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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. His three sons are
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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 Midrash for teachers 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.
Netanyahu's father, Nathan Mileikowsky, used to sign some of his articles with the name Netanyahu. It was a common practice for Zionist activists at the time to adopt a Hebrew name [1], and his son Benzion eventually adopted this family name. Following the same practice, Benzion Netanyahu occasionally wrote under the name "Nitay".
During his studies, Benzion Netanyahu became active in Revisionist Zionists circles, and a close friend to Abba Ahimeir. He was coeditor of Betar (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.
In 1944, he married his wife Tzilah, whom he met during his studies in Palestine. The couple had three sons – Yonatan (1946–1976), Benjamin, (b. 1949), and Iddo (b. 1952).
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 Israel in 1949 and was the editor-in-chief of Encyclopedia Hebraicas in Jerusalem, 1948–1962.
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 Cornell University as professor of Judaic studies and chairman of department of Semitic languages and literatures, 1971–1975. He is now professor emeritus at both Cornell and Hebrew University.
Upon arrival in Israel, he tried to start a political career, but failed. At the time, his opinions were considered radical right wing, even by Menachem Begin. However, he continued his academic activities. 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.
During the late 1950s and the 1960s, Netanyahu and his family lived alternately in Israel and the U.S (among other times in the U.S., 1963–67), until 1969, when Netanyahu returned to New York in order to edit a Jewish encyclopedia and eventually take a teaching job at Cornell University.
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. It is considered by some, a towering work on the subject. However, other well versed scholars dismiss its validity. 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.
After his eldest son, Yonatan, was killed in Operation Entebbe while leading Israeli Special Forces in 1976, the family returned to Israel.
Netanyahu's second son, Benjamin Netanyahu (widely referred to by his nickname "Bibi"), chose a political career and became Prime Minister of Israel in 1996 and again in 2009. His youngest son, Iddo, is a doctor and a writer. Netanyahu became a widower in 2000, when his wife Tzila died.
Netanyahu harshly criticized his son in the 1990s when, as prime minister, he agreed to concede Hebron to the Palestinian Authority, as required by the Oslo Accords. Many believe that Benzion Netanyahu, who is known for his strong beliefs in Greater Israel, has an enormous influence over his son Benjamin. Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed this assessment when he left Ariel Sharon's Government during the events leading up to the execution of the unilateral disengagement plan from Gaza. At that time he explained his actions as motivated by his fear of "The trial of History" in light of his father's profession as a historian.
In September 2004, he signed the petition against the upcoming disengagement from Gaza; he called it a "Crime against Humanity".
The April 3, 2009 edition of Maariv, Israel's second largest daily newspaper, reported (in Hebrew) an interview with Benzion Netanyahu, in which he is quoted as saying the following with respect to what should be Israel's policy toward the Arab population under its control: “That they won’t be able to face [anymore] the war with us, which will include withholding food from Arab cities, preventing education, terminating electrical power and more. They won’t be able to exist, and they will run away from here. But it all depends on the war, and whether we will win the battles with them.”
Regarding the Arab citizens of Israel, Benzion Netanyahu stated: “We don’t have a real partnership with them. The Arab citizens’ goal is to destroy us. They don’t deny that they want to destroy us. Except for a small minority who is willing to live with us under certain agreements because of the economical benefits they receive, the vast majority of the Israeli Arabs would chose to exterminate us if they had the option to do so. Because of our power they can’t say this, so they keep quiet and concentrate in their daily life. I think we should speak to the Israeli Arabs in the language they understand and admire – the language of force.” (English translation from the web site: http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=803)
American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg reported in the September, 2010 edition of Atlantic Magazine: “'Always in the back of Bibi’s mind is Ben-Zion,' one of the prime minister’s friends told me. ‘He worries that his father will think he is weak.’ One of Netanyahu’s Knesset allies told me, indelicately, though perhaps not inaccurately, that the chance for movement toward the creation of an independent Palestinian state will come only after Ben-Zion’s death. ‘Bibi could not withdraw from more of Judea and Samaria’—the biblical names for the West Bank—‘and still look into his father’s eyes.’”
He went on, 'The Jewish people are making their position clear and putting faith in their military power. The nation of Israel is showing the world today how a state should behave when it stands before an existential threat: by looking danger in the eye and calmly considering what should be done and what can be done. And to be ready to enter the fray at the moment there is a reasonable chance of success.’"
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 Cornell University. He currently resides in Jerusalem.
Benzion Netanyahu
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