FOLLOWING the Restoration in 1660, the social standing of Jews improved sufficiently for London’s Great Synagogue to be founded in 1690, and the Chief Rabbinate to be established in 1758. An attempt in 1753 to naturalise Jewish immigrants en bloc stumbled, and after Lionel de Rothschild was elected MP for the City of London in 1847 his refusal to swear allegiance to the Crown ‘upon the true faith of a Christian’ meant that he could not take up his seat as Britain’s first Jewish legislator until July 26th, 1858.*
Refugees escaping persecution in Russia and Poland greatly increased Britain’s Jewish population during the 1880s, and soon the idea of re-establishing a Jewish state in Israel’s historic lands was being discussed. With Turkey’s defeat in the Great War, those lands now lay under temporary British control, and it was proposed that a modest territory be set aside for the purpose.* The unfolding horror of the holocaust in Adolf Hitler’s German Empire made the matter even more urgent,* and as Britain’s mandate in Palestine neared expiry, David Ben-Gurion,* a former private in the British Army, wearied of the diplomatic hesitation. Seizing the initiative with ruthless despatch, on May 14th, 1948, Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel, and was recognised by the United Nations.
Benjamin Disraeli, of proud Jewish heritage but brought up in the Church of England, had been a sitting MP since 1837. He subsequently became Prime Minister twice, in 1868 and again in 1874-80. The Oath of Allegiance was not changed in 1858, but Jewish people were dispensed from having to say the offending words. See the text of The Jews Relief Act 1858 at the National Archives.
See British Mandatory Palestine.
See posts tagged Holocaust Resistance.
David Ben-Gurion was born in Poland and lived much of his early life in Ottoman Syria, but during the Great War he volunteered for the 38th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, in the British Army. His attitude to Britain was generally very positive, and he played a key part in persuading Jewish people to volunteer to serve in the British Armed Forces in the Second World War; but the Government’s indecision and soft-pedalling in the region, reflecting their anxiety over Arab unrest, infuriated him. Britain’s hesitancy created tragic consequences for many: see Frank Foley. But the way Ben-Gurion pursued his dream left a lasting legacy of bloody conflict.