Benzion Netanyahu

Benzion Netanyahu
Benzion Netanyahu
Born	Benzion Mileikowsky March 25, 1910 (1910-03-25) Warsaw, Russian Empire
Nationality	Israeli
Education	Hebrew Teachers Seminary, Jerusalem, Israel, teacher's diploma, 1929 Hebrew University of Jerusalem, M.A., 1933 Dropsie College, Ph.D., 1947
Spouse	Tzila Segal (September 7, 1944–January 31, 2000; her death)
Children	Yonatan, Benjamin, Iddo
Parents	Rabbi Nathan Mileikowsky Sarah (Lurie) Mileikowsky
Notes

Benzion Netanyahu (Hebrew: בנציון נתניהו; born Benzion Mileikowsky; March 25, 1910) is an Israeli historian and a professor emeritus at Cornell University. He is a specialist in the golden age of Jewish History in Spain, and is known for his opus, the Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain. He was secretary to Ze'ev Jabotinsky, "the father of Revisionist Zionism", and was a Revisionist leader of the Zionist Movement in the United States.

He is the father of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Early life

Benzion Netanyahu was born in Warsaw, Poland, (then part of the Russian Empire) to the writer and Zionist activist Nathan Mileikowsky. In 1920 the family emigrated to Palestine. After living in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, and Safed, the family settled in Jerusalem. Benzion studied in the teachers seminary run by David Yellin, and later went on to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specialized in History and was especially inspired by professor Joseph Klausner. His younger brother, mathematician Elisha Netanyahu, also studied at the Hebrew University, and later became the Dean of Sciences at the Technion.

Origin of the Netanyahu name

Netanyahu's father, Nathan Mileikowsky, used to sign some of his articles with the name Netanyahu (Hebrew for "God's gift"). It was a common practice for Israelis at the time to adopt a Hebrew name and his son Benzion eventually adopted this family name. Following the same practice, Benzion Netanyahu occasionally wrote under the name "Nitay".

Zionist activities

During his studies, Netanyahu became active in Revisionist Zionists circles, and a close friend to Abba Ahimeir. He was coeditor of Betar a Hebrew monthly (1933–1934), then editor of the Revisionist Zionist daily newspaper Ha-Yarden in Jerusalem (1934–1935). The British Mandate authorities ordered that paper to close. He was editor at the Zionist Political Library, Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv, 1935–1940. He traveled to New York and became the secretary to Ze'ev Jabotinsky, the father of the Revisionist Zionism movement. Shortly thereafter, when Jabotinsky died, Netanyahu remained in New York and continued his Revisionist activities. He was executive director New Zionist Organization of America in New York 1940–1948, the political rival of the mainstream Zionist Organization of America.

During World War II, he was one of the Revisionist movement's leaders in the U.S. At the same time he pursued his PhD at Dropsie College in Philadelphia, writing his dissertation on Isaac Abrabanel.

Netanyahu believed in Greater Israel. When the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was published (November 29, 1947), he joined others who signed the petition against the plan that was published in the New York Times. During that time, he was active in engaging with Congress members in Washington, D.C.. He returned to Palestine (now the newly-established State of Israel) in 1949, where he tried to start a political career but failed.

Academic career

Netanyahu continued his academic activities after his return to Israel. For various reasons, he did not manage to integrate into the academic faculty of the Hebrew University, but his mentor Joseph Klausner recommended him to be one of the editors of the Encyclopaedia Hebraica, and upon Klausner's death Netanyahu became chief editor.

He returned to Dropsie College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, first as professor of Hebrew language and literature, and chairman of the department, (1957–1966), then professor of medieval Jewish history and Hebrew literature, (1966–1968). He moved first to University of Denver as professor of Hebraic studies, (1968–1971), then returned to New York in order to edit a Jewish encyclopedia and eventually take a teaching job at Cornell University as professor of Judaic studies and chairman of department of Semitic languages and literatures, 1971–1975. Following the death of his son Yonatan during the Entebbe hostage rescue operation in 1976, he and his family returned to Israel. Netanyahu is now serving as an associate professor at the Academy for Jewish Research, a member of the Academy for Fine Arts, and a professor emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Cornell University.

Work

Specializing in the golden age of Jewish History in Spain, Netanyahu is known for his opus, the Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain. Jacob Epstein writes

The 1,400-page work of scholarship overturned centuries of misunderstanding, and predictably it was faintly praised and in a few cases angrily denounced or simply ignored by a threatened scholarly establishment. Dispassionate scholars soon prevailed, and today Benzion’s brilliant revisionist achievement towers over the field of Inquisition studies.

It involved Netanyahu in a scholarly dispute with Yitzhak Baer. Baer, following earlier views, considered the Anusim (forced converts to Christianity) to be a case of "Kiddush Hashem" (sanctification of the name [of God]: i.e., dying or risking oneself to preserve the name of God). According to Baer, therefore, the converts chose to live a double life, with some level of risk, while retaining their original faith. Netanyahu, in contrast, challenged the belief that the accusations of the Inquisition were true, and considers the majority of converts to be "Mitbolelim" (assimilationists), and willing converts to Christianity, claiming that the small number of forced converts who did not truly adhere to their new religion were used in a propagandistic fashion by the Inquisition to allege a broader resistance movement. According to Netanyahu, Christian society had never accepted the new converts, reasons of economic and racial envy. Netanyahu's approach, in downplaying the religious motivation for the Inquisition, is considered by some to reflect his bias toward secular Zionism.^{[citation needed]}

Memberships and awards

• American Academy for Jewish Research (fellow; executive member, 1967--)
• Institute for Advanced Religious Studies (member of advisory council, 1967--)
• American Zionist Emergency Council, 1945–1948

Personal life

In 1944, Netanyahu married Tzila Segal, whom he met during his studies in Palestine. The couple had three sons – Yonatan (b. 1946), former commander of Sayeret Matkal, who was killed in action leading Operation Entebbe in 1976; Benjamin, (b. 1949), Israeli Prime Minister (1996–99, 2009–present); and Iddo (b. 1952), an Israeli physician, author and playwright. Netanyahu became a widower in 2000, when Tzila died. He currently resides in Jerusalem.

Family tree

Nathan Mileikowsky (Writer and Zionist activist)

Benzion Netanyahu (Professor of History and Zionist activist)

Elisha Netanyahu (Professor for Mathematics)

Shoshana Shenburg (Justice at the Supreme Court of Israel)

Yonatan Netanyahu (Commander of Sayeret Matkal)

Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister of Israel)

Iddo Netanyahu (A radiologist, author and playwright)

Nathan Netanyahu (Professor of Computer Science)

Books by Benzion Netanyahu

• Netanyahu, B[enzion] (1995). The Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth-Century Spain. Random House.  ISBN 0679410651
• Netanyahu, Benzion (2002). The Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth-Century Spain. Granta.  ISBN 0940322390
• Netanyahu, Benzion (2004) (in Hebrew). The Five Forefathers of Zionism. Yedioth Ahronoth. 
• Netanyahu, Benzion (2001). Don Isaac Abravanel: Statesman and Philosopher. The Jewish Publication Society.  ISBN 1-59045-425-1

External links

• Netanyahu, Benzion - Assemblage of articles