Revisionist Zionism

Revisionist Zionism is a right wing tendency within the Zionist movement. The ideology was developed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky who advocated a "revision" of the "practical Zionism" of David Ben Gurion and Chaim Weizmann, which was focused on independent settlement of Eretz Yisrael. Revisionist Zionism was instead centered on a vision of "political Zionism", which Jabotinsky regarded as following the legacy of Theodore Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism.

Lehi: Origin and Activities

The national-messianist movement, called Lehi and nicknamed the "Stern Gang" by the British, was led by Avraham "Yair" Stern. Lehi was founded by Stern in 1940 as an offshoot from Irgun, and was initially named Irgun Zvai Leumi be-Yisrael (National Military Organization in Israel or NMO). The group openly described itself as terrorist. Following Stern's controversial death in 1942, 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. Shamir became the Prime Minister of Israel forty years later. Lehi was guided by spiritual and philosophical leaders Abba Achimeir and Uri Zvi Greenberg.

Related Topics:
Lehi - Avraham "Yair" Stern - Terrorist - 1942 - Israel Eldad - Natan Yellin-Mor - Yitzhak Shamir - Prime Minister of Israel - Abba Achimeir - Uri Zvi Greenberg

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NMO and to a lesser extent Lehi, were was influenced by the romantic nationalism of Italian nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian fascism, and the ideas of Nietzsche.

Related Topics:
Giuseppe Garibaldi - Fascism - Nietzsche

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Its goal was to establish a corporatist and religious society. The movement's activities were independent of any Diaspora leadership.

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While the Irgun stopped its activities against the British during World War Two, Lehi continued guerilla warfare against the British authorities. It considered the British rule of Mandatory Palestine to be an illegal occupation, and concentrated its attacks mainly against British targets (unlike the other underground movements, which were also involved in fighting against Arab paramilitary groups).

Related Topics:
World War Two - Guerilla warfare - Paramilitary

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In 1940 and 1941, NMO proposed intervening in the Second World War on the side of Nazi Germanyhttp://www.marxists.de/middleast/brenner/irgunazi.htm to attain their help in expelling Britain from Mandate Palestine and to offer their assistance in "evacuating" the Jews of Europe arguing that "common interests could exist between the establishment of a new order in Europe in conformity with the German concept, and the true national aspirations of the Jewish people as they are embodied by the NMO." Late in 1940, the NMO representative Naftali Lubenchik was sent to Beirut where he met the German official Werner Otto von Hentig and delivered a letter from NMO offering to "actively take part in the war on Germany's side" in return for German support for "the establishment of the historic Jewish state on a national and totalitarian basis, bound by a treaty with the German Reich". Von Hentig forwarded the letter to the German embassy in Ankara, but there is no record of any official response. Lehi tried to establish contact with the Germans again in December 1941, also apparently without success.

Related Topics:
1940 - 1941 - Naftali Lubenchik - Beirut - Werner Otto von Hentig - Ankara

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Lehi prisoners captured by the British generally refused to present a defence when brought to trial in British courts. They would only read out statements in which they declared that the court, representing an occupying force, had no jurisdiction over them. For the same reason, Lehi prisoners refused to plea for amnesty, even when it was clear that this would have them spared from the death penalty. In one case two Lehi men killed themselves in prison to deprive the British of the ability to hang them.

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Tensions between the Irgun and Lehi simmered until the two groups forged an alliance during the Israeli War of Independence.

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