The price of loyalty to Vladimir Jabotinsky: moral honesty and political irrelevance – Yehuda Benari’s life and work (1940–48)

Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay draws attention to Yehuda Benari, a forgotten figure in the Revisionist Zionist movement who, in addition to serving as the movement’s attorney general (1938–46) and the head of the London office (1947–48), was a leading Zionist lawyer, activist, historian, and journalist. My thesis is that Benari modeled his life, both actively and intellectually, on the leading principles and ideals of Vladimir Jabotinsky. However, his unwavering commitment to Jabotinsky’s interpretation of Revisionist Zionism impeded Benari’s chances of adapting to change and prevented a political career in independent Israel. Nonetheless, his work in the 1940s on behalf of political prisoners sheds light on the way Revisionists used British law as part of their overall struggle. This piece also helps us interpret the political fate of a generation of Revisionist Zionists between Jabotinsky’s death (1940) and the establishment of the State of Israel.