Hatzohar (), officially the Union of Revisionist Zionists (), was founded in 1925 to serve as the political arm of Ze'ev Jabotinsky's Revisionist Zionist movement. The organization, operating primarily in Mandatory Palestine and the European diaspora, was the primary challenger to the dominant leadership of the World Zionist Organization. It advocated for a more assertive and militant approach to the establishment of a Jewish state.
Following the establishment of Israel in 1948, the organization was succeeded by Menachem Begin's Herut party, into which it merged.
History Hatzohar was founded by Ze'ev Jabotinsky and others in Paris in April 1925. It followed the establishment of Jabotinsky's revisionist youth movement Betar in 1923. The initial nucleus of the movement consisted of a group of Russian Zionists who had supported Jabotinsky in establishing the Jewish Legion during World War I.
The photo of the First World Conference in Paris in 1925 shows 22 founding members. Aside from Jabotinsky, they included: M. Berchin-Benedictoff, Isidore Frankel, Meir Grossman, A. Ginsbourg, , Jacques Segal, Albert Stara, Ze'ev (Vladimir) Tiomkin, Zinovy Tiomkin, Israel Trivus, and Yehoshua Yeivin.
The name of 'revisionist' stems from the demands by these Zionists for a revision of the Zionist Organization's policies and its leadership under Chaim Weizmann, as well as the elected Jewish leadership in Palestine.Ze'ev (Vladimir) Jabotinsky Jewish Virtual Library They saw these policies as appeasement of British Government decisions in Mandatory Palestine.
In 1938, Tzohar began publishing the daily HaMashkif.The Israeli Press Jewish Virtual Library
Polish members of the organisation were, among other things, instrumental in creating Żydowski Związek Wojskowy, one of two Jewish organisations that organised the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
At the time of Israel's independence in 1948, Hatzohar was the largest right-wing organization in the country, and had three seats in the Provisional State Council (held by Herzl Rosenblum, Zvi Segal and Ben-Zion Sternberg). However, the founding of Herut by Menachem Begin in the same year undermined its success. Although some purists alleged that Begin was out to steal Jabotinsky's mantle and refused to defect from the party, under the leadership of Aryeh Altman, Hatzohar won less than 1% of the vote in Israel's first elections and failed to cross the Knesset's electoral threshold. In contrast, Herut won 14 seats with 11.5% of the vote; Altman later joined Herut and was elected to the Knesset on its list in 1951, whilst Begin would carry Revisionist ideology of Likud to electoral victory in 1977.
The party was disbanded prior to the 1951 elections when it merged into Herut.
Leaders Leader Took office Left office 1 Ze'ev Jabotinsky 1925 1940 2 Menachem Begin 1940 1948 3 Aryeh Altman 1948 1949
Election results Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Election Leader Votes % Place Seats won 1925 Ze'ev Jabotinsky — — 4th 1931 Ze'ev Jabotinsky 8,069 16.3% 2nd 1944 Menachem Begin Did not contest —
Knesset Election Leader Votes % Place Seats won 1949 Aryeh Altman 2,892 0.7% 14th
Gallery
See also New Zionist Organization, the primary Revisionist organization from 1935 until 1946 Politics of Israel
References