Churchill and the Jews

A Lifelong Friendship

Martin Gilbert

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781466829626
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Political Biographies
• Index: History

An insightful history of Churchill's lifelong commitment—both public and private—to the Jews and Zionism, and of his outspoken opposition to anti-Semitism.
Winston Churchill was a young man in 1894 when Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army, was convicted of treason and sent to Devil's Island. Despite the prevailing anti-Semitism in England as well as on the Continent, Churchill's position was clear: he supported Dreyfus, and condemned the prejudices that had led to his conviction.
Churchill's commitment to Jewish rights, to Zionism—and ultimately to the State of Israel—never wavered. In 1922, he established on the bedrock of international law the right of Jews to emigrate to Palestine. During his meeting with David Ben-Gurion in 1960, Churchill presented the Israeli prime minister with an article he had written about Moses, praising the father of the Jewish people.
Drawing on a wide range of archives and private papers, speeches, newspaper coverage, and wartime correspondence, Churchill's official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert, explores the origins, implications, and results of Churchill's determined commitment to Jewish rights, opening a window on an underappreciated and heroic aspect of the brilliant politician's life and career.

"The author masterfully sketches the evolution of Israel through a long, difficult British Jewish process of conception. Gilbert's deep, lifelong scholarship and knowledge of his subject lend his book both authority and accessibility." — Kirkus Reviews

"A must-read for those interested in Churchill and in Jewish history." — Publishers Weekly

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Notice
• Contents
• Dedication
• List of Maps
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter One: Early Years: ‘This Monstrous Conspiracy’
• Chapter Two: Supporting the Jews
• Chapter Three: The First World War and Its Aftermath
• Chapter Four: ‘A Struggle for the Soul of the Jewish People’
• Chapter Five: Responsibility for the Jewish National Home
• Chapter Six: Pledges in Jerusalem
• Chapter Seven: Building on the Balfour Declaration
• Chapter Eight: An Anti-Semitic Libel, Palestine, and Moses
• Chapter Nine: The Rise of Hitler
• Chapter Ten: Defender of Zionism
• Chapter Eleven: The Partition Debate: ‘A Counsel of Despair’
• Chapter Twelve: Nazism Rampant: ‘Abominable Persecution’
• Chapter Thirteen: Palestine: The Legitimate Jewish Haven
• Chapter Fourteen: The Black Paper: ‘This Mortal Blow’
• Chapter Fifteen: The First Nine Months of War
• Chapter Sixteen: Prime Minister: The Palestine Dimension
• Chapter Seventeen: ‘These Vile Crimes’
• Chapter Eighteen: Palestine: A Vigilant Eye
• Chapter Nineteen: Seeking to Save Jews
• Chapter Twenty: ‘If Our Dreams of Zionism Are to End…’
• Chapter Twenty-One: The Saudi Arabian Dimension
• Chapter Twenty-Two: From War to Peace: ‘I Shall Continue to Do My Best’
• Chapter Twenty-Three: The King David Hotel Bomb: ‘We Are to be at War with the Jews of Palestine’
• Chapter Twenty-Four: ‘A Senseless, Squalid War with the Jews’
• Chapter Twenty-Five: The State of Israel Established: ‘An Event in World History’
• Chapter Twenty-Six: ‘An Old Zionist Like Me’
• Chapter Twenty-Seven: ‘A Great Nation’
• Epilogue
• Maps
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Books by Martin Gilbert
• About the Author
• Copyright