Selling of Israel: a Case Study of Zionist Activity in the United States

University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1972 Selling of Israel: A case study of Zionist activity in the United States Susan Livingstone The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Livingstone, Susan, "Selling of Israel: A case study of Zionist activity in the United States" (1972). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 5188. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5188 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE SELLING OF ISRAEL: A CASE STUDY OF ZIONIST ACTIVITY IN THE UNITED STATES by Susan Livingstone B.A., College of William and Mary, 1968 Presented in partial fu lfillm ent of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts UNIVERSITY OF M O NTANA 1972 Approved by; L isH Chairman, Board of Examiners Date / UMI Number: EP40652 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. D fntrtaSon RabbNng UMI EP40652 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 PREFACE At the conclusion of World War Two, the power structure of the inter national arena was left in a vastly different state. Germany's bid for power had fa ile d , France, by some reckonings one of the strongest powers prior to the War, emerged from the Second World War a defeated and ruined nation. Great Britain had been bled of its national treasure and manpower in defending its island and empire against the German onslaught. Of all the world's nations, the United States emerged from the four years o f con flict unquestioningly the most powerful nation in the world; our economy was the strongest and our military might the most formidable. In addition, the colonial or what later became known as the Third World, profited from the changing power relations. Seizing the opportunity which the new power changes created, the colonial world launched a host of movements for national independence, and gradually the European colonial possessions either won or were awarded their independence. In Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, young nations formed a significant new political and economic aggregation on the world political stage which in the years to come was to change the complexion of foreign affairs. W ithin a few years after the War's end, the United States was challenged for global political and ideological supremacy by a revitalized Soviet Union. Faced with the awesome realities of thermonuclear war, the line between East and West became frozen on the European subcontinent, prohibiting either side from making significant advances at the expense of the other. Thus, in the struggle between the two new superpowers, it soon became apparent that meaningful gains could be scored only in the Third World—in the hamlets of Asia, in the jungles of Africa, in the sultry capitals of Latin America and in the newly independent nations of the Middle East. Unfortunately, in little more than two decades United States global prestige and influence in the Third World have been sorely undermined. In Latin America and Southeast Asia, anti-Americanism is on the rise. American policy toward the new African nations has only inculcated suspicions of colonial ambi tions, and U.S. relations with the Arab nations of the Middle East are at their lowest point in history. With specific reference to the Middle East, the United States and Soviet Cold War battle is rapidly approaching the confrontation stage. The Soviet Union is playing an ever more pivotal role in the Arab nations of the Middle East, and the growing Soviet naval power is highly visible in any number of North African ports, on what was once regarded as an "American lake." The increasing Soviet presence in the Middle East, wrotes Dr. Walter Lacqueur, Is not "the result of invasion, nor of infiltration by stealth: the Soviet Union became a 1 Middle East power by invitation." That such an invitation was issued is, in this author's opinion, due to American Middle Eastern p o licy. The massive popular and economic support which this nation has offered to the Middle Eastern nation of Israel has in many respects pushed Egypt, the keystone o f the M iddle East, into the awaiting arms of the Soviet Union, and with the loss of Egypf, U „S. presfige and relations with the rest of the Arab world has declined with few exceptions. Given the immense strategic, economic and political interests which this nation has in the Middle East, one can only view the loss of the Arab nations to the Soviet Union as one of the most serious defeats of U.S. post-war foreign policy. Students of foreign policy are left to question why the United States has so seriously undermined its own national inter ests in its unilateral support of Israel. What forces were there in the United States that could account for the overwhelming pro-Israeli sentiment of this nation? What influences were at work in the American government and among the American people that led to an identification of Israel's interests with those of the United States? Indeed, what kind of tactics functioned to force the lost of U.S. initia tives in the Middle East? The answer to these questions and others are the focus o f this thesis. In order to answer these questions the author has chosen to study the activities of the political Zionist movement as it functions in the United States, for in the success of Zionist activity in this nation lies the seeds of American attitudes and policy toward Israel and the Middle East. Political Zionism was a 19th cen tury Jewish national movement which developed as a reaction to the emancipation and assimilation values of the European subcontinent. Fearing the loss o f Jewish identity, the Zionists formed a movement which was dedicated to founding a state on the former birth site of the Judaic religion. Implicit in the success of their aspirations was the need for the support of strategically placed Jewish communities and international recognition of the Zionist claims. As the United States was a major power in the international arena, the American Jewish community became a crucial and indeed indispensable link between Zionist aspirations and their realiza tion. Without the moral, material and political support of American Jewry, it is doubtful that Israel would be a Jewish state today. As "The Selling of Israel" is primarily a study of Zionist influence in the United States, political Zionism will be treated within the context of interest group activity . Since Arthur Bentley wrote The Process of Government in 1908, political science has broken away from describing politics as the study of formal governmental institutions. In contemporary studies of politics, primary focus is attached to the functioning o f extra-governmental groups under the assumption that "of the vast variety of activity involved in political situations, that of the persons within the governmental and party structures is only a manifest and small part when 1 compared with the importance of non-governmental groups." This assumption has brought increased interest in political science to the study of social class and ethnic ties as a basis of political activities. In the spirit of this focus of contem porary political analysis, Zionism can be viewed as a product of an interest group vying in the public arena for recognition and support of its claims. In terms of the sequential organization of the thesis, "The Selling of Israel" falls into the following chapter categories. Chapter I describes the social, political and intellectual currents which contributed to the rise of Jewish national ism in the 19th century; discusses the early formulation of Zionist goals and ideo logy; and traces the evolution of the Zionist movement in Europe through World War I. Chapter II delineates the development of Zionism in the United States prior to World War II, showing the early antipathy of the American Jewish com munity to the political and sociological conclusions of the Zionist program„ Chapter III discusses the historical events and Zionist strategies which aided in the development of pro-Zionist sentiments in this nation. In Chapter IV focus is given to the Zionist's influence o f American foreign policy, followed by a brief, general discussion of American foreign policy toward the Middle East. Chapter V discusses some of the contemporary issues facing American Jews in their adherence to politi cal Zionism, with Chapter VI providing a further expansion on this theme with a study of Zionist fund-raising techniques. In addition, Chapter VI provides further insights into Zionist propaganda techniques in the realm of fund-raising and raises the question of the American people's right to know the facts about Zionist fund raising and fund usage. Finally, Chapter VII provides some concluding remarks and briefly discusses the role of Zionism in a pax semitica, asking whether politi cal Zionism has become counter-productive to Israel's best interests in contemporary world affairs.

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