The Making of the Israeli Far-Right: Abba Ahimeir and Zionist Ideology

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Abba Ahimeir (1897 1962) writer, journalist and historian began his public life as a socialist, but subsequently moved toward the rightward extreme of Zionist ideology. One of the earliest opponents of the British Mandate, in 1930 he founded a radical organization called Brit Habiryonim (the Union of Zionist Rebels). This was a clandestine, self-declared fascist faction of the Revisionist Zionist Movement (ZRM) in Palestine whose official ideology was Maximalist Revisionism, an ideology for which Ahimeir is now most well-known. Ahimeirs career as a political activist came to an early end, when he was arrested in connection with the murder of the Labour Zionist leader, Chaim Arlosoroff. Although acquitted, Ahimeir nonetheless went to prison for his involvement as a political activist. This is the first intellectual biography of one of the most influential figures on the Zionist Right. Based on much unseen primary source material from the Ahimeir archive in Ramat Gan and the Jabotinsky Institute in Tel Aviv, as well as Ahimeirs newspaper articles, the author provides a rigorous analysis of Ahimeirs ideological development. The book positions him more accurately within the contexts of the Israeli right and the Zionist movement in general, updates common misunderstanding about this period of history and revises Israeli collective memory.

Reviews

Peter Bergamin has remarkably reclaimed from historical obscurity, the ideological outlook of a forgotten figure on the Zionist Right, Abba Ahimeir. As this is in essence the first English language book on Ahimeir, Bergamins account is therefore an important work. Ahimeir could easily compete with Vladimir Jabotinsky as a founding father of the Israeli Right. -- Colin Shindler, Emeritus Professor, SOAS, University of London

Author Bio

Peter Bergamin is Lecturer in Oriental Studies at Mansfield College, University of Oxford, and Visiting Scholar of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. He gained his DPhil. in Oriental Studies from the University of Oxford.