Semitic Action

Semitic Action proposed a federation between Israel and Palestinian Arabs, linking relations between the two peoples to a wider regional political framework.[1][3] Its program included a Jewish-Arab federation in the territory of Mandatory Palestine as part of a broader Middle East federation; another formulation envisaged a Palestinian-Israeli-Jordanian federation.[1][4]

The movement combined political organization with an intellectual and literary publishing enterprise centered on Etgar, meaning “Challenge.”[2][3] Its ideas also appeared in Ha-Olam ha-Zeh, the magazine edited by Avnery.[3] The distinction between “Hebrew” and “Jew,” relations with Diaspora Jewry, and cooperation with Palestinian Arabs were central elements of its ideological outlook.[3]

Avnery had developed an earlier regional outlook through Eretz Yisrael Hatze'irah, which he established in 1946.[5] That organization regarded the Jewish community in Palestine as a “new Hebrew nation” within the Jewish people, understood it as belonging to Asia, and considered it a natural ally of the Arab nation.[5] Avnery also advocated transforming the Middle East into a “Semitic region.”[5]

Yellin-Mor approached Semitic Action from a different political background: he had been the sole representative elected on the former Lehi members’ Fighters ticket in 1949 and subsequently shifted to the extreme Left.[1] His opposition to Israel’s alliance with Great Britain and France during the 1956 Sinai campaign prompted the formation of Semitic Action with Avnery and other associates.[6] Those involved included former Lehi members Boaz Evron, Shlomo Ben Shlomo, and Yaakov Yardor; Amos Kenan was also associated with the movement’s founding circle.[6][7]

The group developed a political platform titled The Hebrew Manifesto (Haminshar Haivri), which presented the option of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.[6] Alongside that proposal, the movement advocated federation and rapprochement between Israel and Palestinian Arabs.[1][3]

A political split emerged in 1965, when Avnery decided to contest a Knesset election after the passage of a defamation law that he and his colleagues believed was intended to harm Ha-Olam ha-Zeh.[4] He approached his Semitic Action colleagues, but they declined to join his party; their refusal marked the beginning of the movement’s and its periodical’s decline.[4] Yellin-Mor withdrew from direct political activity after Avnery entered the Knesset that year.[1]

Avnery’s party, HaOlam HaZeh–New Force, sought to oppose the defamation law, which it regarded as harmful to press freedom, and called for recognition of the Palestinian people.[8] It won one seat in the election for the Sixth Knesset and two in the following election.[8]

Etgar was a Hebrew political-literary biweekly published in Tel Aviv and edited by Yellin-Mor, serving as the movement’s voice.[2][6] Its digitized run extends from April 1, 1960, to April 13, 1967.[2] Contributors included Avnery, David Avidan, and Yonatan Ratosh, while Yellin-Mor recruited younger writers including Meir Wieseltier, Dalia Ravikovitch, Mazim Gilan, Dan Almagor, and Ehud Ben Ezer.[2][6]

The founders wanted an intellectual and ideological publication of their own because they could not adequately express the movement’s positions in the newspapers where they worked.[4] Contributors worked voluntarily without salaries, and some wrote under pseudonyms.[4] Avnery praised Yellin-Mor’s command of Hebrew and editorial ability, as well as his capacity to raise money to sustain the publication.[6]

Evron recalled that Avnery provided the principal financial support for Etgar, rather than donations and subscriptions.[4] The paper nevertheless attracted individual contributions: it published an account of an unnamed worker giving its editor three lira because he valued the publication and wanted it to continue.[4]

The magazine’s literary interests extended to satire.[7] In May 1965, it printed a tribute to the satirical weekly Tzipor HaNefesh, presenting satire as a way of viewing world events and the absurdities and distortions of life.[7]

Two years after the 1965 political split, Etgar lost its distributor and appealed to readers to help distribute it independently.[4] The publication closed a short time afterward, in 1967.[6][4]

Semitic Action brought together Yellin-Mor’s post-Lehi political development and Avnery’s regional outlook.[1][5] Its publishing circle included established and younger Hebrew writers.[2][6] Its political proposals connected Palestinian statehood and Jewish-Arab federation with a broader vision of Middle Eastern cooperation.[1][6]

The movement formed part of Avnery’s path into parliamentary politics, alongside his newspaper.[9] He later described a longstanding commitment to cooperation and fraternity between Israelis, Palestinians, and Arab countries within what he called the “Semitic space.”[9] Etgar also provided a vehicle through which Yellin-Mor expressed his political views and edited literary contributions.[3][6]

Semitic Action’s relationship to Canaanism involved both shared ideas and important differences: it revived elements of the distinction between Hebrew and Jewish identity but advocated federation between two nations.[3] The Canaanites associated with the Ratosh school instead sought a single new Hebrew nation combining Arabs and Jews and replacing their previous national affiliations; they therefore did not recognize Semitic Action.[3]

In a critical review, Rivkah Fishman-Duker characterizes the movement’s inspiration as an Israeli nativism that denied Jewish peoplehood and called for severing ties with Diaspora Jewry.[10] This interpretation emphasizes the implications of its identity program, while its proposed federation retained a distinction between the two national communities.[3][10]