Journal Article

A Rebel with a Cause: Hillel Kook, Begin and Jabotinsky's Ideological Legacy

Kaplan, Eran

2005

Overview

Begin claimed that such rumors would only strengthen the Irgun's opponents and impede its activities in Israel. [...]Begin demanded that Kook concentrate his efforts entirely on procuring arms and ammunitions for the fighters in Israel, because, according to Begin, the future of the Zionist struggle for national independence lay in the military front and not in the campaign to bring immigrants to Israel. The insistence of Jewish leaders to claim that there is a universal Jewish people, which allows every Jew to be a member of the American, Russian, Argentinean and even the German nation and at the same time to be a member of the 'Jewish people,' is utterly unrealistic and politically meaningless. . [...]we want the Land of Israel to be a free state and not a 'Jewish State' . . On the contrary it strengthens it.24 To Agassi this Kookian premise that views Israel as a theocracy-a community that, just like the traditional Jewish ghetto, is defined by a common religion and not by a common national identity and national institutions-not only prevents Israel from becoming a normal nationstate, but also perpetuates the tensions between the Jewish state and the Arab world. [...]according to Agassi, the conclusion that needs to be drawn from Kook's observations about the anomalous condition of the Jewish State is that the intentional blurring of the differences between religion and nationalism in Israel contributes greatly to the continuing state of war between Israel and the Arabs, and that this state of war, in return, maintains the ghetto-like character of Israeli society. According to Agassi's interpretation of Kook's ideas, Israel's existence as a theocracy prevents it from achieving peace with the Arab world because the mostly Muslim Arab world would never tolerate a foreign religious entity in its midst-especially one that also treats its own Arab population as second-class citizens.

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Subject: Begin, Menachem / Countries / Culture / Ideology / International / Jabotinsky, Vladimir (1880-1940) / Jewish literature / Jewish nationalism / Jewish people / Jewish peoples / Jewish studies / Judaism / Kook, Hillel / Middle Eastern politics / Minority & ethnic groups / Political ideologies / Politicians / Politics / Russian literature / Social conditions & trends / War / Zionism