The period between 1905 and 1918 stands out in the history of lobbying for Zionism in both Britain and the United States. During this time, Zionist leaders not only impressed on the British that a Jewish stronghold in Palestine would serve Britain’s geopolitical interests, they turned it into a reality with the notorious Balfour Declaration of 1917, a pivotal policy statement that committed Britain to supporting “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. Zionists managed to successfully overcome opposition from British politicians concerned about how Palestinians would receive the news and anti-Zionists within the Anglo-Jewish community who conceived of themselves as British and not as members of a distinct nationality.
Across the Atlantic, another important development unfolded in the wake of the Balfour Declaration. In 1918, when Zionism had limited support among American Jews, the newly established American Jewish Congress met at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. There, they formulated a more modern understanding of Judaism based on democracy, progress, and Zionism. According to Pappé, this marked “the first time Judaism came to be defined in terms of national identity.”
After Britain paved the way for the Zionists to obtain a grip on Palestine, the native Palestinian inhabitants resisted. Rebellions erupted in the 1920s and again in the ’30s, with the 1936 revolt met with particularly brutal repression by the British. These uprisings caused British policymakers to periodically propose limits to Jewish immigration and land purchases in Palestine.
However, the lobbying efforts of people such as Chaim Weizmann, combined with the economic and political cost of reversing course, neutralized these proposals. This cleared the way for what would become one of the most important periods in the Zionist lobby’s history, spanning from 1942 to 1954.
The Birth of AIPAC
It was during this period, in the context of growing awareness of Nazi atrocities, that Zionism took a hard-line turn and broke firmly with earlier diplomatic efforts to simply shape British policy. As Pappé explains, leaders at a 1942 Zionist conference held in New York “moved away from co-operating with British policy, demanded the whole of Palestine and sidelined Zionist diplomats such as Weizmann. Diplomacy was now obsolete — force was the order of the day.”
It was a crucial change that spelled immense trouble ahead for the native inhabitants of Palestine. And that was not all the conference accomplished. The meeting’s location in New York signaled the growing power of the lobby in the United States. With support increasing among American Jews for Zionism, the leadership at the meeting pronounced the United States as the new capital of what the American Jewish Congress called “Zionist political activities.”