Introduction
Although he did not live to see it, Vladimir Ze'ev Jabotinsky was one of the founding fathers of the state of Israel.
His voluminous articles, books and speeches inspired a generation. His supporters, funders and followers looked up to him for enlightenment in dark times. There are names which always appear in any works on the life and times of Jabotinsky. Two figures in particular who worked closely with Jabotinsky during the inter-war period and shared his dreams of Zion were Joseph Schechtman and Yehuda Benari.
Joseph Schectman wrote the first English language biography of Jabotinsky during the 1950s. He also worked with Yehuda Benari to publish the complimentary History of the Revisionist Movement in 1970. The Revisionist Movement, founded by Jabotinsky in 1925, was supposed to be the answer to the growing authority of the labour movement, led by David Ben-Gurion, Yitzhak Tabenkin and Berl Katznelson.
Jabotinsky offered another pathway. The Revisionists opposed the direction of the pioneering labour parties such as Ahdut Ha'Avoda and Hapoel Hatzair. The Polish middle class of the fourth Aliyah (1924-1926) was attracted to the Revisionists’ standard as were many who had left the Soviet Union following the Bolshevik persecution of Zionists.
The book of Schectman and Benari was subtitled 'Volume 1'. This only went up to 1931 - and no further volumes ever appeared.
Schectman died in the same year as the publication of the first volume. For many years, Those interested in the journey of Jabotinsky and the evolution of the Revisionist Movement believed that this was the end of the story. Benari however wrote a second volume which takes the history of the Revisionist Movement up to 1935, but it was never published and never saw the light of day.
Naomi Benari, Yehuda's daughter, was the guardian of this second volume over many decades. It is through her perseverance and determination that it has now been published online. It will be a boon to all those who revere the struggles of those who went before us and those who are deeply interested in Jabotinsky as a historical figure and the movement he founded almost a century ago.
The real Jabotinsky has been lost in the mists of time due to both the slingshots of Left and Right. He is often wheeled out today to support a point in a contemporary argument. This book will serve to reclaim the history of the Revisionist Movement.
Yehuda Benari's second book now appears 38 years after it has been written. It is another addition to the increasing number of works on the Revisionist Movement and Jabotinsky that have appeared in recent times. It will certainly aid young scholars in exploring this absorbing but tortuous period of Jewish history.
We should all be grateful to Naomi Benari for her dedication to ensuring that her father's name will be remembered and that his work as a pioneer in this area will be read.
Colin Shindler
Emeritus Professor
University of London
August 2024