Churchill, Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft

churchill’s promised land

michael makovsky

Churchill’s

Promised Land

zionism and statecraft

a new republic book

yale university press new haven & london

Copyright © 2007 by Yale University.

All rights reserved.

This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form

(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and ex￾cept by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.

Set in E & F Scala by Binghamton Valley Composition.

Printed in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Makovsky, Michael, 1963–

Churchill’s promised land : Zionism and statecraft / Michael Makovsky.

p. cm. — (A New Republic book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-300-11609-0 (cloth : alk. paper)

1. Churchill, Winston, Sir, 1874–1965. 2. Churchill, Winston, Sir, 1874–1965—Views on

Zionism. 3. Zionism—Great Britain—History—20th century. 4. Great Britain—

Foreign relations—Middle East. 5. Middle East—Foreign relations—Great Britain. I.

Title.

DA566.9.C5M24 2007

320.54095694—dc22

2007001336

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Commit￾tee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In loving memory of my mother, Nancy Elbaum Makovsky,

who instilled in me a love of life, and in loving admiration of my father,

Donald Makovsky, who inspired my passion for history and

world affairs

CONTENTS

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1

1. Churchill’s Worlds 9

2. “The Lord Deals with the Nations as the Nations Dealt

with the Jews,” 1874–1914 38

3. “Zionism versus Bolshevism,” 1914–1921 69

4. “Smiling Orchards,” 1921–1929 98

5. Together in the Wilderness, 1929–1939 140

6. Champion in War, 1939–1945 171

7. Zionist at the End, 1945–1955 227

Conclusion 259

Notes 267

Bibliography 299

Index 323

Illustrations follow page 110

viii contents

PREFACE

when virginia cowles told Winston Churchill in 1950 of her

plans to write a biography of him, he growled good-naturedly, “There’s

nothing much in that field left unploughed” (quoted in Cowles, Winston

Churchill, vii). This is not another biography of Churchill or even a study

of his diplomatic decision-making. Instead, it is an examination of how

he thought, viewed, and approached a diplomatic subject that engaged

him for much of his career, and what that signified about his worldview.

The subject in question was not just any normal world issue but Zion￾ism, a movement that emerged as a political cause in the late 1890s, just

as Churchill began his political career.

Churchill is perhaps most famous nowadays, at least in the United

States, for warning against the rise of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and

the Soviet Union in the 1940s, and for leading Britain to victory in the

Second World War. He is well known as a practitioner of realpolitik, and

many leading theorists and practitioners of the realist foreign policy

school, such as Hans Morgenthau and Henry Kissinger, have looked to

Churchill as a model. Indeed, Churchill was fundamentally concerned

with British power and security, and he advocated and pursued policies

that enhanced them, based on his own historical study of earlier British

and European statesmen. But he was a very complex person with varied

interests, who also had a romantic approach to foreign affairs. His view

ix

of the British Empire, and of Britain’s role in the world, was rather sen￾timental. Sentiment also played a part—positively and negatively—in

his opinion of other Great Powers, such as Russia, Germany, France,

and especially the United States, where his mother was born and grew

up, although his attitude toward these nations was ultimately shaped by

British power and strategic interests. But sentiment was the predominant

factor in his long-standing interest in Zionism, with considerations of

power at times important but generally secondary. Thus, in studying

Churchill’s view of Zionism, we get a different angle on, and a fuller,

more nuanced, multidimensional grasp of, his worldview than if we just

analyzed his approach toward a Great Power such as Germany, as so

many have done before from varying perspectives.

Fundamental to Churchill’s worldview was the belief that priorities

had to be rigidly ranked. He inflexibly maintained perspective and prior￾itized his goals, especially when he was in government and was forced to

make decisions. He fixated on his supreme interests and pursued them

vigorously and single-mindedly, though he was flexible in the tactics

used to achieve them. This is how he engaged British strategic and im￾perial matters and at times even his own political needs, which were

among his chief concerns. For instance, he normally studied strategic is￾sues very carefully, poring over intelligence reports, speaking with well￾placed sources, reading obscure books and speeches, and assessing

threats and possible allies, then produced prescient, analytical, lucid, of￾ten brilliant memos and speeches on these issues and, when in govern￾ment, actively pursued appropriate policies. The objective was self￾evident as was the need to subordinate other demands to it.

Churchill approached Zionism, and other lesser but still significant

issues, differently. His mood and actions toward Zionism were usually

shaped by his primary concerns, and he engaged it with less diligence,

consistency, rigorous thought and analysis, and creativity. The objective

here was not always apparent to all, and a myriad of complex considera￾tions—racial, ideological, civilizational, humanitarian, paternal, per￾sonal, historical, romantic, mystical, and religious—went into his view

of Zionism over time. Churchill liked to judge which events were histor￾ically significant and which were not, and both early in his career and

near the end of it he declared the restoration of a Jewish state in the

Promised Land to be of exceptional historical significance. Eventually,

x preface

Zionism became very dear to him and integral to his worldview, and he

supported it at great political cost, contributing to his unpopularity

among his colleagues and other members of the political and govern￾ment establishment.

I approach this subject not as a scholar of Zionist or Jewish history,

or even of Britain or the Middle East, but as a diplomatic historian fo￾cused on Churchill. With some exceptions, I have generally tried to fo￾cus on Churchill’s mind and not on his policy-making. I am interested

in policies only to the extent that they illuminate his thinking about

Zionism. I am more interested in how his mind characterized Zionism

and why, what the context of his thinking was, who or what influenced

him, and how much effort and attention he devoted to the issue, and am

less interested in the details of a particular policy or event that have been

discussed ably in other works. Indeed, I am strictly interested in how he

thought about Zionism, whether in policy form or not, whether in gov￾ernment or out. For that reason, I have tried to be as thematic as possible

within a given narrative, providing just sufficient background, as op￾posed to following a strict chronology that can be gleaned elsewhere.

preface xi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

this book is based on several chapters of my doctoral dis￾sertation, Power and Civilization: Winston Churchill’s Worldview, and I ex￾tend my deep appreciation to Professors Bernard Bailyn, Akira Iriye, and

Ernest May, who composed my dissertation committee in the Depart￾ment of History at Harvard University. I am most grateful for their in￾sightful instruction, singular dedication, and encouragement, and I am

extremely fortunate and honored to be their student. Each of my profes￾sors made a unique contribution to me and my work. Akira Iriye, a

prominent diplomatic historian, guided me throughout my academic

studies; he was my advisor in college at the University of Chicago,

chaired my dissertation committee at Harvard, helped shape my disser￾tation, and reviewed a late draft of this book. Throughout all of these

roles, he showed unusual dedication and offered penetrating insight.

Ernest May, the leading U.S. diplomatic historian, always offered inci￾sive and uncommon guidance, including the suggestion to expand the

Zionist portions of my dissertation into a book. One of the highlights of

my education was the yearlong private course on Colonial American his￾tory that Bernard Bailyn kindly agreed to teach me for no academic

credit. Bailyn was also very engaging, encouraging, patient, and gener￾ous with his thoughts and advice during my doctoral studies and while I

xiii

wrote this book. Bailyn’s books and articles have served as model for me,

as they have for several generations of historians.

I am indebted to Chili Lati, my lovely, curious, and ever-patient wife,

whom I met and married early in the book-writing process and who put

up with its constant and at times seemingly unending demands. She

also reviewed several chapters and made many insightful comments. I

am very thankful to Aaron Lobel for his comprehensive, thoughtful, and

incisive critique of the manuscript, and to Michael Hurwitz for his de￾liberate and insightful review of the chapters, and steadfast and wise

counsel on various aspects of the book’s publication. David Bergman of￾fered many penetrating and subtle comments about the content, and

was a helpful sounding board. I am also grateful to David Makovsky for

his beneficial comments on some of the chapters, and to Rochy

Novoseller Duker for faithfully managing the maze of the Central Zion￾ist Archives in Jerusalem to secure many documents on my behalf. I fur￾ther benefited from Liz Evans’s conscientious research in the National

Archives in Kew, England, during the latter stages of this book. I am

grateful to my fellow Lincoln Fellows at Claremont Institute, who con￾tributed to the formulation of the book’s title. I am obliged to Douglas

Feith for his meticulous review of several relevant chapters of my disser￾tation and for the thought-provoking dialogue. Anyone who studies

Churchill is heavily indebted to the monumental effort made by Martin

Gilbert in making this very large subject more accessible through many

books that he wrote and edited. Gilbert also offered helpful advice early

in my doctoral studies.

I am very appreciative of Keith Condon, my editor at Yale University

Press, who wisely and patiently guided the book and me through the

whole publication process. Jessie Hunnicutt, my production editor, had

a keen and meticulous eye. I am also obliged to Larisa Heimert, the edi￾tor who initiated consideration of my manuscript at Yale University

Press before departing for another press.

I am indebted to Marty Peretz, editor-in-chief of the New Republic,

for his confidence, encouragement, and deep interest in my book, and

for the interest he has taken in me over the years. I am also thankful to

Roger Hertog, chairman of the New Republic, for the interest that he took

in me and the book.

I am grateful for the constant encouragement and astute advice of

xiv acknowledgments