The Ashkenazi Revolution

41the Tribe of Judah, on one side, and the descendants of Rachel – Benjamin,Ephraim and Menashe – on the other.The internal history of Israel is, therefore, exceedingly more interestingthan its contact and relationship with foreign peoples. The relationshipbetween David and Saul, between Samuel and Saul, between Jephtah andthe elders, between David and Abshalom are far more interesting than thestrategies and battles that were involved in external wars. Also Hebrewhistory of our own generation holds far more interest in its internal affairsthan revelations of its external wars. The armed conflict of Lehi is one ofthe most interesting affairs, of its kind, in the history of the world. But thisstory pales in comparison with the story of the internal relationshipbetween the group of Lehi, on one side, and the settlement on the other,including the quarrels, contacts, manoeuvring, deceptive tactics andcunning employed by the people of Lehi in order to pave their path. Thestories of the Nili group – the settlement, “Shomer” – “Haganah”, theRevisionist factions – the Labor movement, are riveting more than moststories. No less riveting is the internal struggle between the Revisionistfactions and the Labor movement, and the struggle with the RevisionistMovement, between Jabotinsky and Grossman, between Lehi and Etzel,between Begin and his group, after the victory of The Underground, andbetween the activists and the Revisionist intellectuals. Great humandramas take place even in the most open struggles, those between theactivist parties and the various kibbutz movements, especially in thestruggle between Mapai and the unified Labor but also between Ben-Gurion and his friends and highest echelon of Mapai. These dramas almostalways take place in closed and secret circumstances and in undergroundmeetings and the details of these dramas are lost forever. Our knowledgeof all these tales is very sparse. This should sadden us, for as a result ofthis ignorance, many of the main motivators, that impacted and influencedour lives, are hidden from our eyes.In the inner dramas of the struggles of the Bible, which we know about, thecharacters of great personalities are represented. The Israelite king had twofaces. He was a commander to the outside world and an inquisitor