30% OFF AND MORE!! On All In-Store Zeke Leikin And The Rise Of Militant Zionism tioned by the U.S. Army in New York City Egypt, where he dispatched he Detroit Jewish communi- ty recently mourned the pass- truckloads of weapons and sup- plies to Allied bases in the ing of veteran Zionist activist Middle East. Ezekiel "Zeke" Leikin. That gave him the opportu- To local friends and colleagues, Zeke nity to work covertly with both was known as a pillar of the Zionist of the rival Palestine Jewish movement in the Midwest. But from a militias, the Labor Zionists' historian's perspective, Zeke was even Haganah, and the Revisionists' more than that: his unique career path Irgun Zvai Leumi, helping symbolized the dramatic transforma- tion that American Zionism underwent them smuggle weapons from Egypt under crates of Coca during the 1940s. Cola. Zeke's ability to tran- Zeke was able to work first for the scend party lines foreshadowed the later militant Revisionist Zionists, and then path of his Zionist career. for the mainstream Zionist establish- Returning to the United States in ment, not because he changed his 1946, Zeke was immediately offered a views, but because the Holocaust con- job by the Revisionists' executive direc- vinced most American Zionists to tor in New York, Benzion Netanyahu adopt a more activist posture, one that the father of future strongly resembled that Entebbe hero Yonatan of the Revisionists. Netanyahu and future As a youngster in Prime Minister Lithuania, Zeke was Binyamin Netanyahu. active in the Betar Zeke's job was to Zionist youth move- help organize ment, and after arriving Revisionist chapters in the United States in around the country. 1931, he joined its par- But after just a few ent organization, the weeks, the Revisionists American wing of the ran, low on funds and Revisionist Zionists. had to let him go. Led by the dynamic Netanyahu's loss was Russian Zionist orator the American Zionist Vladimir Ze'ev establishment's gain: Jabotinsky, the within days, Zeke was Revisionists advocated Ezekiel Leikin offered a similar full- the immediate, mass time position with the immigration of largest mainstream Zionist group, the European Jews to the Holy Land and Zionist Organization of America the establishment of a Jewish state on (ZOA), headed by Abba Hillel Silver. both sides of the Jordan. The Revisionists were openly critical of the pro-Arab shift in British policy Changing Thinking in Palestine during the interwar years. Silver's recruitment of Zeke Leikin and Jabotinsky's approach contrasted other prominent Revisionists to his sharply with the views of other Zionist staff was indicative of the revolution parties, such as the Labor Zionists, who that had taken place within the were optimistic that the British would American Zionist movement during not abandon Zionism. They advocated the mid-1940s. gradual immigration and settlement News of the Nazi massacres of activity, and refrained from openly call- European Jewry had fueled American ing for a sovereign Jewish state. Jewish anger at the British for blocking Jewish immigration to Palestine. While Covert Service Zionist leaders such as Rabbi Stephen Wise opposed criticizing the British During World War II, Zeke was sta- during wartime, a more militant faction Dr. Rafael Medoff is visiting scholar in headed by Silver advocated public the Jewish Studies Program at the State protests to pressure the Roosevelt University of New York-Purchase College administration to demand changes in and author of 'Militant Zionism in England's Palestine policy. Silver believed the key to influencing America: The Rise and Impact of the London was to lobby Washington; Jabotinsky Movement in the United Wise, a Roosevelt loyalist, urged Jews States, 1926-1948," published this year to trust the president. by the University of Alabama Press. E- By early 1945, Wise had been effec- mail: Rafaelmedoff@aoLcorn — tively ousted from the American Zionist leadership and replaced by Silver. Silver was not a Revisionist. But he was privately sympa- thetic to the Irgun's armed revolt against the British, and the protest tactics Silver uti- lized in the U.S. were similar to those used by the Revisionists — such as full- page newspaper ads, public ral- lies, mobilizing public opinion, and lobbying on Capitol Hill. Zeke Leikin crisscrossed the Midwest, organizing ZOA chapters and mobilizing them to take part in the Silver-led activist campaign to win American support for Jewish statehood. Mainstream American Zionist litera- ture during the late 1940s abounded with examples of the movement's new, more militant posture under Silver. British soldiers in Palestine were denounced as "gangsters," and the British administration there was openly compared to Nazi Germany. One newspaper ad sponsored by the ZOA was headlined, "Who Are the Real Terrorists?" and answered that the British, not the Irgun, were the real ter- rorists. Britain's "illegal military measures and deportation of Jewish refugees to concentration camps" had "provoked acts of desperation by Jewish men and women." This was a Zionist establish- ment in which someone like Zeke Leikin could feel entirely comfortable. When I interviewed Zeke in 1996, he told me that Silver was well aware of his sympathy for the Irgun — includ- ing the articles Zeke wrote praising the Irgun fighters and his covert fund-rais- ing for them, even while serving as a ZOA staff member. Yet Silver never objected. Times had changed. The European tragedy compelled Revisionists and mainstream Zionists to set aside their old rivalries. Zionists from right to left united to meet the challenge of the hour: pressuring the British to leave Palestine so a Jewish state could be cre- ated. This new unity strengthened the Zionist movement's ability to influence Washington and London. Zeke Leikin's smooth transition from Revisionist outsider to ZOA insider mirrored the changes that American Zionism underwent during those tumultuous years leading up to the cre- ation of Israel. His work both symbolized the trans- formation — and helped make it hap- pen. ❑ Merchandise... ✓ Diamond Earrings! ✓ Diamond Bracelets! ✓ Diamond Necklaces! ✓ Chocolate Diamonds! ✓ Black & White Diamonds! ✓ Lariat Diamond Necklaces! ✓ Diamond Hoops! ✓ Huggies Galore! ✓Nomination Jewelry! ✓ Sterling Silver Jewelry! ✓ Sterling Marcasite Jewelry! ✓ Color Stone Jewelry! ✓ Custom Designing! ✓ Master Jewelry Repair! ✓ Let us clean, refinish and Re-Rhodium your Jewelry for NO CHARGE! . ✓All in-store Watch Batteries- NO CHARGE! ...JAMES DESIGNS NEALE STONE PINE JEWELRY STORE HOURS: Monday-Friday 10:00 am-6:00 pm Saturday 10:00 am-5:00 pm Sunday Closed 6659 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD OLD ORCHARD MALL S.E. 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