Rare 'Hebrew Revolt' era (1944-46) manifesto of the Irgun/Etzel Zionist underground movement: "The Hebrew [Jewish] War of Liberation (Ideological Foundations)" (entitled in Hebrew as: מלחמת השחרור העברי: יסודות רעיוניים - Milchemet HaShichrur HaIvri: Yedodot Raayoniim), 227 pages - complete, intact and pristine (with some age marks on the page tips).
Published in the style of period training and instructional manuals of the Irgun, horizontal on mimeographed double-sided typewritten pages, fastened by nails with a cardboard cover and reinforced spine, this is an undated and unattributed publication serving to explain the causes and justification of the revolt against the Mandatory regime (as of 1 February 1944); as it refers to the Irgun's declaration of war against the Mandate in February, this publication postdates that event; given the importance of the content it seeks to deliver, and the sensitivity of communicating it correctly, the book was probably written by a senior member of the organization - possibly the ideologue Abba Ahimeir or even the leader itself, Menachem Begin.
The text is annotated with footnotes. The book draws on the writings and speeches of Zeev Jabotinsky, invokes the spirit of Giuseppe Garibaldi & the lessons of the wars of liberation in Ireland, Czechoslovakia and America; criticizes the Haganah (pre-State militia) and the Yishuv leadership's cooperation with the British; attacks the Mandatory Government's efforts to surpress the Zionist movement through terror; calls for unity and the establishment of a Jewish government in Palestine; the need to wage war in order to gain independence and outlines for the conduct of a revolt against the Mandatory authority, and more.
The contents of the book are: Part A: 'The Instructor Taught - And the Students Achieved': selected writings of Jabotinsky; 'In Blood and Sweat Arose us a Race'; 'The Ethics of the War of Liberation'; 'We Believe' | Part B: 'Stages of the Yishuv's [Jewish Community in Palestine] War': commentary; 'Only a Fighting Nation Earns Independence'; 'The Way to Unite a Fighting Yishuv; 'Supporting Forces of the Zionists' | Part C: 'External and Internal Policies': 'Political Results'; 'The Alternative'; 'The Arab Problem'; 'Who Hurts the Solution to the Arab Question'; 'On Our Arab Neighbors'; 'The Soviet Union and the Return to Zion'; 'Settlement or War for Justice' | Part D: 'The Outlines of the Plan For Uprising': 'From the Point of View of Experience'; 'The Fundamental Question - How?'; 'The Irish Example'; 'Lesson of the American Revolution'; 'The Czech Example' | Part E: 'From the Home and From Outside': 'There Won't be a War of Brothers'; 'A Reply to Winston Churchill'; commentary | Part F: 'Conclusion': 'A Piece from the Fighting Youth' | Part G: 'The Meaning of the Hebrew Authority - (I) Prosperity of the Homeland and its Cultivation' (appendicies): 'Development Opportunities for Eretz-Israel'; 'Geographic Background'; 'Geological Foundations of the Land'; 'The Dead Sea'; 'The Climate and Rainfall'; 'Desert Vegetation and Cultural Vegetation'; 'Treasures of the Quarries'; 'The Laudermilk Program'; 'The Absorption Ability of Eretz Israel'; (II) 'Names of the Land and her Borders': 'Names of the Land'; 'Her Borders'; 'Destined Borders'; 'Historical Borders'; 'Natural Borders'; 'The National Border'.
A rare 'first-hand' document of the guiding principles of the Etzel at this time. The cataloguer has seen a professionally published edition of this work in English from the 1960's (but is unable to locate it at this time). The Irgun and its more extreme offshoot, the Lechi, are generally credited with having militarily driven the British out of Palestine, following WWII.