WI: Jabotisnky Lives

[Israel]

What if Ze'ev Jabotinsky did not die in 1940? Implications on the Zionist movement, and creation of Israel?

 

[Joshua Ben Ari]

Well, Jabotinsky was in New York trying to raise a Jewish army to fight Nazi Germany. He was the force behind the Jewish Legion (along with Joseph Trumpeldor), so it's possible something like the Jewish Brigade could be formed earlier, around 1941-42. The issue would be the British being reluctant on a Jewish army (they only assented in OTL in late 1944), the US being isolationist until 1941, and Ben-Gurion/Weizmann being cautious of the Revisionist movement (the ideological opponent of Labor Zionism).

The implications for the Zionist movement and Israel would be immense.

Say a Jewish army is created in 1941-42. Jews would be fighting in a Jewish army, under a Jewish flag (which the British wouldn't like, as they rejected Weizmann's offer of the same). In his June 19 speech in Manhattan, Jabotinsky said, "There is stuff for well over 100,000 Jewish soldiers even without counting American Jews...that source alone would have yielded three to four divisions." We're talking about thousands of trained Jewish soldiers and officers, possible involvement of former members of the Jewish Legion, and the Revisionist movement most likely would even put forth a platform for rescuing European Jews from the Nazis and funnel them to Mandate Palestine.

When the war is over, tens of thousands of trained Jewish soldiers will get demobilized. A vast majority will go for Mandate Palestine, or aid in the Bricha to smuggle Jews to Mandate Palestine. The General Zionists will still be the main opponent of Mapai, but I'd imagine that Herut (the main Revisionist party) would gain a substantial number of votes. The Altalena affair most likely is butterflied away with a unified Jewish army.

Tl;dr: it'll be interesting to see what would have happened

 

[mike of mass]

The implications of Jabotinsky's survival go beyond the Jewish legion. More trained soldiers could have had a greater impact on the armistice lines of 1949. however, the biggest impact would have been the Altalena affair. Begin did not care who was president since Jabotinsky was dead. If he were alive then it is possible that the leadership of the nascent state would have been more hotly contested. This could result in a mini civil war or earlier Herut/revisionist influence in the early years of the state. If the former, key people of OTL could die much earlier.

 

[Joshua Ben Ari]

The implications of Jabotinsky's survival go beyond the Jewish legion. More trained soldiers could have had a greater impact on the armistice lines of 1949. however, the biggest impact would have been the Altalena affair. Begin did not care who was president since Jabotinsky was dead. If he were alive then it is possible that the leadership of the nascent state would have been more hotly contested. This could result in a mini civil war or earlier Herut/revisionist influence in the early years of the state. If the former, key people of OTL could die much earlier.

With better trained troops, you could probably see Jewish/Israeli forces take Jerusalem (and even continue onwards towards the Jordan River). However, I disagree about Altalena, because I don't think it would have happened (and Begin himself said his greatest accomplishment was not causing a civil war). With more trained Jews, they're able to push farther than in OTL, and they'd have more weapons on hand than OTL. While the leadership of the nascent state is going to be contested, and Mapai isn't going to be as dominant as OTL with a more vibrant Revisionist movement (Herut, the Revisionist party, was the 4th largest in the Knesset in OTL), you're not going to see it devolve into a civil war.

If the Altalena affair does happen, you might see Ben-Gurion come to Begin's view - that the troops deserve the best weapons, and would let those weapons be sent to the troops.

 

[mike of mass]

Begin strongly believed in democracy and did not want the Altelena affair to expand into civil war in OTL. However, if he felt his idol Jabotinsky was being slightly or denied " his rightful place in the new order, he might not be so complacent. Certainly , the snubbing, ostracism and economic boycott of non- Labour Israelis would not have been tolerated until 1977 as in OTL

 

[Deleted member 1487]

If there is a larger Jewish Legion in combat in Europe earlier...the consequences of a major defeat are very severe. Can you imagine what would happen is say the entire Jewish Legion is lost at Tobruk? Or overrun in Egypt? Its one thing if they are a more significant player in Italy in 1944, rather than entering combat very late in the war in 1945, as the risk of significant defeat is low, but if they fight earlier in the conflict and face major defeat...not good for the future of Israel.

 

[Minchandre]

Begin strongly believed in democracy and did not want the Altelena affair to expand into civil war in OTL. However, if he felt his idol Jabotinsky was being slightly or denied " his rightful place in the new order, he might not be so complacent. Certainly , the snubbing, ostracism and economic boycott of non- Labour Israelis would not have been tolerated until 1977 as in OTL

Ironically, I think that if Jabotinsky had survived, the Revisionists would have been less extremist and more willing to work with Labour. Certainly, there was nothing like the Sergeants Affair or Left/Right violence while he was still in charge of the movement (his control waned even before his death due to his exile). Also, and this sounds very strange to say, while Jabotinsky was certainly a fascist, he wasn't a violent or stupid one, which a lot of the leadership of the Irgun and especially the Stern Gang were. Let's say Jabotinsky lives, and is able to recruit a legion of American soldiers (honestly, probably not just Jews - in 1940 a lot of Americans were itching to get into the fight. The few hundred Eagle and Tiger pilots were selected from a body of several thousand applicants, and another several thousand enlisted in the Canadian military. You can probably expect at least a regiment to be raised, possibly a few; probably mostly Jewish, but I'd suspect a fair few non-Jews would be willing to join in.

These troops have almost no effect on WWII, and most probably go back to the US after WWII, but there are still implications.

First, more Zionist-sympathetic Allied soldiers might mean more Allied weapons in Zionist hands after the war.
Second, even more enthusiasm on the part of the Zionists to help in the war might (maybe, possibly, probably not) make the British a little friendlier to the Zionists in the awkward 1945-1948 period.
Third, as pointed out, even a few more battle-tested soldiers in 1948 could have a disproportionate effect.

After the war, having a not extremist, borderline-traitorous Right (the Sergeants and Altalena Affair played very very poorly even with non-Labour leaning Zionists, and the aftermath of the former probably led to the irreconcilable gap between Left and Right in newborn Israel) will give non-Labour-Zionists something to rally around. OTL, the Yekkim (a large, skilled, and wealthy portion of the Jewish population in Palestine) were often not so keen on the Labour Zionists, but didn't really have an real alternatives. Chaim Weizmann himself was more of a liberal (in the classic sense) moderate, but was unable or unwilling to take on the role of organizing a centrist party, especially against the fearsomely organized Labour. Jabotinsky and Ben Gurion weren't crazy about each other, but they were both interested enough in rapprochement to make a serious effort at it in the 30s (Jabotinsky's exile ended up minimizing the impact of this attempt, but the will was there in Jabotinsky (as it noticeably was not in Begin). That is, to say, Jabotinsky's presence might lead to a "grand coalition" type more centrist government in the first years of Israel, though I'm not sure how long it would last - the Socialists are still the best organized by far, they control most of the food in the country and, ultimately, a command economy may be what's necessary to build Israel a modern industrial economy from almost nothing.