It was written using the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet.

Villages had populations of up to 300 or 400,[11][12] which lived by farming and herding, and were largely self-sufficient;[13] economic interchange was prevalent.[14] Writing was known and available for recording, even in small sites.[15] The archaeological evidence indicates a society of village-like centres, but with more limited resources and a small population.[16]

Israel and Judah[edit]

Main articles: Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Kingdom of Judah and Kings of Judah

Kingdoms of Israel andJudah

The Hebrew Bible describes constant warfare between the Jews and other tribes, including thePhilistines, whose capital was Gaza. The Bible states that King David founded a dynasty of kings and that his son Solomon built a Temple. No material evidence indisputably of Solomon's reign has been found. Yigael Yadin's excavations at Hazor, Megiddo, Beit Shean and Gezer uncovered structures that he and others have argued date from his reign,[17] but others, such as Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman (who agree that Solomon was a historical king), argue that they should be dated to theOmride period, more than a century after Solomon.[18] This building is not mentioned in surviving extra-biblical accounts.[19] Possible references to the "House of David" have been found at two sites, the Tel Dan Stele and the Mesha Stele.[20] Both David and Solomon are widely referenced in Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts.

Around 930 BCE, the kingdom split into a southern Kingdom of Judah and a northern Kingdom of Israel.

It is possible that an alliance between Ahab of Israel and Ben Hadad II of Damascus managed to repulse the incursions of theAssyrians, with a victory at the Battle of Qarqar (854 BCE). (see the Kurkh Monoliths).[21] However, the Kingdom of Israel was eventually destroyed by Assyrian kingTiglath-Pileser III around 750 BCE. The Philistine kingdom was also destroyed. The Assyrians sent most of the northern Israelite kingdom into exile, thus creating the "Lost Tribes of Israel". The Samaritans claim to be descended from survivors of the Assyrian conquest. An Israelite revolt (724–722 BCE) was crushed after the siege and capture of Samaria by the Assyrian king Sargon II. Sargon's son, Sennacherib, tried and failed to conquer Judah. Assyrian records say he leveled 46 walled cities and besieged Jerusalem, leaving after receiving extensive tribute.[22]

Exile under Babylon (586–538 BCE)[edit]

Main articles: Yehud (Babylonian province) and Babylonian captivity

In 586 BCE King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon conquered Judah. According to the Hebrew Bible, he destroyed Solomon's Temple and exiled the Jews to Babylon. The defeat was also recorded by the Babylonians[23][24] (see the Babylonian Chronicles). Babylonian and Biblical sources suggest that the Judean king, Jehoiakim, switched allegiances between the Egyptians and the Babylonians and that invasion was a punishment for allying with Babylon's principle rival, Egypt. The exiled Jews may have been restricted to the elite.

Jehoiakim was eventually released by the Babylonians (see Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets) and according to both the Bible and the Talmud, the Judean royal family (the Davidic line) continued as head of the exile in Babylon (the Exilarch).

Classical era (538 BCE–636 CE)[edit]

Persian and Hellenistic rule 538–160 BCE[edit]

Main articles: Yehud Medinata and Return to Zion

Second Temple model (Israel Museum)

In 538 BCE, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon and took over its empire. Cyrus issued a proclamation granting subjugated nations (including the people of Judah) religious freedom (for the original text see the Cyrus Cylinder). According to the Hebrew Bible 50,000 Judeans, led by Zerubabel, returned to Judah and rebuilt the temple. A second group of 5,000, led by Ezra and Nehemiah, returned to Judah in 456 BCE although non-Jews wrote to Cyrus to try to prevent their return.

Scholars believe that the final Hebrew versions of the Torah and Books of Kings date from this period, that the returningIsraelites adopted an Aramaic script (also known as the Ashuri alphabet) which they brought back from Babylon; this is the current Hebrew script. The Hebrew Calendar closely resembles the Babylonian calendar and probably dates from this period.[25]

In 333 BCE, the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great defeated Persia and conquered the region. Sometime thereafter, the first translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, was begun in Alexandria. After Alexander's death, his generals fought over the territory he had conquered. Judah became the frontier between the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt, eventually becoming part of the Seleucid Empire in 198 BCE. In the 2nd century BCE, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ruler of the Seleucid Empire) tried to eradicate Judaism in favour of Hellenistic religion. This provoked the 174–135 BCE Maccabean Revolt led by Judas Maccabeus (whose victory is celebrated in the Jewish festival of Hanukkah). The Books of the Maccabees describe the uprising and the end of Greek rule. A Jewish party called the Hasideans opposed both Hellenismand the revolt but eventually gave their support to the Maccabees. Modern interpretations see this period as a civil war between Hellenized and orthodox forms of Judaism.[26][27]

Hasmonean dynasty 160–37 BCE[edit]

Main article: Hasmonean dynasty

The Hasmonean dynasty of (Jewish) priest-kings ruled Judea with the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes as the principal Jewish social movements. As part of the struggle against Hellenistic civilization, the Pharisee leader Simeon ben Shetach established the first schools based around meeting houses.[28] This led toRabbinical Judaism. Justice was administered by the Sanhedrin, which was a Rabbincal assembly and law court whose leader was known as the Nasi. The Nasi's religious authority gradually superseded that of the Temple's high priest (under the Hasmoneans this was the king).

In 125 BCE the Hasmonean King John Hyrcanus subjugated Edom and forcibly converted the population to Judaism.[29] In 64 BCE the Roman general Pompey conquered Syria and intervened in the Hasmonean civil war in Jerusalem. In 47 BCE the lives of Julius Caesar and his protege Cleopatra were saved by 3,000 crack Jewish troops sent by King Hyrcanus II and commanded by Antipater, whose descendants Caesar made kings of Judea.[30]

Herodian kingdom 37 BCE–6 CE[edit]

Main articles: Herodian kingdom and Tetrarchy (Judea)

From 37 BCE to 6 CE, the Herodian dynasty, Jewish-Roman client kings, descended from Antipater, ruled Judea. Herod the Great considerably enlarged the temple (see Herod's Temple), making it one of the largest religious structures in the world. Despite its fame, it was in this period that Rabbinical Judaism, led by Hillel the Elder, began to assume popular prominence over the Temple priesthood.

The Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was granted special permission not to display an effigy of the emperor, becoming the only religious structure in the Roman Empirethat did not do so. Special dispensation was granted for Jewish citizens of the Roman Empire to pay a tax to the temple.

Roman rule 6–390[edit]

Main articles: Judea (Roman province) and Syria Palaestina

Further information: Jewish–Roman wars

1st-century BCE - 2nd-century CE
64 BCE Rome conquers Judea and Jerusalem 40–37 Antigonus the Hasmonean rules as King of Judea 37 Herod the Great made ruler of Judea 19 Herod's Temple completed 4 BCE Tetrarchy of Judea formed 6 CE Iudaea province formed 20 Tiberias founded 66–73 First Jewish–Roman War 67 Gamla and Jotapata fall 70 Second Temple destroyed, Council of Jamnia founded 73 Massada falls 115–117 Kitos War 130 Temple of Jupiter built upon Temple Mount 132 Judea merged into Syria Palaestina 132–136 Bar-Kochba revolt, Ten Martyrs executed c. 200 Mishnah completed

Judea was made a Roman province in 6 CE. Following the next decades, though prosperous, the society suffered increasing tensions between Greco-Roman and Judean populations.

In 64 CE, the High Priest Joshua ben Gamla introduced a religious requirement for Jewish boys to learn to read from the age of 6. Over the next few hundred years this requirement became steadily more ingrained in Jewish traditions.[31]

In 66 CE, the Jews of Judea rose in revolt against Rome, naming their new state as "Israel".[32] The events were described by the Jewish leader/historian Josephus, including the desperate defense of Jotapata, the siege of Jerusalem (69–70 CE) and the heroic last stand at Masada under Eleazar ben Yair (72–73 CE). Much of Jerusalem and the Temple lay in ruins. During the Jewish revolt, most Christians, at this time a sub-sect of Judaism, removed themselves from Judea. The rabbinical/Pharisee movement led by Yochanan ben Zakai, who opposed the Sadducee temple priesthood, made peace with Rome and survived. After the warJews continued to be taxed in the Fiscus Judaicus, which was used to fund a temple to Jupiter.

Nabratein synagogue remains in the upper Galilee

From 115 to 117, Jews in Libya, Egypt, Cyprus, Mesopotamia and Lod rose in revolt against Rome. This conflict was accompanied by large-scale massacres of both Romans and Jews. Cyprus was severely depopulated and Jews banned from living there.[33]

In 131, the Emperor Hadrian renamed Jerusalem "Aelia Capitolina" and constructed a Temple of Jupiter on the site of the former Jewish temple. Jews were banned from living in Jerusalem itself (a ban that persisted until the Arab conquest), and the Roman province, until then known as Iudaea Province, was renamed Palaestina, no other revolt led to a province being renamed.[34] The names "Palestine" (in English) and "Filistin" (in Arabic) are derived from this. From 132 to 136, the Jewish leader Simon Bar Kokhba led another major revolt against the Romans, again renaming the country "Israel"[35] (see Bar Kochba Revolt coinage). The Bar-Kochba revolt probably caused more trouble for the Romans than the more famous (and better documented) revolt of 70.[36] The Christians refused to participate in the revolt and from this point the Jews regarded Christianity as a separate religion.[37] The revolt was eventually crushed by Emperor Hadrian himself. Although uncertain, it is widely thought that during the Bar Kokhba revolt, when a rabbinical assembly decided which books could be regarded as part of the Hebrew Bible, the Jewish apocrypha were left out.[38] A rabbi of this period, Simeon bar Yochai, is regarded as the author of the Zohar, the foundational text for Kabbalistic thought. However, modern scholars believe it was written in Medieval Spain.[39]

After suppressing the Bar Kochba revolt, the Romans exiled the Jews of Judea, but not of Galilee and permitted a hereditary Rabbinical Patriarch (from the House of Hillel, based in Galilee) to represent the Jews in dealings with the Romans. The most famous of these was Judah haNasi who is credited with compiling the final version of the Mishnah (a massive body of Jewish religious texts interpreting the Bible) and with strengthening the educational demands of Judaism by requiring that illiterate Jews be treated as outcasts. As a result many illiterate Jews may have converted to Christianity.[40]

Jewish seminaries, such as those at Shefaram and Bet Shearim continued to produce scholars and the best of these became members of the Sanhedrin[41] which was located first at Tzippori and later at Tiberias.[42] Before the Bar-Kochba uprising, an estimated 2/3 of the population of Gallilee and 1/3 of the coastal region were Jewish.[43] In the Galillee, many Synagogues have been found dating from this period. However, persecution and the economic crisis that affected the Roman empire in the 3rd century led to further Jewish migration from Syria Palaestina to the more tolerant Persian Sassanid Empire, where a prosperous Jewish community with extensive seminaries existed in the area of Babylon.

Early in the 4th century, Constantinople became the capital of the East Roman Empire and Christianity was adopted as the official religion. The name Jerusalem was restored to Aelia Capitolina and it became a Christian city. Jews were still banned from living in Jerusalem, but were allowed to visit, and it is in this period that the surviving Western Wall of the temple became sacred. In 351–2, another Jewish revolt in the Galilee erupted against a corrupt Roman governor.[44] In 362, the lastpagan Roman Emperor, Julian the Apostate, announced plans to rebuild the Jewish Temple. He died while fighting the Persians in 363 and the project was discontinued.

Byzantine rule 390–611[edit]

Main articles: Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda and Jewish-Sasanian commonwealth

Middle Ages (636–1517)[edit]

Arab rule 636–1099[edit]

Further information: Jund Filastin and Jund al-Urdunn

According to Muslim tradition, in 620 Muhammed was taken on spiritual journey from Mecca to the "farthest mosque", whose location many consider to be the Temple Mount, returning the same night. In 634–636 the Arabs conquered Palaestina Prima and renamed it Jund Filastin, ending the Byzantine ban on Jews living in Jerusalem. Over the next few centuries, Islam replaced Christianity as the dominant religion of the region.

From 636 until the beginning of the Crusades, Jund Filastin was ruled first by Medinah-based Rashidun Caliphs, then by the Damascus-based Umayyad Caliphateand after that the Baghdad-based Abbasid Caliphs. In 691, Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik (685–705) constructed the Dome of the Rock shrine on the Temple Mount. Jews consider it to contain the Foundation Stone (see also Holy of Holies), which is the holiest site in Judaism. A second building, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, was also erected on the Temple Mount in 705.

Between the 7th and 11th centuries, Jewish scribes, called the Masoretes and located in Galilee and Jerusalem, established the Masoretic Text, the final text of theHebrew Bible.

Crusader and Ayyubid rule 1099–1291[edit]

Further information: Kingdom of Jerusalem

The Siege of Jerusalem, 1099, during the First Crusade

In 1099, the first crusade took Jerusalem and established a Catholic kingdom, known as the Kingdom of Jerusalem. During the conquest, both Muslims and Jews were indiscriminately massacred or sold into slavery.[47] The murder of Jews began as the Crusaders traveled across Europe and continued when they reached the Holy Land.[48] Ashkenazi orthodox Jews still recite a prayer in memory of the death and destruction caused by the Crusades.

In 1187, the Ayyubid Sultan Saladin defeated the Crusaders in the Battle of Hattin (above Tiberias), taking Jerusalem and most of the former Kingdom of Jerusalem. Saladin's court physician was Maimonides, whose work had an enormous influence on Judaism. Maimonides was buried in Tiberias. A Crusader state centred round Acre survived in weakened form for another century.

From 1260 to 1291 the area became the frontier between Mongol invaders (occasional Crusader allies) and the Mamluks of Egypt. The conflict impoverished the country and severely reduced the population. Sultan Qutuz of Egypt eventually defeated the Mongols in the Battle of Ain Jalut (near Ein Harod), and his successor (and assassin), Baibars, eliminated the last Crusader Kingdom of Acre in 1291, thereby ending the Crusades.

Mamluk rule 1260–1517[edit]

Further information: Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)

Egyptian Mamluk Sultan, Baibars (1260–1277), conquered the region and the Mamluks ruled it until 1517, regarding it as part of Syria. In Hebron, Baibars banned Jews from worshiping at the Cave of the Patriarchs (the second holiest site in Judaism), the ban remained in place until its conquest by Israel 700 years later.[49]

The collapse of the Crusades was followed by increased persecution and expulsions of Jews in Europe. Expulsions began in England (1290) and were followed by France (1306).[50][51] In Spain, persecution of the highly integrated and successful Jewish community began, including massacres and forced conversions. During theBlack Death, many Jews were murdered after being accused of poisoning wells. The completion of the Christian reconquest of Spain led to expulsion of the Jews ofSpain in 1492 and Portugal in 1497. These were the wealthiest and most integrated Jewish communities in Europe. Many Jews converted to Christianity, however many secretly practised Judaism and prejudice against converts (regardless of their sincerity) persisted, leading many former Jews to move to the New World (seeHistory of the Jews in Latin America). Most of the expelled Spanish Jews moved to North Africa, Poland, to the Ottoman Empire and to the region of Bilad a-Shamwhich roughly corresponds to the ancient Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy). In Italy, Jews living in the Papal States were required to live in ghettos (see Cum nimis absurdum). The last compulsory Ghetto, in Rome, was abolished in the 1880s.

Ottoman rule (1517–1920)[edit]

Under the Mamluks, the area was a province of Bilad a-Sham (Syria). It was conquered by Turkish Sultan Selim I in 1516–17, becoming a part of the province ofOttoman Syria for the next four centuries, first as the Damascus Eyalet and later as the Syria Vilayet (following the Tanzimat reorganization of 1864).

Old Yishuv[edit]

Main articles: Old Yishuv and Damascus Eyalet

18th-century Palestinian rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai

From the Middle Ages on, there was small scale individual Jewish migration to the Damascus Eyalet of Ottoman Syria, which tended to increase when persecution was bad elsewhere. The Jewish population was concentrated in Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed andTiberias, known in Jewish tradition as the Four Holy Cities. In the 16th century, following a wave of Spanish immigration, Safed became a centre for study of the Kabbalah. However economic decline and conflict between the Druze and the Ottomans, led to the community's gradual decline by the mid-17th century. In 1660, a Druze revolt led to the destruction of the major Old Yishuv cities ofSafed and Tiberias.[52][52][53] In 1663 Sabbatai Zevi settled in Jerusalem, proclaiming himself to be the Jewish Messiah. He acquired a large number of followers before going to Istanbul in 1666, where the Sultan forced him to covert to Islam. In the late 18th century a local Bedouin Sheikh Daher el-Omar created a de facto independent Emirate in the Galilee. Ottoman attempts to subdue the Sheikh failed, but after Daher's death the Ottomans restored their rule in the area.

In 1799 Napoleon briefly occupied the country and planned a proclamation inviting Jews to create a state. The proclamation was shelved following his defeat at Acre.[54] In 1831, Muhammad Ali of Egypt conquered Ottoman Syria and decided to revive and resettle much of its regions. His conscription policies led to a popular Arab revolt in 1834, resulting in major casualties for the local Arab peasants, and massacres of Christian and Jewish communities by the rebels. Following the revolt, Muhammad Pasha, the son of Muhammad Ali, expelled nearly 10,000 of the local peasants to Egypt, while bringing loyal Arab peasants from Egypt and discharged soldiers to settle the coastline of Ottoman Syria. Northern Jordan Valley was settled by his Sudanese troops.

In 1838 there was another revolt by the Druze. In 1839 Moses Montefiore met with Muhammed Pasha in Egypt and signed an agreement to establish 100-200 Jewish villages in the Damascus Eyalet of Ottoman Syria,[55] but in 1840 the Egyptians withdrew before the deal was implemented, returning the area to Ottoman governorship. In 1844, Jews constituted the largest population group in Jerusalem and by 1890 an absolute majority in the city, but as a whole the Jewish population made up far less than 10% of the country.[56][57] In 1868, the Ottomans banished the Bahá'u'lláh, one of the founders of the Bahai religion, to Acre where he is buried, and the movement subsequently established its global administrative centre in nearby Haifa. In 1874, Ottoman reforms led to the area of Jerusalem gaining special status as the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem.[58]

Birth of Zionism 1870 - 1914[edit]

Main article: History of Zionism

World War I 1914 - 1917[edit]

Main articles: Occupied Enemy Territory Administration and Balfour Declaration

French and British influence and control (Sykes–Picot Agreement, 1916)

During World War I, most Jews supported the Germans because they were fighting the Russians who were regarded as the Jews' main enemy.[60] In Britain, the government sought Jewish support for the war effort for a variety of reasons including an erroneous antisemitic perception of "Jewish power" over the Ottoman Empire's Young Turksmovement,[61] and a desire to secure American Jewish support for US intervention on Britain's behalf.

There was already sympathy for the aims of Zionism in the British government, including the Prime Minister Lloyd George.[62] In late 1917, the British Army drove the Turks out of Southern Syria,[63] and the British foreign minister, Lord Balfour, sent a public letter toLord Rothschild, a leading member of his party and leader of the Jewish community. The letter subsequently became known as theBalfour Declaration of 1917. It stated that the British Government "view[ed] with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". The declaration provided the British government with a pretext for claiming and governing the country.[64] New Middle Eastern boundaries were decided by an agreement between British and French bureaucrats. The agreement gave Britain control over what parties would begin to call "Palestine". This appellation would remain uncontroversial until the rise ofAnti-Zionism in the 1940s.

A Jewish Legion composed largely of Zionist volunteers organized by Jabotinsky and Trumpeldor participated in the British invasion. It also participated in the failedGallipoli Campaign. A Zionist spy network provided the British with details of Ottoman troops.

British Mandate of Palestine (1920–1948)[edit]

Main article: Mandatory Palestine

First years 1920 - 1929[edit]

Increase of Jewish immigration 1930 - 1938[edit]

Main articles: Fifth Aliyah and Nuremberg Laws

In 1933, the Jewish Agency and the Nazis negotiated the Ha'avara Agreement (transfer agreement), under which 50,000 Jews would be transferred to Palestine. The Jews possessions were confiscated and in return the Nazis allowed the Ha'avara organization to purchase 14 million pounds worth of German goods for export to Palestine (which was used to compensate the immigrants). The Nazis did not normally allow Jews to leave with any money or to take more than two suitcases. The agreement was controversial and the Labour Zionist leader who negotiated the agreement, Haim Arlosoroff, was assassinated in Tel Aviv in 1933. The assassination was a long source of anger between the Zionist left and Zionist right. Arlosoroff once dated Magda Goebbels and may have been assassinated by the Nazis to hide the connection which only emerged recently. In Palestine, Jewish immigration (and the Ha'avara goods) helped the economy to flourish. A port and oil refineries were built at Haifa and there was a growth of industrialization in the predominantly agricultural Palestinian economy.

Between 1929 and 1938, 250,000 Jews arrived in Palestine (Fifth Aliyah). 174,000 arrived between 1933 and 1936, after which the British increasingly restricted immigration. The influx contributed to the 1933 Palestine riots. Migration was mostly from Europe and included professionals, doctors, lawyers and professors from Germany. As a consequence German architects of the Bauhaus school made Tel-Aviv the world's only city with purely Bauhaus neighborhoods and Palestine had the highest per-capita percentage of doctors in the world.

As Fascist regimes emerged across Europe, persecution of Jews massiv

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