Not an Industrial Matter: The British Trade Union Movement and Zionism, 1936–1967

This article examines the British trade union movement’s relationship with Zionism in the period from the Arab Revolt to the Six Day War. It argues that despite an appearance of fraternalism between the British and Zionist labour movements, this relationship was, in fact, governed more by indifference and political expediency on behalf of British trade unions and unionists than by any genuine ideological solidarity or conviction. It shows the Trades Union Congress’s reluctance to give any tangible support to Zionist political aims, most clearly when such aims were in opposition to the Attlee government’s Palestine policy, but even at other points when the Zionist project faced existential threats to its continued existence.