The Zionist Movement and the Yishuv`s expectations regarding Palestine at the First World War

• In Event: The New Jew: Between Germany and Zion

Abstract

My paper will discuss whether the YISHUV in Palestine and the Zionist leaders had any preferences regarding the question of who would take over Palestine after the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of First World War; and if they did, how can this preference be explained. I would like to focus especially on the Armenian massacre of 1915, as an event that became a turning point for the pro British activists in the Zionist movement.
I will demonstrate this through statements made by key figures in the Zionist movement and especially by members of the YISHUV who addressed the rumors about the massacre of the Armenians I will also refer to the conclusions reached or discussed in the wake of these rumors in the Zionist leadership, which reflected the transition to pro-British activity. The sources that will be used in the lecture are diaries, protocols and letters of the YISHUV and members of the Zionist movement
With the outbreak of World War I, the Zionist movement faced a political dilemma: Which side should it publicly support? This decision not only had moral implications, but political ones as well.
Most of the activists in Zionist movement and the YISHUV, tended to be pro-German. However, there were also some individuals, who saw the similar interests of the Zionist movement and the British, and played a role in the diplomatic connections between the two.
Very few Studies dealt with the connection between the massacre of the Armenians and the Zionist movement are and claimed that the Zionist movement renounced the fate of the Armenians, but from the reading of the period's materials, testify this view is too limited. this testify the great anxiety of the YISHUV and the movement that henceforth influenced the behavior and decisions of the Zionist movement
This anxiety brought with them to Palestine encouraged those handful pro British Zionist activists to turn their political efforts to Britain and in that determined the faith of the Zionist movement.

Author

• Avital Ginat