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Following the British conquest of Ottoman Palestine, Jews across the British Empire—from Jerusalem to Johannesburg, London to Calcutta—found themselves at the heart of global Jewish political discourse. As these intellectuals, politicians, activists, and communal elites navigated shifting political landscapes, some envisioned Palestine as a British dominion, leveraging imperial power for Jewish state-building, while others fostered ties with anticolonial movements, contemplating independent national aspirations. Uncertain Empire considers this intricate interplay between British imperialism, Zionism, and anticolonial movements from the 1917 British conquest of Palestine to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
Elizabeth Imber highlights diverse and sometimes conflicting visions of Jewish political futures, offering detailed case studies of key figures including Chaim Arlosoroff, Moshe Shertok, Helen Bentwich, Rachel Ezra, and Hermann Kallenbach. She explores a "politics of uncertainty" in which Jews engaged with both imperial stability and the rise of anticolonial mobilization, when many were likewise forced to reconsider Palestine as a viable refuge and political solution. Ultimately, this book provides a nuanced understanding of how the British Empire's fate became central to Zionist and broader Jewish political thought, revealing the complex intersections of empire, state power, and Jewish politics during a time marked by profound urgency and exigency.
"Uncertain Empire brilliantly reframes our understanding of the road to 1948 in Israel/Palestine. Moving beyond the historical debates narrowly focused on nationalism and colonialism, Elizabeth Imber reveals how the Jewish experience within the global British Empire decisively shaped Jewish political thought about the future of Palestine." —James Loeffler, Johns Hopkins University
"Imber's account serves as a welcome reminder of the rich and diverse intellectual roots of Zionism." —Lisa Anderson, Foreign Affairs
"By focusing on these individuals' often overlooked contributions to the evolution of Zionist thought from the 1920s through the 1940s, Imber's book will be a valuable addition to libraries supporting studies of Zionism, the history of Israel, and British imperial history. Recommended." —M. Klobas, Chioce
"Groundbreaking... Within a shifting imperial landscape, Imber follows the political identities and strategies of diverse Jewish actors in reconstructing the story of Jewish engagement with British colonial structures and ideas...Thanks to Uncertain Empire fascinating inroads into this history are now unlocked." —Laura Almagor, Jewish History
"Imber presents a more complex picture of the interplay between British imperialism and Jewish self-determination than has often been shown in the past. Straight forward binaries and black and white stories about Jewish nationalism and the British Empire are challenged and complicated as the voices of Jews across the empire are put back at the centre of the story in an innovative global approach. In doing so Elizabeth E. Imber has written what must surely be destined to become a pivotal book in our understanding of Zionism, Jewish nationalist thought, and the way Jews engaged with the British Empire." —James Sunderland, Journal of Modern Jewish Studies
"A valuable and illuminating book. It shows that Jews' 'own uncertain futures' in the first half of the twentieth century were inextricably 'bound up in the uncertain fate of the British Empire.'" —Dane Kennedy, Israel Affairs
"Crucially, Imber highlights that these figures did not subscribe to a single vision but held very different—sometimes conflicting—visions of the future: some saw Palestine as a British-dominions safe space backed by imperial power; others envisioned alliances with anticolonial movements and dreamed of an independent national future." —Arie M. Dubnov, Journal of Israeli History
Introduction
1. Wanderers Between Two Worlds
2. Zionists and the British Question
3. An Uncertain Alliance
4. Between Empire and Nation
5. Legacies of Empire and Imagining the Postcolonial
6. Realism, Refugees, and the British Horizons of War
7. The Eve of Empire
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index