The Last Romantic Zionist Gentile

eferring to the years prior to the creation of the Jewish state, the historian Bernard Wasserstein

churchill considered the establishment of the State of Israel “as one of the

most hopeful and encouraging adventures of the

20th century” Only eight months subsequent to the proclamation of the State, Churchill suggested to the House of Commons that “The coming into being of a Jewish State in Palestine is an event in world history to be viewed in the perspective not of a generation or a century, but in the perspective of a thousand, two thousand or even three thousand years”

Churchill used to trace his Zionism back to the days of the Balfour declaration, describing himself as “an old Zionist” His attitude toward Zionism remained as passionate and as explicit following his return to Ten Downing Street in 1951. Now, however, with the State of Israel firmly in place, the images he entertained became perhaps more vivid, more colorful, and as ever imbued with historical resonance.

Bernard Wasserstein