A Rebel with a Cause: Hillel Kook, Begin and Jabotinsky's Ideological Legacy

Abstract

IN MAY 1946, AT THE height of the Zionist struggle against the British in Palestine, Menachem Begin, the commander of the Irgun, sent a letter to Hillel Kook-the Irgun's maverick activist in the United States.' At the beginning of the letter, Begin thanked Kook, all that he has done in true pioneering spirit and full devotion; but after the warm opening, the tone of the letter changed. The Irgun's commander warned Kook to stop spreading rumors alleging that the American League for Free Palestine, an organization that Kook founded in 1944, was responsible for boats bringing illegal Jewish immigrants to Israel. Begin claimed that such rumors would only strengthen the Irgun's opponents and impede its activities in Israel. Moreover, Begin demanded that Kook concentrate his efforts entirely on procuring arms and ammunitions for the fighters in Israel, because, according to Begin, the future of the Zionist struggle for national independence lay in the military front and not in the campaign to bring immigrants to Israel. Lastly, Begin admonished Kook for insisting to refer to the Land of Israel as the Free Palestine State. Begin preferred that Kook use the name Free State of Eretz Israel; he felt that using the name Palestine without any identification with the Jewish people could prove to be very dangerous for the Zionist cause.