Labor Zionism

Labor Zionism(Hebrew:תְּנוּעָת הָעַבוֹדָה,romanized:tnuʽat haʽavoda) orsocialist Zionism(Hebrew:צִיּוֹנוּת סוֹצְיָאלִיסְטִית,romanized:tsiyonut sotzyalistit) refers to theleft-wing,socialistvariant ofZionism.For many years, it was the most significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizations, and was seen as the Zionist faction of the historic Jewishlabour movementsofEastern EuropeandCentral Europe,as opposed to the more popularGeneral Jewish Labour Bundwhich opposed the creation of a Jewish state or emigration to Palestine.Labor Zionism eventually developing local movements in most countries with sizable Jewish populations. Unlike the "political Zionist" tendency founded byTheodor Herzland advocated byChaim Weizmann,Labor Zionists did not believe that aJewish statewould be created by simply appealing to the international community or to powerful nations such as theUnited Kingdom,Germany,or the formerOttoman Empire.Rather, they believed that a Jewish state could only be created through the efforts of the Jewish working class makingaliyahto theLand of Israeland raising a country through the creation of a Labor Jewish society with ruralkibbutzimandmoshavim,and an urban JewishProletariat.

Major theoreticians of the Labor Zionist movement includedMoses Hess,Nachman Syrkin,Ber Borochov,andAaron David Gordon;and leading figures in the movement includedDavid Ben-Gurion,Golda Meir,andBerl Katznelson.

History

chart of zionist workers parties

Before 1914, the growing alienation fromBolshevismon the one hand and the unification of theJewish Labor MovementinOttoman Palestineon the other hand made it possible for Zionism to gain a measure of recognition and legitimacy, particularly in theUnited States.The Labor Zionists differed from other labor organizations at the time since non-Zionist labor organizations were internationalist, therefore opposed to Jewish nationalism. The leadership of theJewish leftin the U.S. was drawn only from two distinct sources: the internationalist and cosmopolitan line of thought of the founding fathers who arrived in the 1880s, and theJewish Labor Bundveterans who left theRussian Empireafter 1905 and saw no contradiction between socialism and nationalism within theJewish diaspora.

By the 1930s, the Labor Zionist movement had substantially grown in size and influence, and eclipsed "political Zionism" both internationally and within theBritish Mandate of Palestine.Labor Zionists predominated among many of the institutions of theYishuv,particularly the trade union federation known as theHistadrut.TheHaganah,the largest Yishuv paramilitary, was a Labor Zionist organization. It occasionally participated in military action (such as duringThe Saison) against certain radicalright-wingJewish political opponents and militant groups, sometimes in cooperation with the British Mandate administration.

Labor Zionists played a leading role in the1947–1949 Palestine War,and had a dominant presence among the leadership of theIsrael Defense Forcesfor decades after the independence of theState of Israelduring the1948 Arab–Israeli War.

The Second Aliyah

Labor Zionism was one of the most mainstream forms ofZionismprior to and following the establishment of the State of Israel. Labor Zionism was responsible for the creation of institutions in Israel that exist today, such as theIsrael Defense Forces(IDF). The predecessors of the IDF began as underground militia groups to protect Jews during theSecond Aliyahin 1904.A majority of the immigrants at the time were influenced by socialist ideals, because of theMarxistideologies spreading throughout Russia. Additionally, theFirst Aliyahwas met by backlash because of theRothschildfamily’s funding of the settlements.The settlements were criticized byNachman SyrkinandBer Borochov,two of Labor Zionism’s founders, because Arab labor was preferred over Jewish labor.They believed that this was because of the capitalist organization of the settlements, and that a socialist solution would give priority to Jewish labor and lead to a successful establishment of a Jewish state.These values were implemented during the second Aliyah by using the Hebrew language, only hiring Jewish labor, and the creation ofBar Gioraand theHashomer,to work towards independence in this new land.In April 1913, thePoale Zion,the Labor Zionist Party, held a conference and published writing that addressed the question of Jewish defense, nationalism, and Marxism, all of which seemed to contradict. They resolved that their current conditions necessitated defense in order to solidify a place for Jewish workers, because that was being threatened. In addition, they claimed that their defense was not of private property, but of their nation. In order to establish a place for themselves, they prioritized national solidarity over international.

The Bar Goria and Hashomer were Jewish self defense organizations to protect Jewish communities who were settling in Palestine.The Bar Giora was the first, and later absorbed into Hashomer.Their establishment was in response to Arab nationalism, that they believed would ultimately lead to clashes with the Palestinian Arabs. They believed that they were the first line of defense against Arab dissent, and wanted to establish a working class in Palestine. Hashomer then became the Haganah, which was the first official military organization in Israel, which was then turned into the IDF.

Establishment of Labor Zionism in the Mainstream

From its first meeting, the majority of the members of theZionist Congresswere consideredGeneral Zionists,who did not have specific political leanings or an agreed upon plan forZionism.However, after the1929 riots,there was a rise ofArab nationalismand resistance to Zionism.As a result, thePassfield White Paperwas published, indicating a withdrawal of support of the Zionist cause. The combination of these tensions increased the necessity of having a concrete plan and Zionist ideology to follow.As a competing ideology withRevisionist Zionism,Labor Zionism gained popularity. The General Zionists began to lean towards Labor or Revisionist Zionism. During the 17th Congress in 1931, a vote would take place on whether or not the Zionist Congress would pursue the 'ultimate objective' platform of the Revisionist Zionists. During the 16 days of debate, a message was sent from Palestine, relaying the message of fear of an Arab pogrom if the 'all or nothing stance' of the Revisionist Party went through.This resulted in the rejection of the proposal. After two years of campaigning, the Labor Zionist party won the election to have leadership of the Zionist Congress at the 18th Congress in 1933.

Ideology

Moses Hess's 1862 workRome and Jerusalem: The Last National Questionargued for the Jews to settle inPalestineas a means of settling thenational question.Hess proposed asocialist statein which the Jews would becomeagrarianizedthrough a process of "redemption of the soil" that would transform the Jewish community into a true nation in that Jews would occupy the productive layers of society rather than being an intermediary non-productive merchant class, which is how he perceived European Jews.

Ber Borochov,continuing from the work of Moses Hess, proposed the creation of a socialist society that would correct the "inverted pyramid" of Jewish society. Borochov believed that Jews were forced out of ordinary occupations bygentilehostility and competition, using this dynamic to explain Jewish professionals' relative predominance, rather than workers. He argued that Jewish society would not be healthy until the inverted pyramid was righted, and a substantial number of Jews became workers and peasants again. This, he held, could only be accomplished by Jews in their own country.

Jonathan Frankel in his bookProphecy and Politics: Socialism, Nationalism, and the Russian Jews, 1862–1917,states that after 1905, Dov Ber Borochov, a Marxist Zionist and one of the pioneers of the Labor Zionist movement suddenly rejected voluntarism for determinism.Prior to this, Borochov regarded Palestinian colonialization as a preparatory mission to be carried out by an elite vanguard of pioneers; he developed a theory after the revolution of 1905 that indicated how inevitable Palestinian colonization by the Jewish masses was.

Another Zionist thinker,A. D. Gordon,was influenced by thevölkischideas of Europeanromantic nationalism,and proposed establishing a society of Jewish peasants. Gordon made a religion of work.These two figures (Gordon and Borochov), and others like them, motivated the establishment of the first Jewishcollective settlement,orkibbutz,Degania Alef,on the southern shore of theSea of Galilee,in 1909 (the same year that the city ofTel Avivwas established). Deganiah, and many otherkibbutzimthat were soon to follow, attempted to realize these thinkers' vision by creating communal villages, where newly arrived European Jews would be taught agriculture and other manual skills.

Joseph Trumpeldoris also considered to be one of the early icons of the Labor Zionist movement in Palestine. When discussing what it is to be a Jewish pioneer, Trumpeldor stated:

What is a pioneer? Is he a worker only? No! The definition includes much more. The pioneers should be workers but that is not all. We shall need people who will be "everything" – everything that the land of Israel needs. A worker has his labor interests, a soldier his esprit de corps, a doctor and an engineer, their special inclinations. A generation of iron-men; iron from which you can forge everything the national machinery needs. You need a wheel? Here I am. A nail, a screw, a block? – here take me. You need a man to till the soil? – I’m ready. A soldier? I am here. Policeman, doctor, lawyer, artist, teacher, water carrier? Here I am. I have no form. I have no psychology. I have no personal feeling, no name. I am a servant of Zion. Ready to do everything, not bound to do anything. I have only one aim – creation.

Trumpeldor, a Socialist Zionist, died defending the community ofTel Haiin theUpper Galileein 1920. He became a symbol of Jewish self-defense and his reputed last words, "Never mind, it is good to die for our country" (En davar, tov lamut be'ad artzenu אין דבר, טוב למות בעד ארצנו), became famous in the pre-state Zionist movement and in Israel during the 1950s and 1960s. Trumpeldor's heroic death made him not only a martyr for Zionists Left but also for theRevisionist Zionistmovement who named its youth movementBetar(an acronym for "Covenant of Joseph Trumpeldor" ) after the fallen hero.

Albert Einsteinwas a prominent supporter of both Labor Zionism and efforts to encourage Jewish–Arab cooperation.Fred Jerome in hisEinstein on Israel and Zionism: His Provocative Ideas About the Middle Eastargues that Einstein was aCultural Zionistwho supported the idea of a Jewish homeland but opposed the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine "with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power." Instead, he preferred abi-national statewith "continuously functioning, mixed, administrative, economic, and social organizations."In the November 1948 presidential election Einstein supported former vice-presidentHenry A. Wallace’sProgressive Party,which advocated a pro-Soviet foreign policy – but which also at the time (like the USSR) strongly supported the new state of Israel. Wallace went down to defeat, winning no states.

Parties

"Two Zionist labor parties were established in Palestine in late 1905 by party organization veterans in the pale of settlement, one socialist who was" Palestine's Jewish Social Democratic Labor Party "; the other radical," Ha-poel Ha-Tsair. "In theory, shaping the ideologies that had to generalize long-term strategic policy and day-to-day tactics from an overarching world view was the role of the group. But in fact, without the assistance of the parties or even their avowed principles, the experiments that proved to be of decisive importance in the growth of the labor movement were initiated.

Although each party formed its own newspaper, neither compelled its contributors to pursue its own line of thinking. On the contrary, Ha-ahdut, and still More, Ha-poel Ha-tsair, represented the highly individualistic, disorganized and even anarchic essence of the second Aliya in their pages.

Initially two labor parties were founded by immigrants to Palestine of theSecond Aliyah(1904–1914): the pacifist and anti-militaristHapo'el Hatza'ir(Young Worker) party and theMarxistPoale Zion party,withPoale Zionroots. The Poale Zion Party had a left wing and a right wing. In 1919 the right wing, including Ben-Gurion and anti-Marxist non-party people, foundedAhdut HaAvoda.In 1930Ahdut HaAvodaandHapo'el Hatza'irfused into theMapaiparty, which included all of mainstream Labor Zionism. Until the 1960s these parties were dominated by members of the Second Aliyah.

The LeftPoale Zionparty ultimately merged with the kibbutz-basedHashomer Hatzair,the urban Socialist League and several smaller left-wing groups to become theMapamparty, which in turn later joined withShulamit Aloni’sRatzto createMeretz.

TheMapaiparty later became theIsraeli Labor Party,which for a number of years was linked with Mapam inthe Alignment.These two parties were initially the two largest parties in theYishuvand in thefirst Knesset,whilst Mapai and its predecessors dominated Israeli politics both in the pre-independenceYishuvand for the first three decades of Israel's independence, until the late 1970s.

Outline of Labour Zionist and Workers' Parties

• Hapoel Hatzair

  Poale Zion

  Hashomer Hatzair

  Ahdut HaAvoda

  Poale Zion Left

  Palestine Communist Party

  Mapai

  Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party

  Maki

  Ahdut HaAvoda

  Mapam

  Rafi

  Ahdut HaAvoda

  Left Faction

  Israeli Labor Party

  Ratz

  Moked

  Meri

  Sheli

  Meretz

  One Nation

  Shahar

  Israel Democratic Party

  The Democrats

  The main predecessors of The Democrats exceptShinuiwhich left Meretz.

Electoral performances of Labour Zionist and Workers' Parties

	Mapai(1931–1965) Alignment/Labor(1965–1988) Labor (1992–2022)				Predecessor parties of Meretz (pre–1992) Meretz(1992–2022)				Combined seats of both
Election	% of vote (placement)	Seats	+/–	Status	% of vote (placement)	Seats	+/–	Status	Seats	+/–
1931	43.5 (#1)	27 / 71	new	Coalition (PM's party)	—	—	—	—	—	—
1944	36.5 (#1)	64 / 171	37	Coalition (PM's party)
1949	35.7 (#1)	46 / 120	18	Coalition (PM's party)	14.7	19 / 120	—	Mapam in opposition	65 / 120	1
1951	37.3 (#1)	45 / 120	1	Coalition (PM's party)	12.5	15 / 120	4	Mapam in opposition	60 / 120	5
1955	32.2 (#1)	40 / 120	5	Coalition (PM's party)	7.3	9 / 120	4	Mapam in government	49 / 120	11
1959	38.2 (#1)	47 / 120	7	Coalition (PM's party)	7.3	9 / 120		Mapam in government	56 / 120	7
1961	34.7 (#1)	42 / 120	5	Coalition (PM's party)	7.5	9 / 120		Mapam in opposition	51 / 120	5
1965	36.7 (#1)	45 / 120	3	Coalition (PM's party)	6.6	8 / 120	1	Mapam in government	46 / 120	2
1969	46.2 (#1)	56 / 120	11	Coalition (PM's party)	—	—	—	—	—	—
1973	39.6 (#1)	51 / 120	5	Coalition (PM's party)	2.2	3 / 120	—	Ratz spent time in opposition (1973–74; 1974–77) and government (1974)	54 / 120	3
1977	24.6 (#2)	32 / 120	19	Opposition	—	7 / 120 1 / 120	—	Ratz in opposition and Shinui in government	40 / 120	6
1981	36.6 (#2)	47 / 120	15	Opposition	2.9	2 / 120 1 / 120	5	Ratz and Shinui in opposition	50 / 120	4
1984	34.9 (#1)	44 / 120	3	Coalition (PM's party/ rotation gov)	5.1	3 / 120 3 / 120	3	Ratz in opposition, Shinui in government	50 / 120
1988	30.0 (#2)	39 / 120	5	Coalition(1988–1990)	8.5	5 / 120 2 / 120 2 / 120	2	Mapam, Ratz, and Shinui in opposition	49 / 120	1
				Opposition(1990–1992)
1992	34.65 (#1)	44 / 120	5	Coalition (PM's party)	9.58 (#3)	12 / 120	2	Coalition	56 / 120	7
1996	26.83 (#1)	34 / 120	10	Opposition	7.41 (#5)	9 / 120	3	Opposition	43 / 120	13
1999	Part ofOne Israel	23 / 120	11	Coalition(1999–2002) (PM's Party)	7.66 (#4)	10 / 120	1	Coalition(1999–2000)	33 / 120	10
				Opposition(2002–2003)				Opposition(2002–2003)
2003	14.46 (#2)	18 / 120	5	Opposition(2003–2005)	5.21 (#6)	6 / 120	4	Opposition	24 / 120	9
				Coalition(2005)
				Opposition(2005–2006)
2006	15.06 (#2)	18 / 120		Coalition	3.77 (#9)	5 / 120	1	Opposition	23 / 120	1
2009	9.93 (#4)	13 / 120	5	Coalition(2009–2011)	2.95 (#10)	3 / 120	2	Opposition	16 / 120	7
				Opposition(2011–2013)
2013	11.39 (#3)	15 / 120	2	Opposition	4.55 (#8)	6 / 120	3	Opposition	21 / 120	5
2015	Part ofZionist Union	19 / 120	4	Opposition	3.93 (#10)	5 / 120	1	Opposition	24 / 120	3
Apr 2019	4.43 (#6)	6 / 120	13	Snap election	3.63 (#9)	4 / 120	1	Snap election	10 / 120	14
Sep 2019	4.80 (#9)	5 / 120	1	Snap election	Part of theDemocratic Union	3 / 120	1	Snap election	8 / 120	2
2020	Part ofLabor- Gesher-Meretz	3 / 120	2	Coalition	Part ofLabor- Gesher-Meretz	3 / 120		Opposition	6 / 120	2
2021	6.09 (#6)	7 / 120	4	Coalition	4.59 (#12)	6 / 120	3	Coalition	13 / 120	7
2022	3.69 (#10)	4 / 120	3	Opposition	3.16 (#11)	0 / 120	6	Extra-parliamentary	4 / 120	9

Decline and transformation

A close relationship formed between the labor movement and the liberal leftist branch of General Zionism, and between the labor movement and the section of the Zionist leadership that bore direct responsibility for the Zionist enterprise, prior to the fourteenth Zionist Congress that met in Vienna in August 1925.Ze'ev Sternhell in his book “The Founding Myths of Israel: Nationalism, Socialism, and The Making of the Jewish state” states there was a close relationship with Arthur Ruppin, a Zionist historian and leader who, though in theory advocating capitalist agriculture, refused to entrust market forces with the production of agricultural settlements.

Already in the 1920s the Labor movement disregarded its socialist roots and concentrated on building the nation by constructive action. According to Tzahor its leaders did not "abandon fundamental ideological principles".However, according toZe'ev Sternhellin his bookThe Founding Myths of Israel,the labor leaders had already abandoned socialist principles by 1920 and only used them as "mobilizing myths".

The middle class allowed itself the freedom to stand aside and avoid any involvement in the political life of the Yishuv and the Zionist movement because the nationalist socialism in Palestine served to protect the private sector, They never felt the need for a single political system parallel with the Histradrut. The middle class's shortcomings emerged from the lack of any existential need to formulate an alternative to the ideology of the workforce.

In the 1930s for Jews living in a restricted manner facing various assimilation issues as well immense poverty in the United States, the Labor Zionism movement influenced some of their socialist ideals that some of them had hoped to live in. Jews in New York, during the Great Depression were attracted to socialism echoed through the liberalism of Roosevelt New deal.Beth Wenger,illustrates the reactions of Jewish women to the economic downturn, their contribution to the family economy, and the general tendency to adhere only to the style of a wage-working husband in the American middle class.Deborah Dash Mooreconcludes in her book "At home in America", the generation influenced by such socialist ideals reconstructed Jewishness, molded it to suit a middle-class American mode, adapted it to the rigors of urban life, imbued it with Jewish feelings learned from their immigrant parents, and added it to the Jewish history chain.

Following the 1967Six-Day Warseveral prominent Labor Zionists created theMovement for Greater Israelwhich subscribed to an ideology ofGreater Israeland called upon the Israeli government to keep and populate all areas captured in the war. Among the public figures in this movement associated withleft-wing nationalismwereRachel Yanait Ben-Zvi,Yitzhak Tabenkin,Icchak Cukierman,Zivia Lubetkin,Eliezer Livneh,Moshe Shamir,Zev Vilnay,Shmuel Yosef Agnon,Isser Harel,Dan Tolkovsky,andAvraham Yoffe.In the1969 Knesset electionsit ran as the "List for the Land of Israel", but failed to cross the electoral threshold. Prior to the1973 elections,it joined theLikudand won 39 seats. In 1976 it merged with the National List and theIndependent Centre(a breakaway from the Free Centre) to formLa'am,which remained a faction within Likud until its merger into theHerutfaction in 1984.

Other prominent Labor Zionists, especially those who came to dominate theIsraeli Labor Party,became strong advocates for relinquishing the territory won during the Six-Day War. By the signing of theOslo Accordsin 1993, this became the central policy of the Labor Party under Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabinand Foreign MinisterShimon Peres.What distinguishes Labor Zionism from other Zionist streams today is not economic policy, an analysis of capitalism, or any class analysis or orientation, but its attitude towards theIsraeli–Palestinian peace processwith modern Labor Zionists tending to support theIsraeli peace campto varying degrees. This orientation towards Israel's borders and foreign policy has dominated Labor Zionist institutions in recent decades to the extent that socialist Zionists who support aGreater Israelideology are forced to seek political expression elsewhere.

In Israel the Labor Party has followed the general path of other governingsocial-democraticparties such as theBritish Labour Partyand is now fully oriented towards supporting a capitalist model, and some factions support centrist policies akin to theThird Way,though in the 2010s it has returned to a more social-democratic outlook under the leadership ofShelly YachimovichandAmir Peretz.

The Israeli Labor Party and its predecessors have ironically been associated within Israeli society as representing the country's ruling class and political elite whereas working-class Israelis have traditionally voted for the Likud since theBegin Revolutionof 1977.

Labor Zionism today

HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomedmarch in theMay Day paradein Tel Aviv, 2011. 90 years of theHistadrut.

Labor Zionism manifests itself today in both adult and youth organizations. Among adults, theWorld Labor Zionist Movement,based inJerusalem,has affiliates in countries around the world, such asAmeinuin the United States and Australia,Associação Moshé Sharettin Brazil and theJewish Labour Movementin the United Kingdom. Youth and students are served throughZionist youth movementssuch asHabonim Dror,Hashomer Hatzairand college-age campus activist groups such as theUnion of Progressive Zionistsof the U.S. and Canada.

Shlomo Avineri,member of the last Labor government, Israeli political scientist, Professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who has written on Hegel and translated some of Marx’s early writings recognizes that Zionism is “the most fundamental revolution in Jewish life” and stresses the revolutionary aspect of Zionism.InThe Making of Modern Zionism: The Intellectual Origins of the Jewish State,he believes it as a permanent revolution that aims for a radically different and more just society in Israel after creating a new normative and public focus for Jewish Existence. He is out to challenge Zionism's consensus view as a religiously inspired movement sparked by outbreaks of anti-Semitism and to create a rich, diverse intellectual lineage important to the movement today.

In Israel, Labor Zionism has become nearly synonymous with theIsraeli peace camp.Usually, Labor Zionist political and educational institutions activists are also advocates of atwo-state solution,who do not necessarily adhere to socialist economic views.

See also

• Ameinu( "our people" ), US successor to the Labor Zionist Alliance
• Hashomer Hatzair,left-wing Zionist youth movement
• Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed,left-wing Israeli youth movement
• Habonim Dror,left-wing Zionist youth movement
• Havlagah( "The Restraint" ), Haganah's policy of restraint towards Arab enemies
• Hebrew laboror "conquest of labor"
• Histadrut,Israel's national trade union center
• Jewish left,Jews who support left-wing causes
• Kibbutz,collective community in pre-state Palestine and the State of Israel
• Left-wing nationalism
• Movement for Greater Israel
• Partners for Progressive Israel
• Rome and Jerusalem(textatWikisource), a classic 1862 work on Labor Zionism byMoses Hess
• The Founding Myths of IsraelbyZeev Sternhell
• Yidisher Kultur Farband,YKUF,a.k.a.Jewish Culture Association, Communist-oriented organization founded 1937
• Yidish Natsionaler Arbeter Farband,NJWA,a.k.a.Jewish National Workers Alliance, Labor Zionist-oriented American Jewish organization

Further reading

• Cohen, Mitchell (1992).Zion and State: Nation, Class, and the Shaping of Modern Israel(Columbia University Press morningside ed.). New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN978-0231079419.

External links

• A history of labor and socialist zionism
• The Jewish Problem and the Socialist Jewish State
• Ameinu – Liberal Values, Progressive IsraelArchived2006-02-10 at theWayback Machine