Civil War: Zionist vs. Zionist
The three terrorist organizations, Haganah, Irgun and the Stern Gang, with their respective! philosophies and tactics, represented a conflict within the Yishuv over the future leader-ship of the Jewish state. Because of the League of Nations' recognition of the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency as the responsible organizations for the implementation of the Jewish national home, the members of the Agency felt that they were the sole representatives of the Jewish people. Although the Jewish Agency did not exist until 1929, the World Zionist Organization had an official role in Palestine as early as 1918. While attempting to form a Jewish Agency as called for in the League of Nations Mandate and incorporate Zionist and non-Zionist philosophies into that agency, the World Zionist Organization administered Jewish goals in Palestine until the Agency's creation in 1929. In 1920, the elected Assembly and National Council were created. In 1920, the Ger'eral Federation of Labor, or Histadrut, also was formed. The largest employer and strongest voice in Palestine, the Histadrut was actually a non-political organization. But political parties, such as Ben-Gurion's Mapai Party, controlled the Histadrut.
As a result, the Histadrut, led by Mapai, held key portfolios in the Jewish Agency and thereby took the role of Zionist leadership. The Mapai and its partners in political thought, Paole Zion and Hapoil Hatzair formed the socialist wing of the Vaad Leumi. The appearance, therefore, of Jabctinsky's Zionist Revisionists on the political right was viewed by Ben-Gurion and his associates as a challenge for leadership of the Jewish Nation.
When viewed from Ben-Gurion's perspective, it would seem almost inevitable that the Jew-versus-British and Jew-versus- Arab controversies would extend to Jew-versus-Jew. From the literature available, it appears that such conflict did occur, but it was a one-sided effort. David Ben-Gurion and his allies emphasize a greater challenge to Jewish Agency authority than that which actually existed. It ir probable that the challenge was real, but less strong than indicated by Ben-Gurion and strong- er than maintained by his opponents, Katz and Begin. Had it not been for the Second World War, challenge for Zionist leadership by the Revisionists might have occurred in the 1939-1942 time frame. The forced cooperation between the British, the Jewish Agency, Haganah and the Irgun to combat Nazi Germany installed the internal Jewish conflict until 1944-1548. Revisionists claim that the Biltmore Program of 1942 was "belated acceptance of Jabotinsky's thinking by Weizmann and Ben-Gurion." How-ever in adopting the Revisionist's dem°and for a Jewish state, Ben-Gurion managed to take all che credit fo the idea away from the Revisionists and even shunted Chaim Weizmann onto the sidelines.
The "Jewish Revolt" which began when the Irgun renounced its truce with England and attacked the British anew in 1944 was "not only without their [Jewish Agency] consent, but in defiance of their prohibition.1 0 The strongest opposition to the Irgun and Stern Gang attacks was from the official Jewish organizations. Jewish Agency propaganda created the image of the Irgun and Lehi as "criminals and fascists ... stabbing Zionism in the back and attempting to overthrow Jewish authority.'
The "dissidents," as the Irgun and Lehi were called, were fed up with attempts at negotiation with the British. Begin wrote:
"If the Jewish Agency obeyed the British and the Irgun obeyed the Agency, the rule of the High Commissioner might continue forever. '
The Jewish Agency, however, was told by Prime Minister
Churchill that possibilities for a Jewish state were good.
"I carved up Palestine once, I shall unite it again and carve it up a second time. ''
In autumn 1944, the Haganah commander, Golomb, told Menachem Begin that secret discussions were underway with the
British and that continued Irgun attacks on the British would hinder the discussions. He then threatened that Haganah would "step in and finish you," if the Irgun attacks weren't halted. Moshe Sneh also tried to persuade the Irgun to stop its attacks on the British, but the Irgun said that it didn't want Jewish fate to rest in British hands.
In addition to the internal challenge for Zionist leadership, the Agency had another problem. The British were holding
the Jewish Agency responsible for the acts of terror by the Irgun and the Stern Gang. If the Jewish Agency couldn't control Jews in their homeland, the authority of Ben-Gurion's government as a spokesman for world Jewry would be in question. Lord Moyne's assassination gave Ben-Gurion the excuse he needed to reduce the effectiveness of the Stern Gang and theIrgun. "The Season" was initiated. In a speech to the Histadrut Conference, Ben-Gurion outlined a four-point program to liquidate the dissidents.18 They were to be expelled from school or fired from their jobs. They were not to be given refuge by the Yishuv. The population was not to submit to threats by the Irgun. The Yishuv was to cooperate with the British forces in rounding up Irgunists and Sternists. The plan was not well received in the Yishuv. Cooperation with the British was anathema.
The position of the Jewish Agency can be appreciated. To Ben-Gurion the creation of a Jewish state appeared imminent. Jewish unrest would only convince the British of the continued instability of the area.and confirm the continuing need for British presence in Palestine to maintain the peace. If the dissidents could not be controlled by the Jewish leadership, then serious questions would be asked about the legitimacy of that leadership and its ability to govern a new nation.
The other side of the question, the dissidents' view, claims that Ben-Gurion and the rest of the "official" Zionist leadership ignored the Arab problem until the last minute in order to consolidate their political position. They claim that time and energy expended to combat the irgun and the Stern Gang could have been directed toward Britain or toward the Arabs.