THE POST-WAR PERIOD UNTIL THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

American members of the Jewish Delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference which argued for Jewish rights in Palestine and elsewhere included:

Joseph Barondess, prominent union leader in the US.
Jacob de Haas, former secretary of the Federation of American Zionists.
Mary Fels, Zionist activist.
Bernard Flexner, attorney and philanthropist.
Felix Frankfurter, professor of law, legal advisor to the Delegation.
Dr. Harry Friedenwald, eye specdialist.
Jurist Julian Mack, who was also a member of the Zionist Commission (the settlement of Ramat Hashophet was named after him (1941)).
Louis Marshall, attorney and leader of the non-Zionists, who later helped to enlarge the Jewish Agency.
Louis Robison, treasurer of the Federation of American Zionists.
Nahman Syrkin, a leader of Poalei Tzion.
Stephen S. Wise, Zionist activist, leader of the Jewish community of the United States. As president of the American Jewish Congress, he was active on behalf of achieving Israeli independence. The settlement of Kfar Shmuel is named after him.

When the war had ended, many of the American members of the Jewish Legion made aliyah. They were later joined by other American pioneers and helped to make valuable contributions to Palestinian society and the rebuilding of Israel. During the economic crises in the 1920s when many Palestinians were unemployed, the American community was hard-hit. They could only barely make a living as manual laborers. Many returned to the US, but for those who stayed and persevered, their accomplishments in Palestinian society (both before and after the Mandate) were impressive.

In the early years of the Zionist movement, great emphasis was placed on agricultural settlement. In 1908, an Ahuzah society, whose purpose was to purchase land in Palestine in order to establish new Jewish agricultural communities, was formed in St. Louis by Simon Goldman, formerly, the leader of Hoveve Zion in England. Soon, other Ahuza societies were formed throughout the US, from New York to Los Angeles. Sometimes, Goldman, himself, purchased plots of land with his own money – for example, Poriya in 1911, first settled by members of American Hehalutz, thus, becoming the first settlement founded entirely by Americans. In 1913, the Los Angeles Ahuza, and later, the LA branch of the Nathan Straus Palestine Advancement Society, attempted to purchase 17 acres of land in Palestine. This attempt failed due to the start of World War I, but in the post-war period, such efforts began anew. In 1924, the American branch of Mizrahi purchased land near Jerusalem that became the settlement of Neve Yaacov. In 1931, Gan Yavne was founded by the New York Ahuza and later, 12 members of the Detroit Kvutzah settled in Ramat Yohanan. Avihayil was founded by former fighters in the Jewish Legion in 1932. During the 1930s, as the numbers of American halutzim increased, many settled on, and integrated into, the kibbutzim that were newly established – Naan, Degania Bet, Ginnosar, Afikim, Ramat David, Givat Brenner, Mishmar haEmek. But sometimes, this wasn’t so easy. Many kibbutznikim considered Americans just too soft for the rigorous life of the kibbutz. Consequently, there were many cases of Americans being turned away from one kibbutz after another. Some became frustrated and disillusioned and either settled in the cities or returned to the US. But halutzim from America continued to arrive. In 1945, American Hashomer Hatzair established a dye-casting plant on land that later became the modern town of Hatzor. American halutzim also followed Palestinians in the settlement of the Negev (1946), in defiance of British law, and from that time and during the years immediately after independence, helped to settle Urim, Gal’on, and also Kfar Darom – totally obliterated by the Arab army of Egypt in 1948, obliterated for a second time by Ariel Sharon in 2005.

Since 1920, when 2 Americans were among those who fell defending the settlement of Tel Hai against Arab attackers, Americans have contributed greatly to the Yishuv’s defense - in the Haganah, Irgun, Lehi, Palmah, and Jewish Brigade. During World War II, many Jews in the US were active on behalf of the Zionist cause and of rescue efforts from Europe. As a result, the Emergency Committee for Zionist Affairs was established. The writer Ben Hecht, whose works were later banned in Britain due to his pro-Jewish activities, was active with the pro-Irgun Bergson Group under the Palestinian soldier/activist Peter Bergson, which sought to create a Jewish army of Diaspora and Palestinian Jews to fight the Nazis. Also due to his influence and Bergson’s, Hollywood and Broadway joined forces and organized the American League for a Free Palestine, and later, the American Arts Committee for Palestine. Because the Irgun played a major part in organizing these movements, and because Ben Gurion would often spread anti-Irgun propaganda, sometimes equating them with the Nazis, American Jewish organizations, in collaboration with the Roosevelt administration, would often attempt to silence them, both during and after the war. In spite of this, the Hecht/Bergson organizations had some influence with the US government. In 1944, the US War Refugee Board was established and sent one of its emissaries, Ira Hirschman, to neutral Turkey to help Jews escape from Europe. Several thousand were saved from certain death as a result, and many were helped to Palestine. Americans also aided in the struggle against the British blockade of “illegal” immigration, both during and after World War II, and also helped to fight off the impending British and Arab onslaughts in the months leading up to, and during, the War of Independence. New York Yiddish actress Stella Adler, in 1946, chartered a ship to take Holocaust refugees to Palestine. Other ships were also chartered by other sources. This activity was intensified later on and resulted in the formation of an organization known as the Machal – Diaspora Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers fighting for Israeli statehood and the right of Diaspora Jews to settle in their ancestral homeland. 3500 joined Machal including 1000 Americans, most notably:

Bill Bernstein of San Francisco was second mate on the Exodus 1947 which brought over 4000 Jewish refugees to Palestine but was intercepted by the British. He was clubbed to death by British soldiers who stormed the ship attempting to arrest the would-be immigrants.

Moshe Brodetzky, son of Palestinian refugees and formerly 2nd Lieutenant in Company E of the 5th Infantry during WWII for which he was awarded the Silver Star, became commander of Irgun forces on Mt. Zion.

US Naval Lt. Monroe Fein became captain of the ill-fated Irgun ship Altalena.

Murray Greenfield who had served in the US Merchant Marines during WWII and later became a leader in Aliyah Bet.

Lou Lenart, US Air Force pilot during World War II, lead pilot in the first aerial combat mission of the IAF in 1948.

Al Schwimmer headed a group of American volunteer aviation instructors who trained pilots in the fledgling Israeli Air Force. Americans were to play such a prominent role in the air force that English was the primary language spoken.

Paul Shulman became first commander of the navy.

Jesse “Tex” Slade, a non-Jew, member of the Navajo nation, WWII infantryman in the US army and 4th Troop volunteer during the War of Independence. After independence, he purchased some ranchland in the Negev.