The Maronites and the Yishuv: The Encounter (Part 2/8)

By Dr. Amine Jules Iskandar | President of the Syriac Maronite Union – Tur Levnon and head of International Relations of the Universal Syriac Union Party Just as the Jewish community had both Zionist and anti-Zionist currents opposed to the establishment of a Jewish political entity, Lebanon's Maronites were also divided: on one side of the division were the Arabists, known as integrationists [1], and on the other side were those who looked to the West, wrongly labelled isolationists.  The Arabists embraced Arab-Muslim political ideas and, consequently, opposed the Yishuv and its national project. The Western-oriented Maronites, by contrast, aspired to a Lebanon with its own distinct identity. They were naturally inclined towards rapprochement and an alliance with the Jewish community in Palestine organized under the name of the Yishuv.  Relations between the Yishuv and the Maronites were largely shaped by this divide between Western-oriented and Arabist Maronites. On the Jewish side, however, its leaders were more broadly divided between optimists and skeptics.  The Yishuv  Among the optimists, the most prominent figure was David Ben-Gurion. An advocate of a Jewish-Maronite understanding, he was among the first leaders to envision an alliance with a Christian Lebanon. Ben-Gurion explicitly advocated for the establishment of a Christian Lebanon in 1954. As early as 1937, he declared: "Lebanon is the natural ally of the Jews of the Land of Israel. Lebanon's proximity will provide the future Jewish state with a loyal ally" [2].  Another optimist was Haim Arlosoroff, head of the Political Department of the Jewish Agency, who maintained close relations with Maronite circles. He had entrusted the Lebanese file to Eliyahu Epstein (later Elath). A former student at the American University of Beirut between 1931 and 1934, Epstein knew Lebanon well and had genuine sympathy for the Maronites, which reinforced his optimism.  This movement also included Victor Jacobson, another emissary of Haim Arlosoroff. In 1933, in Beirut, addressing Charles Corm and members of the Young Phoenicians, Jacobson spoke of the historical relationship between King Hiram I and King Solomon, son of David. He presented the relationship between the two kings as the prelude to a modern alliance between their two peoples [3]. Deeply moved by this speech, Charles Corm gave his two sons the names Hiram and David. Read also: The Maronites and the Yishuv: The Levant (Part 1/8) The assassination of Haim Arlosoroff in June 1933 in Tel Aviv [4] led to his replacement by Moshe Shertok (later Moshe Sharett), who was considerably more reserved about rapprochement with the Maronites. He particularly opposed David Ben-Gurion's proposal to encourage the establishment of a Christian state in Lebanon, one that would be allied with Israel.  Another skeptic was Eliyahu Sasson, originally from Damascus, who remained opposed to an alliance with the Maronites until the end [5].  Shertok's skepticism had a lasting impact on Jewish-Maronite relations and continued to influence this school of thought. This approach is reflected in certain Zionist reports that portray the Maronites as inherently antisemitic [6] and regard any alliance with them as politically unrealistic. Some even describe the aspirations of Western-oriented Maronites as fanciful projects, or even "hysterical" ones [7].  Haim Weizmann, finally, was optimistic and supportive of rapprochement. Weizmann was, however, repeatedly disappointed by the Maronite elites' inability to fulfil their commitments.  The Maronites  The Western-oriented Maronite movement was a mix of intellectuals, politicians, and prelates, foremost among them the Maronite Patriarch.  These leaders, who welcomed the Yishuv, were organized into three closely interconnected circles that shared the same cultural and political affinities:  The Young Phoenicians; The Maronite Church; The political movement of Émile Eddé.    Cooperation among these three circles was constant, and their memberships frequently overlapped. They all claimed a Phoenician heritage and regarded Lebanon as a Christian homeland, Western in its vocation, and friendly towards the Jewish people [8].  As Albert Hourani wrote, their country was not conceived as "the western frontier of the Arab-Muslim world, but as the eastern frontier of Western Christendom" [9].  They were French-speaking and Francophile. For many of them, their command of Arabic was only rudimentary. President Émile Eddé, for instance, conducted state affairs in French, while Patriarch Antonios Arida also used French in the administration of the Church. His attachment to French culture never wavered, even during the most contentious periods of his relations with the Mandate authorities.  It was Albert Naccache who, as early as 1931, introduced Eliyahu Epstein of the Jewish Agency to these three Maronite circles, beginning with the Young Phoenicians.  The Young Phoenicians  The Young Phoenicians movement was founded by Charles Corm and Albert Naccache. Although it brought together mostly intellectuals, artists and poets, it extended far beyond the cultural sphere. It became politically engaged in support of Lebanon's separation from Greater Syria [10].  Albert Naccache was an influential Maronite industrialist and married to a Jewish woman of Russian origin who was quiet active in Zionist circles. He also served as an economic adviser to Patriarch Antonios Arida.  Charles Corm founded the "Palestine-Lebanon Club" at his residence in Achrafieh, with the aim of fostering meetings between Jewish and Maronite intellectuals. It was in this setting that Victor Jacobson delivered his speech, in 1933, on the historical relationship between King Hiram I and King Solomon.  For Charles Corm, the partnership between the Maronites and the Yishuv was not only necessary but, above all, natural [11]. Corm belonged to a generation that had known a time when tourist guides to Lebanon were published in Hebrew [12]. When Jews from Palestine came to enjoy the summer coolness in the hotels, sanatoriums, and villas of Sofar or Bolonia. This Maronite generation enthusiastically welcomed the cooperation initiatives proposed by representatives of the Yishuv, particularly exchanges between the American University of Beirut and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem [13]. They came with joint academic publications, conferences, seminars, and exhibitions. The Maronite Church  The leading figures of the Maronite Church were Patriarch Antonios Petros Arida (1932–55) and the Archbishop of Beirut, Ignatios Moubarac.  As early as 1919, Antonios Arida, then the Archbishop of Tripoli, expressed his support for the project of establishing a Jewish national home in Palestine. After becoming patriarch in 1932, he received Eliyahu Epstein at Bkerké. It was Albert Naccache who had introduced him.  Arida was fluent in French, a Francophile and deeply committed to Lebanon's Christian, Mediterranean and Western identity. Arida was regarded by Yishuv leaders as a genuine friend of the Jews [14]. His concept of Lebanese identity frequently placed him at odds with the Holy See, which was more favorable towards the integrationist Arabist orientation. His relations with the French Mandate authorities and with Muslim groups were also often strained.  Patriarch Antonios Petros Arida was particularly drawn to the idea of an alliance with the Yishuv, a position that was also vigorously defended by Ignatios Moubarac. During a speech delivered in 1937 at the Magen Abraham Synagogue in Beirut, Moubarac went so far as to describe himself as "the archbishop of the Jews" [15].  The Émile Eddé Political Movement  The third Western-oriented circle was organized around Émile Eddé, who was President of the Republic from 1936 to 1941. He was, along with Patriarch Arida, one of the leading figures of the Western-oriented movement opposed to Arabism.  Addressing Jewish Agency officials, he described Lebanon and Jewish Palestine as "two Western nations" [16].  Along the same lines, his successor, President Alfred Naccache (1941–43), emphasized the need to preserve a Christian state. Without one, he argued, the Maronites, like the Jews, would be condemned to disappear [17].   Finally, Georges Naccache, editor-in-chief of the newspaper L'Orient and the principal spokesperson for Émile Eddé's political movement, also decried the existential dangers that Arabist orientations posed to Lebanon's Christians.  This article was originally published in French by Ici Beyrouth on 31 October 2026. The original can be found here.  The views expressed in this op-ed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of SyriacPress.  Notes:  [1] Laura Zittrain Eisenberg, My Enemy's Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900–1948, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1994.  [2] Jonathan C. Randal, Going All the Way: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers, and the War in Lebanon, New York, Vintage, 1983, p. 188.  [3] Laura Zittrain Eisenberg, My Enemy's Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900–1948, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1994, p. 65.  [4] Edwin Black, The Transfer Agreement: The Dramatic Story of the Pact Between the Third Reich and Jewish Palestine, New York, Carroll & Graf, 2001, p. 15.  [5] Laura Zittrain Eisenberg, My Enemy's Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900–1948, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1994, p. 33.  [6] Laura Zittrain Eisenberg, My Enemy's Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900–1948, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1994, pp. 96–97.  [7] Laura Zittrain Eisenberg, My Enemy's Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900–1948, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1994, pp. 102 and 145.  [8] Asher Kaufman, Reviving Phoenicia: In Search of Identity in Lebanon, New York, I.B. Tauris, 2004, p. 143, referring more specifically to Charles Corm.  [9] Albert Hourani, Minorities in the Arab World, London, Oxford University Press, 1947, p. 71.  [10] Franck Salameh, Language, Memory, and Identity in the Middle East: The Case for Lebanon, Lanham, Maryland, Lexington Books, 2010, p. 170.  [11] Kirsten E. Schulze, "Israeli and Maronite Nationalisms: Is a Minority Alliance Natural?", in Nationalism, Minorities, and Diasporas: Identities and Rights in the Middle East, London, I.B. Tauris, 1996, pp. 158–170.  [12] Laura Zittrain Eisenberg, My Enemy's Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900–1948, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1994, p. 71; particularly the 1935 tourist guide.  [13] Laura Zittrain Eisenberg, My Enemy's Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900–1948, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1994, p. 72.  [14] Laura Zittrain Eisenberg, My Enemy's Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900–1948, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1994, p. 62.  [15] Edmund Meir, "The Maronites: With Special Regard to Their Political Development Since 1860", 24 June 1942, Central Zionist Archives, S25/6639, pp. 21–22; Service français de la police judiciaire, "Visite du patriarche maronite à Beyrouth", 23 April 1937, Centre des Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes, Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, Nantes, MAN/596.  [16] Laura Zittrain Eisenberg, My Enemy's Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900–1948, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1994, p. 31.  [17] Laura Zittrain Eisenberg, My Enemy's Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900–1948, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1994, p. 32.