Zeev Jabotinsky - Betar Zionism Irgun Lechi Jewish patriot

Zeev Jabotinsky was born to a middle class Jewish family in Russia in the 1880s. The brilliant young man’s life was changed when he saw the small villages and ghettos of Eastern Europe. He created the first Jewish fighting unit since the time of the Romans, the Jewish Legion, which eventually became the Israel Defense Forces. He was arrested and imprisoned by the British for his self-defense units and earned the disdain of pacifists and admiration of downtrodden Jewish people whom he inspired to leave Europe for the Land of Israel in the 1920s and 1930’s. Jabotinsky’s fiery brand of Jewish nationalism inspired Betar, the Revisionist movement, the Irgun, Menachem Begin and countless others.