British Israelism - Politics

Politics

British Israelism was not ostensibly a political movement but it was inevitable that any association that interpreted Biblical prophecy against the background of actual historic, real-time and future events would attempt to influence, take credit or comment on the relevance of those events. Primarily an Anglican organisation, it was inevitable that the British-Israel movement would contribute to political issues concerning the Jews, Catholics and Palestine. In essence, the character of movement was pro-Conservative, Nationalist, Imperialist and anti-Home Rule. British Israelism did have followers in both legislative houses from the 19th century, however, limited by significant elected representation it promoted, through various publications, those influential public figures who blindly reflected its own theologically driven policies and prophecies. It is only in from the 1870s that the British-Israel press really started to roll enabling commentary on their domestic political stance. Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1874 Edward Hine asserted, that the British-Israel movement had "no motive to endeavour to operate any influence, in a political sense", however, in the same year, Hine appealed for representatives in Parliament and stressed the importance of selecting MPs indoctrinated by British-Israel philosophy. There was is no record of how successful his campaign was but in the event the Conservatives, under Disraeli, won with a majority of 52 seats which pleased the British-Israel pundits. Hine was not alone and Viscount Folkestone, president of the Metropolitan Anglo-Israel Association and MP, asserted, in 1880:

...I am sure that this association, in the course of time…will assume a very prominent position in the history of the nation. I have no doubt but that it will exercise a great influence on the policy, both home and foreign of our future governments.

This 1880 election did, however, indicate the low influence of British-Israel in the hustings. Despite pleading its non-political stance, British-Israel backed Disraeli. British-Israelites encouraged the nation to support the party that would achieve God’s destiny. The Liberals, under Gladstone, won by a majority of 176 seats but true to form they found biblical prophecy to cover the non-Imperial policies of Gladstone ‘Come, My people, enter those into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.’ (Isa. 16:20) to mark Britain's withdrawal from expansion. It followed that British-Israel did not expect Liberals to have long enough in power to affect foreign policies. Post 1880 election, British-Israel were gladdened to hear the Liberals intended maintaining the empire but deplored its repudiation of further colonial annexations therefore not fulfilling Britain’s destiny to rule the world. Sure enough the appropriate biblical prophecy was found ’And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him’ (Daniel 7:27). Palestine was the apex of the British-Israel geographical agenda due to the Biblical prophecy ‘Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates’ (Genesis 15:18). British-Israel believed that promises to Israel, as contracted with Judah, must be fulfilled. The key biblical passage indicated that Palestine would be shared with the Jews and ‘In these day the house of Judah shall walk to or with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.’ (Jer. iii. 18, 19). Most British-Israelites of the 19th century and early 20th century were therefore Christian Zionists, as many continue to be. British-Israelites in the late 19th century equated Edom with the Ottoman empire hence the deposition of the Sultan could only be actioned by Anglo-Saxon Israel in the form of England ‘I will inflict vengeance upon Edom by the hand of My people Israel‘ (eze. 25:14). In 1902, noting the stormy political situation in the Balkans exasperating the Turkish, British-Israel declared on Palestine ‘The land must be cleansed, and the intruder turned out of it, to allow of the return of the People of Zion’. Disraeli’s acquisition of the Suez Canal and Cyprus between 1874 and 1878 made physical conquest of Palestine inevitable. British-Israel applauded the government’s bold stroke in acquiring half the shares in the Suez canal proclaiming it as the beginning of the restoration movement and an Act of God. The Suez Canal shortened the sea trip to India by 5000 miles and part fulfilled biblical prophecy ‘in the same day the Lord made a Covenant with Abraham, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this Land, from the River of Egypt into the great river, the river Euphrates’.

Disraeli was also praised by British-Israelites in that his surname ‘Of Israel’ was seen as fulfillment of ‘One shall say, I the LORD'S; and another shall call by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe his hand unto the LORD, and surname by the name of Israel‘. In 1875, Lionel de Rothschild supplied Disraeli with the £4 million to purchase the Khedive of Egypt’s controlling shares in the Suez Canal Company. However, there was one problem here in that Biblical prophecy maintained of Ephraim ‘He shall not return to Egypt.’ Hine remarked on the coincidence that at a time, national identity with Israel, Benjamin Disraeli was selected as Prime Minister and ‘I have faith to look upon this man as one specially raised by God as a deliverer for our nation’ and ‘under the auspices of a Premier, of Jewish or Israelitish origin, and raised, we cannot but believe, to his high and influential position by Divine Providence to exert a prominent influence on the coming events’. His prophetic feelings were backed up by staff writer Harrison Oxley in ‘We identify Benjamin Disraeli, Esq., as one called in a most distinguished manner to lead the Nation to glory, and by the Identity, we see clearly how Judah and Israel became united, how Palestine comes into the possession of the British Nation’. One offshoot of The Anglo-Israel Association was The International Universal Alliance whose purpose was ‘to secure the neutralisation of Palestine under the guarantee of the great Powers, with the view of assuring the security of Christian and Israelitish populations.

British-Israel maintained that British Imperialism was a direct result of Gladstone’s Home Rule policy, which was viewed as sign of weakness in that electors had to choose between Britain existing as an Empire or falling to pieces by a series of secessions. In 1880, British-Israel commentating on foreign policy asked ‘Shall the colonies be retained by Israel? Shall the great “company of nations” in federation with the “little island of the North” fulfill their grand destiny as marked out in the Word of God? “Nay”, say the Opposition, “federation is a mistake; the greatest injury that might happen to this empire.’ Imperialism strengthened ties with the Mother country and British-Israel dived this into Political and Biblical. Under Biblical Imperialism, Britain’s appointed destiny was to annex regions of the world in fulfillment of Biblical covenant such as Palestine. Judah had been employed for this purpose in that a Jew, Disraeli, had purchased the Suez canal shares and a Jew, Rothschild, had financed the acquisition. British-Israel referred to Salisbury’s election, in 1900’ as a thoroughly Imperial party and attributed election victory to Joseph Chamberlain, whose role as Colonial secretary, had struck blows against Home rule and Kruger’s Boers, and proof that electors wanted an extension of the Empire. In fact British-Israel displayed intense relief that, in their opinion, the two greatest disasters of modern times - the handing of Transvaal to the Boers and the abandonment of Sudan - were now behind the country. The establishment, in 1907, of a permanent annual Imperial Conference was seen as part fulfillment of the prophecy of ‘Company of Nations’ and attributed to the enterprise ‘ the chosen race’ topped by the inauguration of Empire Day in 1909.

In order to fulfill biblical prophecy, British-Israelites wished to see unification of the colonies under the security of a United Empire of Great Britain. In this respect they were buoyed by the 1897 Federal Convention of Australia to unify the antipodean colonies based on successes in Canada. As with Disraeli, they used an influential individual as a symbolic vehicle for their Imperial aspirations - Joseph Chamberlain. Speaking at the Royal Colonial Institute, in 1897, ‘As regards the self-governing Colonies, we no longer talk of them as dependencies. We think of them and we speak of them as part of ourselves, as part of the British Empire.’ They applauded him for acting ‘honourably, generously and nobly’ to the defeated Boers and opined that South Africa would bloom under Britain as had other lands brought under subjection. A subject they reminded Edward VII, on his coronation:

...that your Reign may witness the Federation of the Anglo-Saxon Race by consolidating the ties which unite the Colonies with the Mother Country.’

Joseph Chamberlain had great sympathy with the Jewish Community. He promoted the aims of Zionism aiding Herzl’s project to found a Jewish settlement between Egypt and Palestine securing an offer from the British government for a Zionist colony in East Africa and in particular appealing to British-Israel through his aversion to Home Rule. In an obituary to Joseph Chamberlain, ‘the missionary of Empire‘, British-Israelites proclaimed:

...He leaves, indeed, to British-Israelites, an imperishable memory, an endearing influence, and an instructive message.‘

While most British-Israelites well received Zionism in the early 20th century, they criticised most Jewish Zionists as being forgetful of all what the Biblical prophecy implied, as do modern British Israel adherents. Since British Israelism maintains both Houses (Judah and Israel) would one day be re-united, British Israelites only viewed the Israeli Declaration of Independence (1948) as fulfilling part of the Biblical prophecy (Jer. 3: 18) and continue to do so. Most modern British-Israelites claim to be apolitical, or supporters of monarchism. However some British Israelite members or groups support British Nationalism. During the British National Party leaked membership list in 2008, it was revealed several BNP members belonged to the British-Israel-World Federation. British Israelism is also popular in Northern Ireland, amongst Ulster Loyalists. Tara (Northern Ireland) was a British-Israelite Loyalist faction, it existed from the 1960s - 1980's.