had ended. While still in the uniform of a British sergeant, he devoted his time to labor politics. The creation of the Histadruth was the crowning of his and his friends' endeavors. Ben-Gurion became its general secretary.
Most of the disputes of this period centered around the great debate between "practical" (do-it-yourself) Zionism versus "political" Zionism. The labor leaders, including Ben-Gurion supported by Weizmann, believed in the first course, Jabotinsky and the right wing believed in the second one. Practical Zionism meant creating bases of power in Palestine, "dunam after dunam, goat after goat." (A dunam is 1000 square meters, the basic unit in Palestinian agriculture.) Every kibbutz, every factory, every house, is a step toward the fulfillment of an aim. What aim? The practical Zionists refused to state that the aim of Zionism was, indeed, the setting up of a Jewish state in Palestine. They thought quite rightly that this would only solidify the opposition of the Arabs. It was much better to be satisfied with talking about a national home which would bring immeasurable benefit to the Arabs. The political Zionists did not believe in all this. They did not like the kibbutzim, thought that practical Zionism led nowhere, that the real aim of Zionism should be to get Britain to support the idea of a Jewish state.
History has proved Ben-Gurion and his colleagues right. Jabotinsky and his Revisionist Party, so called because it wanted to revise the official Zionist line, had not much to show for their political efforts. The only real mark they made on the history of Zionism was, curiously enough, in the field of very "practical" Zionism-gun Zionism. Immediately after World War I, Jabotinsky wanted to entrust the defense of the Jewish community in Palestine, the Yishuv, to a new Jewish legion within the British Army. After a short experience as a lieutenant in the Jewish Battalion, he came to believe only in a regular army under British command. The practical Zionists derided this idea and created, within the labor movement, an illegal, clan¬