Britain was peculiarly receptive to Jewish idealism, especially of the Zionist variety. As we have seen, her great Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, had actively supported a modest resettlement of Palestine. Her great Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, had looked even further. His novel Alroy describes its hero’s quest to restore Jerusalem to the Jews. The theme recurs in his more substantial Jewish novel Tancred. Of course Disraeli could be dismissed as a romantic and highly imaginative Sephardi, who in fact pursued a pragmatic career in British politics. But Disraeli was quite capable of
...more
Cathey Laughlin liked this
