Settler-Colonialism and Empire-Building in Palestine/Israel, 1920–1956

Amir Locker-Biletzki

Review of Radical Political Economics, 2025, vol. 57, issue 2, 309-319

Abstract: As Israel is engaged in one of the bloodiest chapters of its history, this article delves into the economic and political discursive structures of the Zionist project. Critically using settler-colonial theory and V.I. Lenin’s analysis of European imperialism, I argue that imperialism and empire-building were not forces external to Zionism but internal to its ideological and economic practices. By analyzing the way capital was transferred to pre-1948 Palestine, building it into a “pure colony†and a future metropole, and studying two discursive moments—the writings of the right-wing Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky and Israel’s founding father David Ben-Gurion—I show how small empire building was part of Zionist/Israeli thought and practice. JEL Classification : B30, F50

Keywords: imperialism; settler-colonialism; Marxism; Zionism; Israel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:57:y:2025:i:2:p:309-319

DOI: 10.1177/04866134251322919

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