Within the framework of events marking 70 years to Israel's establishment, 100 years to the Balfour Declaration and 120 years to the first Zionist Congress, we have celebrated some tremendous achievements. There was no lack of appreciation for Israel's first President Chaim Weizmann and Labor Zionist leader Nahum Sokolow, who brought us the Balfour Declaration, Zionist leaders Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, who laid the foundations for the establishment of a Jewish military force, and of course Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, who announced the founding of the state. Leaders like the late Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin, among others, were also given appropriate attention.
Only one leader seemed to have been nearly forgotten in these celebrations – the most important, the one without whom it is doubtful we would be here today – Theodor Herzl. While his portrait can be seen on the Knesset wall or at any state event, his name was mentioned at the festivities out of an apparent sense of obligation. His character and his world were almost completely absent from the Zionist and Israeli story we celebrated this year.
This was not the case in the first decades of Zionism and the state. Then, it was not only his portrait that was everywhere. The standing of Herzl's ideas and actions was so obvious that he became the only person to have his name appear in Israel's Declaration of Independence. By including his name, Israel sought to recognize the achievements of someone who single-handedly formulated the plan for the establishment of the Jewish state, founded the Zionist movement and institutions such as the Jewish National Fund and Bank Leumi and worked for the recognition of the Jews' right to the Land of Israel by superpowers like Great Britain in a way that prepared the ground for the Balfour Declaration.
This attitude was likely also the result of a sense of guilt that while Herzl invested not only all of his energy, but his entire family fortune in the Zionist movement, after his death, the Zionist movement failed to assist his children. But first and foremost, his unique status was an expression of the fact that the history of Zionism cannot be understood without taking into account the tremendous and decisive influence of his character and his work on leaders like Jabotinsky, Ben-Gurion, and many others.
Jabotinsky, a fierce and resolute polemicist who opposed Herzl's "Uganda Plan," always referred to Herzl with a kind of holy reverence he reserved for no other. Jabotinsky called him "the last Diaspora leader in Israel."
Ben-Gurion described him as follows: "There will never be another man as wonderful as he, who combined the heroism of the Maccabeans with the stratagems of David, the courage of Rabbi Akiva who died with the word 'One' on his lips, and the humility of Hillel, the beauty of Rabbi Judah Hanassi and the fiery love of Rabbi Judah Halevi."
An entire generation of young Zionists, among them Ben-Zvi, Berl Katznelson, Yitzhak Tabenkin, and of course Ben-Gurion, were deeply shocked by Herzl's sudden death in 1904. The sense of crisis that ensured led them to the conclusion it was now their duty to devote their lives to Zionist immigration and action.
Herzl's image has faded from the Israeli public sphere for a number of reasons. With the passing of generations, many take the ideas of a Jewish state and its very existence for granted. As a result, the unique and impossible conditions in which Herzl operated are difficult to comprehend. In addition, while many movements and institutions have been established over the years to preserve the legacies of various figures from a number of streams of Zionism, its founding leader remains to a great extent without a home. With all due respect, it is enough to look at the number of resources the state dedicates to the legacy of figures like Begin and Rabin in comparison to the limited resources devoted to the legacy of the visionary of the state. In Israel's many celebrations this year, we found the time to note the contributions of Reform and ultra-Orthodox Jews and even the Rothschild family. This is all well and good, as long as we keep in mind that they all opposed Herzl's vision at the outset. Beyond refraining from assisting Herzl in his efforts, they sometimes even fought him vehemently. On the 114th anniversary of Herzl's death, the time has come for Israel to show its gratitude for the Zionist visionary.
