This biography of Theodor Herzl is a fascinating study of an assimilated European Jew who is moved to utopian dreams to solve the problem of Anti-Semitism by devising a practical plan that was not utopian. His The Jewish State was a practical guide. He is unaware of his predecessor Moses Hess who concludes the same ideas that the Jewish people will ultimately not be accepted by the outside world and need their own State to be independent on the one hand and to be accepted as a nation on the other.
Mr. Avineri conceptualizes Herzl's whole career by detailing his failed attempt at getting a sympathetic commitment from the German Kaiser in his meeting at Cairo in 1898. Herzl's determination in seeking approval of the international community was essential in his mind in solving the Jewish problem. If the world would give its approval to a separate Jewish state there would be legitimacy to such a state and no argument to its existence. Herzl believes this so wholeheartedly that in his program of establishing a nation state, the Jewish state would not have an army since international acceptance would mean nobody would pose of threat to it!! Clearly, Herzl underestimated the Arab world and did not perceive the hesitancy of the Ottomans of Turkey correctly. In many ways, Herzl thought that the issue would be money - if he would be able to find out exactly how much aid would produce acceptance....
About his program for a Jewish state there is a curious fact. For example, Herzl does not believe that Hebrew would be the official language of the Jewish country. He believes that a better model would be a country like Switzerland where there are many official languages. He reasons that the Jewish people are a dispersed nation all over the globe speaking many different languages, Hebrew is just not practical since it is only a liturgical, dead language. Herzl is completely unaware of what was going on in Israel with a rejuvenation and revival of the language with the Yishuv from the Hovevei Zion settlers.
Herzl gains enormous popularity with Eastern European Jewry. Those communities are educated Jewish communities that suffer from deep hatred of the gentile world. The yearnings for Zion are a natural outgrowth. Herzl's own central European communities were slow to accept the Jewish people as a separate nation, calling into question their loyalty to their host country. His popularity gains such strength in Russia that he is heralded as King! something that he rejects outright.
Mr Avineri points out that a common understanding about Herzl and the Dreyfus trial lacks evidence. The conventional understanding of Herzl's awakening about Anti-Semitism comes from his coverage of the Dreyfus trial. Professor Avineri adroitly points out that Herzl's coverage is rather dry and factual, not even questioning Dreyfus guilt at the first trial. There is no comment or thought about the Anti-Semitism that is drummed up during the affair recorded in Herzl's personal diaries, an extensive source of Herzl's mindset. Clearly Herzl understood the horrible problem of Anti-Semitism, however, there is no tangible evidence that the Dreyfus Affair was the impetus!!
The greatest blunder of Herzl's career was the offering of Uganda as an option for the Jewish state. Herzl was intent on NOT dismissing the offer from the British so as the keep the international lines of communication open. He knew that Palestine was the real option and that he could sense that Uganda if an option could only be a stop gap measure for the immediate needs for those seeking refuge from the violent pogroms in Russia. When he put Uganda on the agenda of the 7th Zionist congress he was traumatized and shocked by tremendous upheaval it caused and damaged his image with the Eastern European Jews. The ferocious negative response dealt Herzl such a blow he never really recovered and was dead 6 months later. The arguments against the option were simple: one would be naïve to think that one could get Palestine if there was a Jewish state in Uganda! One would argue "what do you need Palestine if you already have a refuge in Uganda? And although the Uganda option passed at the congress, nevertheless real fissures formed against Herzl. He and Menachem Ussishkin, head of the Russian Zionist group had to make amends. The Uganda option went nowhere.
Herzl is the one person responsible in creating the concept that a Jewish State was a real possibility. He is responsible in creating the Zionist congress and Jewish agency. He also created an international awareness that eventually created the modern State of Israel. Although it took two world wars and the Holocaust, Herzl's dream came to fruition with the world agency of the UN giving acceptance.
