By 1934, Jabotinsky and his Betar youth movement had made an alliance with Il
Duce, when the Betar established a
naval training academy at Civitavecchia, Mussolini's naval base north of Rome.
L'Idea Sionistica, Betar's
Italian-language magazine, described the dedication ceremonies which launched
the academy: "The order -
'Attention!' A triple chant ordered by the squad's commanding officer - 'Viva
L'Italia, Viva Il Re! Viva Il
Duce!' resounded, followed by the benediction which Rabbi Aldo Lattes invoked in
Italian and in Hebrew for God,
for the King, and for Il Duce ... 'Giovinezza' [the fascist party's anthem] was
sung with much enthusiasm by the
Betarim."
Mussolini endorsed Jabotinsky in 1935, saying, "For Zionism to succeed, you need
to have a Jewish state with a
Jewish flag, and Jewish language. The person who really understands that is your
fascist, Jabotinsky."
Il Duce gave his personal endorsement to the project in 1936, when he visited
Civitavecchia and reviewed the
Betar cadre force. It was not a mere coincidence that the universal uniform of
Betar was the fascist brownshirt.
Although Jabotinsky was careful not to endorse Mussolini directly, he
nonetheless publicly defended him. In 1935
during a lecture tour of the United States, Jabotinsky wrote several articles
which appeared in the New York
Jewish Daily Bulletin. "Whatever any few think of Fascism's other points, there
is no doubt that the Italian
brand of Fascist ideology is at least an ideology of racial equality. Let us not
be so humble as to pretend that
this does not matter - that racial equality is too insignificant an idea to
outbalance the absence of civic
freedom. For it is not true.... Equality comes first, always first, super first;
and Jews should remember it,
and hold that a regime maintaining that principle in a world turned cannibal
does, partly, but considerably,
atone for its other short-comings."
That same year, Jabotinsky founded the New Zionist Organization and sought to
hold its first convention in the
Venetian port city of Trieste. According to sources, associates dissuaded him,
arguing that it would be a public
endorsement of Italian Fascism, which was not politically appropriate. (The
congress was held in Vienna.)
http://www.cecaust.com.au/main.asp?sub=culture/jewish&id=p3/article3.htm
___________________________________________________________
How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday
snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com