{{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{About|the political party established in the 1940s|the political party which existed in the early 1980s| Unity Party (Israel)}} {{Infobox political party | name = Unity | native_name = {{Script/Hebrew|איחוד}} | founders = Judah Leon Magnes<br>Martin Buber<br>Ernst Simon<br>Henrietta Szold | founded = 1942 | ideology = Binationalism<br>Federalism<br>Cultural Zionism }} '''Ihud''' (also spelled “'''Ichud'''”, Hebrew: איחוד, 'Unity') was a small binationalist Zionist political party founded by Judah Leon Magnes, Martin Buber, Ernst Simon and Henrietta Szold, former supporters of Brit Shalom, in 1942 as a binational response to the Biltmore Conference, which made the establishment of a Jewish Commonwealth in Palestine the policy of the Zionist movement. Other prominent members were David Werner Senator, Moshe Smilansky, agronomist {{ill|Haim Margaliot-Kalvarisky|he|חיים מרגליות קלווריסקי}} (1868–1947), and Judge Joseph Moshe Valero.
Ihud advocated for an Arab–Jewish binational state rooted in equal political rights for Jews and Arabs in an undivided Palestine.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Miller |first=Rory |date=2006 |title=J. L. Magnes and the Promotion of Bi-Nationalism in Palestine |url=https://discovery.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=63a76736-b790-316a-b109-28f9a15d07cd. |journal=Jewish Journal of Sociology |issue=48 (1/2) |pages=50–68 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Ihud termed this vision “political parity.”<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=14 July 1947 |title=Hearings of representatives from the Ihud (Union) Association – 30th UNSCOP meeting – Verbatim Record |url=https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-211836/ |website=United Nations}}</ref> Furthermore, it argued that Jewish immigration should be regulated in accordance with the principle of “numerical parity” with the Arabs and the ability of Palestine to absorb immigrants economically.<ref name=":1" /> It proposed the creation of joint organs of government, and a division of the country into districts based on a communal basis.
== History == The establishment and platforms of Ihud should be considered within the larger historical context of the time, both in Palestine and worldwide. It is imperative to note the Jewish–Arab strife in Palestine and World War II as the backdrop of the creation of Ihud.
By then, the catastrophe of European Jewry (see the Holocaust) and the previous 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine made it urgent for Ihud to salvage the Jewish community in Palestine while making it a viable community for the survivors of the Holocaust.
Magnes identified closely with the aims of Brit Shalom,<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Ben-Israel |first=Hedva |date=2018 |title=Bi-Nationalism versus Nationalism: The Case of Judah Magnes |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.23.1.05 |journal=Israel Studies |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=86–105 |doi=10.2979/israelstudies.23.1.05 |jstor=10.2979/israelstudies.23.1.05 |s2cid=149166518 |issn=1084-9513|url-access=subscription }}</ref> a Jewish association focusing on the establishment of a Jewish cultural center as part of a binational state of Jews and Arabs in Palestine. Another member of Ihud, Natan Hofshi, was also a member of Brit Shalom. He was against the use of force under any circumstance.<ref name=":3" /> Magnes established the Ihud to replace the defunct Brit Shalom. He had preliminary discussions to form Ihud in July 1942. Ihud dedicated itself to promoting Brit Shalom’s beliefs in the political theatre.
== Platforms == The group held its first meeting on August 11, 1942. During this meeting, Magnes emphasized that there were six reasons for the advocacy for binationalism: #Warfare might destroy the Yishuv in Palestine; #A Jewish state in Palestine will breed hatred difficult to assuage for generations; #Nation state is not the way of Judaism but of all the nation; #The resulting state would not be a Jewish state but a secular state like all the nations; #Another centre of strife will be created for the New World; #Jews and Judaism can and will exist in the diaspora, with or without the state.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Hattis Rolef |first=Susan |title=The bi-national idea in Palestine during mandatory times |publisher=Shikmona Publishing Company |year=1970 |pages=258–271 |oclc=1374354964}}</ref>
On September 3, 1942, the group decided to publish another letter to members of the Hebrew University staff clarifying its platforms The letter stated that Ihud adheres to the Zionist movement and regards the union between Jewish and Arab people essential for starting a Jewish homeland in Palestine.<ref name=":6" /> Specifically, the leaders of Ihud stated that their political aspirations of the association include:
#Creating a political system based upon equal rights for both peoples; #Securing the support of the expanding Yishuv and the entire Jewish people for a federative union of the Middle East that includes the Land of Israel; #Creating an alliance between this federative union and the Anglo-American union as part of an alliance of all free nations, when it comes into being."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gorni |first1=Yosef |title=Mediniyut ṿe-dimyon : tokhniyot federaliyot ba-maḥshavah ha-medinit ha-Tsiyonit 1917-1948 |last2=גורני |first2=יוסף. |date=1993 |publisher=Yad Yitsḥaḳ Ben-Tsevi |isbn=965-217-107-7 |location=Yerushalayim |oclc=29789070 |author-link=Yosef Gorny}}</ref>
Ihud was against the partition plan. In April 1948, months after the UN Partition Plan was adopted by the United Nations, Magnes proposed an American trusteeship in Palestine and spoke with Warren Austin, US ambassador to the United Nations.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Palestine and Israel: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1945-1959 |url=https://www.gale.com/intl/c/palestine-and-israel-records-of-the-u.s.-department-of-state-1945-1959 |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=www.gale.com |language=en}}</ref> Magnes stated that "partition is probably the principal cause of chaos in Palestine" and emphasized the importance of allowing Jews and Arabs to "be given an opportunity to exercise themselves the functions of government."<ref name=":7" />
== Publications == The founders and representatives of Ihud conveyed their views through the publication of Ba'ayot (formerly known as Ba'ayot Hayom - Problems of the Time).<ref name=":2">{{Citation |title=Magnes, Buber and Ihud (Unity) |date=1998-05-21 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511583247.020 |work=Zionism and the Foundations of Israeli Diplomacy |pages=337–356 |access-date=2023-04-07 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511583247.020 |isbn=9780521630122 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The social democratic activist Rita Hinden agreed to arrange for the Fabian Colonial Bureau circulation manager to assist in the distribution of Ihud's pamphlets to a wider audience.<ref name=":02" />
In the beginning of 1947, Ba'ayot printed an article featuring the thoughts of Albert Einstein on the most suitable approach to resolving the issue of Palestine. In response to prominent proponent of Zionism, British Labour Party member Richard Crossman's assertion that partition was the only fair solution left for the British, Einstein said: "He may be right; but I see no permanent solution other than one based on a bi-national administration under United Nations rule."<ref name=":2" />
Ba'ayot also published "Towards Union in Palestine", which was a volume consisting of a compilation of essays in English.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jacobson |first=Eric |date=2013 |title=Why did Hannah Arendt Reject the Partition of Palestine? |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14797585.2013.768472 |journal=Journal for Cultural Research |language=en |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=358–381 |doi=10.1080/14797585.2013.768472 |s2cid=144384789 |issn=1479-7585}}</ref>
After the foundation of the state of Israel, Ihud replaced its official journal ''Ba'ayot'' with a new periodical, ''Ner''.<ref name=":2" /> Rabbi Binyamin established and edited ''Ner''. The journal aimed to encourage the Israeli public to acknowledge and honor the rights of Arab citizens and to take accountability for the eviction of Arab residents from Israel. Ner continued publication until 1964, “thereby carrying the small flame of Brit Shalom’s moral-political tradition into the era of Jewish statehood.”<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Penslar |first=Derek |author-link=Derek Penslar |date=February 1997 |title=Gideon Shimoni. The Zionist Ideology (The Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry Series, number 21.) Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, for Brandeis University Press. 1995. Pp. xvi, 506. $59.95 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/ahr/102.1.145 |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=145–46 |doi=10.1086/ahr/102.1.145 |issn=1937-5239|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
According to Sasson Sofer, writing in ''Zionism and the Foundations of Israeli Diplomacy'' (1998): <blockquote>Ihud constituted the first instance in the history of Israel's politics of what happens when intellectuals seek to propose a compromise solution in the course of a violent national conflict. It demonstrated their organisational weakness and the fact that their political influence was marginal. Ihud presages the fate which was to befall Israel's intelligentsia whenever it approached the white-hot heart of the Israel–Arab conflict and sought to join in the political fray.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sofer |first=Sasson |title=Zionism and the foundations of Israeli diplomacy |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |others=Dorothea Shefer-Vanson |isbn=0-511-00537-7 |location=Cambridge, U.K. |oclc=47009249}}</ref></blockquote>
== Responses towards Ihud == thumb|Magnes and Buber testifying before the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry The Ihud party presented its ideas to the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry in 1946 and then to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine in 1947. The Anglo-American Committee voted largely in favor of the proposals of Ihud, recommending an Economic Union in Palestine.
It was difficult to win approval of binationalism from Arab leaders. However, an agreement was achieved between Fawzi Darwish el Husseini,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clifton |first=Daniel |date=1947-07-16 |title=Zionist-Arab Pact Disclosed to U.N. – Moderates of Both Sides Signed Accord for Bi-National Government in 1946 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/07/16/archives/zionistarab-pact-disclosed-to-un-moderates-of-both-sides-signed.html |access-date=2023-04-06 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> related to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and the League for Jewish Arab Rapprochement and Cooperation, an organization founded in 1939 and allied with Ihud in 1942.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 11, 1942 |title=JTA Daily News Bulletin |url=http://pdfs.jta.org/1942/1942-10-11_234.pdf?_ga=2.103789376.1192996556.1680742964-690285591.1678909650}}</ref> However, al-Husseni was assassinated for his support for binationalism in November 1946.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Hermann |first=Tamar |date=2005-06-23 |title=The bi-national idea in Israel/Palestine: past and present |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1354-5078.2005.00210.x |journal=Nations and Nationalism |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=381–401 |doi=10.1111/j.1354-5078.2005.00210.x |issn=1354-5078|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Leading non-Jewish Zionists opposed the platforms of Ihud, including Sir John Hope Simpson (see Hope Simpson Enquiry) and Major General Sir Edward Spears. Zionist press in Britain also condemned Magnes, whom they argue “attack bitterly and [...] destroy the state of Israel” using his position at the Hebrew University for larger audiences.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Hermann |first=Tamar |author-link=Tamar Hermann |date=Summer 2010 |title=Pacifism and Anti-Militarism in the Period Surrounding the Birth of the State of Israel |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2979/isr.2010.15.2.127 |journal=Israel Studies |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=127 |doi=10.2979/isr.2010.15.2.127 |s2cid=144713882 |issn=1084-9513|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
An independent Jewish Press called Magnes a “quisling,” which means traitor, due to his position on binationalism.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 October 1941 |title=Dr Magnes and the Arabs |pages=4 |work=Detroit Jewish Chronicle |url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/djnews/djc.1941.10.03.001/4 |access-date=17 May 2023}}</ref> A Zionist paper ''The Reconstructionist'' approved Ihud’s proposal in its February 10, 1956 issue, recommending “the earnest consideration of the Ihud proposals by the Israeli government and by the World Zionist movement.”<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |title='Ihud' in America: an answer and a challenge |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2654919.6314353284112 |access-date=2023-04-07 |doi=10.1117/12.2654919.6314353284112 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, the paper later retracted its position and denounced the programs in a November issue.<ref name=":5" />
Rav Tzair, a revisionist who had great admiration for Vladimir Jabotinsky, was upset that Ihud claimed that Palestine is "both legally and ethically theirs (the Arabs), and that they (the Arabs) are therefore entitled to remain its masters forever."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tzoreff |first=Avi-Ram |date=2021 |title=The Political Theology of the Feminine Jew and Anticolonial Criticism in the Writings of Yehoshua Radler-Feldman (R. Binyamin) during WWI |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jqr.2021.0005 |journal=Jewish Quarterly Review |volume=111 |issue=1 |pages=105–129 |doi=10.1353/jqr.2021.0005 |s2cid=234273933 |issn=1553-0604|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Magnes also attempted to form alliances with Agudat Yisrael, the ultra-orthodox non-Zionist organization for religious Jews; although he was not successful.<ref name=":6" />
Political theorist Hannah Arendt rejected the platforms of Ihud because she considered Magnes' idea of binationalism an erroneous version of federalism as it merely substituted the Biltmore concept of Jewish supremacy in Palestine with the notion of Arab supremacy. She considered Magnes' vision in conflict with her commitment to federalism. Later, she supported Magnes' proposal for a trusteeship as a temporary solution for Jews and Arabs in Palestine.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rubin |first=Gil |date=2015 |title=From Federalism to Binationalism: Hannah Arendt's Shifting Zionism |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26294065 |journal=Contemporary European History |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=393–414 |doi=10.1017/S0960777315000223 |jstor=26294065 |s2cid=159871596 |issn=0960-7773|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Only Isaac Steinberg's Freeland League, which also comprised only a few hundred people, remained as a political ally, with which they were united above all by their rejection of the violence of "militant Zionism". In 1959, Ihud members founded an organisation called "Friends of the Freeman League".<ref name=almalgor>{{cite web |access-date=2024-02-17 |author=Laura Almalgor |date=2019 |title="A highway to battlegrounds": Jewish territorialism and the State of Israel, 1945–1960 |url=https://www.academia.edu/32343596 |website=Journal of Israel History}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>
== After the formation of the State of Israel in 1948 == Magnes resigned his position as the leader of Ihud the day after the UN announced its partition plan in Palestine.<ref name=":3" />
During Israel’s War of Independence, Ihud criticized Jewish attacks on Arab civilians{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}. It was critical of the “spirit of Masada (survival),” which Ihud deemed a glorification of unnecessary martyrdom.<ref name=":4" />
When violence escalated in the aftermath of the 1948 War, Ihud issued a warning that posited military victory as dangerous precedents. “As members of Ihud, we do not welcome triumphs on the battlefield, which are in essence the spilling of blood, ruination, and destruction for everyone created in God’s image.”<ref name=":4" />
Ihud also denounced the raid on the Jordanian village of Qibya in October 1953, and in general condemned reprisal attacks carried out by the IDF against Arabs.<ref name=":4" />
However, by the late 1960s, the already marginal binationalism platform was even more sidelined because of the political reality of Israel, and Ihud became irrelevant in the political theatre.<ref name=":8" />
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Political organizations based in Israel Category:Middle East peace efforts Category:Political parties in Mandatory Palestine Category:Political parties established in 1942 Category:One-state solution Category:1942 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Category:Political parties with year of disestablishment missing Category:Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine Category:Zionist political parties