The Role Of Agriculture In The Founding Of Israel

The majority of the Jews were away from Palestine for a long time in the history of Diaspora, but they never forgot the land of Israel. The dream of going back to their homeland always lingered in the hearts of the Jews. In modern times, the popularity of nationalism and racial anti-Semitism compelled Jewish people to try to solve the Jewish problem. Many Zionists regarded the returning to Palestine and to manual labor as the road leading to a national home. Land, labor and agriculture are inextricably linked. Therefore agriculture is a most direct way to make Jews become laborers, also is the best way to establish relationship between Jews and the Holy Land. So Jews determined to return to Palestine and settle in the land by agricultural colonization.From1882to1948, many Jewish immigrants returned to Palestine and engaged in agricultural reclamation activities. Howerver, since Palestinian natural conditions were very poor and the immigrants lacked of farming experiences, agricultural activities suffered the risk of failure more than once. Although the circumstance was extremely tough, Jews did not give up. In the course of fighting, Jewish immigrants paid a huge price and many Jewish philanthropists and Zionist organizations provided financial support. Finally, the Palestinian Jewish agricultural survived and developed.The scale of agriculture gradually expanded. There were more and more agricultural settlements that covered much more area widely. Jewish agricultural production increased year by year and afforded more population. Jewish immigrants gradually get used to Palestinian specific circumstance and accumulated experience in agriculture. They also creatively explored more suitable agricultural models. On the eve of the founding of the State of Israel, Jews recreated Palestinian landscape and agriculture was basically mature. The history of Jewish agricultural colonization in Palestine means the course of re-establishing the Jewish national home. Jewish agricultural colonization went through the rule of Ottoman Empire, the First World War, the Second World War, British Mandate and the Jewish-Arab conflict. Agriculture made a great contribution to the realization of the Zionist objection.Firstly, the agricultural settlements connected into the line from earliest points, and finally even into a piece of the settlement area. The scope of Jewish agricultural settlements was the main basis of the Jewish national territory that was defined by the United Nations in the year of1947. Those strategic agricultural settlements that found in critical period laid out the boundary of the new state. So the settlement area became the main territory of Israel. Secondly, agricultural settlements spared no effort to prove their capacity and ability to support more population. Agricultural settlements absorbed a large number of immigrants and provided livelihoods for them, which contributed to greatly add the number and proportion of the Jewish population in Palestine. Thirdly, Jewish agricultural settlements in Palestine were full of political atmosphere, and have a high degree of autonomy and self-organizing ability, which led directly to the establishment of Jewish self-management and social institutions and then to form the prototype of the future national institutions.Fourthly, most of the agricultural settlements grew up in a harsh environment with defensive awareness and defensive capabilities, some of them were with a strong military color, especially those Kibbuzt in the border areas. In times of conflict and war, agricultural settlement acted as an important force to defend the territory. Fifthly, as the Zionists expected, the labor training and agricultural life reshape the spiritual world of the Jews and improve the physical conditions of the Jews on a large extent. After the founding of Israel, most of the Prime Minister, ministers and many of the officers and soldiers of the IDF mostly grow in agricultural settlement, or had engaged in agricultural labor. In all, due to the relations between agriculture and land, Zionist activities focused on agricultural work. And along this path, Jews eventually reached the Zionist goal.