Chapter Two THE BEGINNINGS by Alison Weir

 Chapter Two
THE BEGINNINGS
The Israel Lobby in the U.S. is just the tip of an older and far larger iceberg known as “political
Zionism,” an international movement that began in the late 1800s with the goal of creating a Jewish
state somewhere in the world. In 1897 this movement, led by a European journalist named Theodor
Herzl[4], coalesced in the First Zionist Congress, held in Basel, Switzerland, which established the
World Zionist Organization, representing 117 groups the first year; 900 the next.[5]
While Zionists considered such places as Argentina, Uganda, the Mediterranean island of Cyprus,
and Texas,[6] they eventually settled on Palestine for the location of their proposed Jewish State,
even though Palestine was already inhabited by a population that was 93-96 percent non-Jewish. The
best analysis says the population was 96 percent Muslims and Christians,[7] who owned 99 percent
of the land.[8]
After the Zionist Congress, Vienna’s rabbis sent two of their number to explore Palestine as a
possible Jewish state. These rabbis recognized the obstacle that Palestinians presented to the plan,
writing home: “The bride is beautiful, but she is married to another man.”[9] Still, Zionists ultimately
pushed forward. Numerous Zionist diary entries, letters, and other documents show that they decided
to push out these non-Jews – financially, if possible; violently if necessary.[10]

Political Zionism in the U.S.
The importance of the United States to this movement was recognized from early on. One of the
founders of political Zionism, Max Nordau, wrote a few years after the Basel conference, “Zionism’s
only hope is the Jews of America.”[11]
At that time, and for decades after, the large majority of Jewish Americans were not Zionists. In
fact, many actively opposed Zionism. In the coming years, however, Zionists were to woo them
assiduously with every means at hand. The extent to which Nordau‘s hope was eventually realized is
indicated by the statement by a prominent author on Jewish history, Naomi Cohen, who in 2003
wrote, “but for the financial support and political pressure of American Jews... Israel might not have
been born in 1948.”[12] To this might be added Zionists’ success in influencing American
politicians, the media, and much of the general public.
Groups advocating the setting up of a Jewish state had first begun popping up around the United
States in the 1880s.[13] Emma Lazarus, the poet whose words would adorn the Statue of Liberty,
promoted Zionism throughout this decade.[14] A precursor to the Israeli flag was created in Boston in
1891.[15]
In 1887 President Grover Cleveland appointed a Jewish ambassador to Turkey (seat of the
Ottoman Empire, which at that time controlled Palestine), because of Palestine’s importance to
Zionists. Jewish historian David G. Dalin reports that presidents considered the Turkish embassy
important to “the growing number of Zionists within the American Jewish electorate.”[16]
Every president, both Republican and Democrat, followed this precedent for the next 30 years.
“During this era, the ambassadorship to Turkey came to be considered a quasi-Jewish domain,”
writes Dalin. [17]
By the early 1890s organizations promoting Zionism existed in New York, Chicago, Baltimore,
Milwaukee, Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland.[18]
Reports from the Zionist World Congress in Basel, which four Americans had attended, gave this
movement a major stimulus, galvanizing Zionist activities in American cities that had large Jewish
populations.[19]
In 1897-98 Zionists founded numerous additional societies throughout the East and the Midwest.
In 1898 they converged in a first annual conference of American Zionists, held in New York on July
4th. There they formed the Federation of American Zionists (FAZ).[20]
By the 1910s the number of Zionists in the U.S. approached 20,000 and included lawyers,
professors, and businessmen. Even in its infancy, when it was still relatively weak, and represented
only a tiny fraction of the American Jewish population, Zionism was becoming a movement to which
“Congressmen, particularly in the eastern cities, began to listen.”[21]
The movement continued to expand. By 1914 several additional Zionist groups had formed,
including Hadassah, the women’s Zionist organization.[22] By 1918 there were 200,000 Zionists in
the U.S., and by 1948 this had grown to almost a million. [23]
From early on Zionists actively pushed their agenda in the media. One Zionist organizer proudly
proclaimed in 1912 “the zealous and incessant propaganda which is carried on by countless
societies.” The Yiddish press from a very early period espoused the Zionist cause. By 1923 every
New York Yiddish newspaper except one was Zionist. Yiddish dailies reached 535,000 families in
1927.[24]
While Zionists were making major inroads in influencing Congress and the media, State
Department officials were less enamored with Zionists, who they felt were trying to use the American
government for a project damaging to the United States. Unlike politicians, State Department officials
were not dependent on votes and campaign donations. They were charged with recommending and
implementing policies beneficial to all Americans, not just one tiny sliver working on behalf of a
foreign entity. [25]
In memo after memo, year after year, U.S. diplomatic and military experts pointed out that Zionism
was counter to both U.S. interests and principles.
While more examples will be discussed later, Secretary of State Philander Knox was perhaps the
first in the pattern of State Department officials rejecting Zionist advances. In 1912, the Zionist
Literary Society approached the Taft administration for an endorsement. Knox turned them down flat,
noting that “problems of Zionism involve certain matters primarily related to the interests of countries
other than our own.”[26]
Despite that small setback in 1912, Zionists garnered a far more significant victory in the same
year, one that was to have enormous consequences both internationally and in the United States and
that was part of a pattern of influence that continues through today.
Chapter Three
LOUIS BRANDEIS, ZIONISM,