The Jewish striving to return to Zion-the Land of Israel- began when the
Jewish People were exiled from their country by the Romans. Throughout the
centuries they continued to return to their homeland. Despite successive
conquerors and rulers, they maintained their bond with the land, some always
living in it, the rest preparing for it and yearning for the day they could
again be free people on their own soil.
The striving took concrete form in 1897 when the World Zionist Organization
was founded at the First Zionist Congress, convened by Theodor Herzl at Basle.
The puurpose of the organization was "to obtain for the Jewish people a
publicly recognized, legally secured home in Palestine."
The Zionist movement proposed to transform both the Jewish People and the
Land of Israel. It aimed at revitalizing a land which had been lain waste by
neglect and warfare. It strove to convert an oppressed minority, remote from the
land and from basic occupation, into an independent people living on its own
land and working it.
The struggle for a publicly recognized Jewish State achieved its first
success with the issuing of the Balfour
Declaration in 1917, proclaiming Great Britain's support for "the
establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish People." Five
years later, in 1922, the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine gave
international sanction to the declaration and charged Great Britain with
carrying it out.
But the World Zionist Organization did not wait for official recognition
before it began to take practical steps. As early as 1905 it established the
Jewish National Fund to acquire land upon which the growing number of pioneers
could settle. In 1909 the first all-Jewish city, Tel Aviv, was founded, as was
the first Kibbutz, Degania- the pioneer of Israel's collective settlement
movement, which was to become a household world all over the world. Over the
years the total number of agricultural settlements of different types grew from
22 in 1899 ti 707 in 1970 and their inhabitants from 5000 to 272,000.
The Mandate for Palestine recognized the World Zionist Organization as
"an appropriate Jewish Agency" to advise and work with the government
of Palestine in all matters concerned with the establishment of the Jewish
National Home. Immediately after the British capture of the country in 1917, a
Zionist commission arrived in Palestine to act as the liaison between the
British and the Jewish community. Headed by Dr. Chaim Weizmann, later President
of the World Zionist Organization, the commission soon became the Palestine
Office of the WZO. In 1921 the twelfth Zionist Congress elected a Zionist
Executive to replace the Palestine Commission and eight years later the Jewish
Agency for Palestine was formally constituted as the representative of the WZO
in Palestine. The President of the WZO was also the president of the Jewish
Agency.
During the three decades of British rule in Palestine, the World Zionist
Organization and the Jewish Agency built a state-within-a state. I the country,
educational, social and health institutions were created; abroad, Jewish and
non-Jewish public opinion was mobilized, immigrants were trained in preparation
for settlement and funds were raised to support the immigration and settlement
of Zionist pioneers. On the political scene, there was a constant struggle with
the British to allow the aliyah of Jews seeking refuge from persecution and to
allow the purchase of land for reclamations. Moreover, the Jewish community in
Palestine was forced to defend itself against the attacks of the Arabs who
surrounded them.
The centuries old struggle of the Jewish people to reclaim independence came
to a climax on May 14, 1948 with the partition of the State of Israel. Dr. Chaim
Weizmann, President of the World Zionist Organization, was elected the first
President of Israel; David Ben Gurion, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, became the
country's first Prime Minister; other leaders took up leading positions in the
new government.
At the same time the World Zionist Organization continued its traditional
search for peace with the Arabs. As early as 1919 Dr. Weizmann signed an
agreement with Emir Feisal for cooperation between the Arab National Movement
and the Zionist Movement. The Zionists stretched out their hand to the Arabs but
the Arab extremists rejected the plea for peace. After three wars- 1948, 1956
and 1967- the need for a just and honorable peace between Jew and Arab is as
vital as ever for both peoples in order to enable them to realize their
legitimate national aspirations.
