2025-07-28 17:57 <br/> Tags: #people #EarlyZionism #Media #Israel ![[merlin photo.png|283x396]] # Shmuel Merlin (1910-1994) - Shmuel Merlin was a [[Revisionist Zionism|Revisionist]] [[Irgun and Lehi Zionist Paramilitary Organizations|Irgun]] operative working in the United States in the 1940s. - In the 1920s Merlin joined [[Ze'ev Jabotinsky]]'s Revisionist youth movement [[Betar]]. - Merlin then joined with the [[Irgun and Lehi Zionist Paramilitary Organizations|Irgun]] in the early 30s. - He was involved with spreading propaganda through European Irgun publications. - Merlin was a key publicist and political thinker of the Irgun. - Merlin worked with [[Ze'ev Jabotinsky]]'s New Zionist Organization (NZO). - The NZO was formed after Jabotinsky's dramatic split from the [[World Zionist Organization]] in 1935. - Around 1940 Merlin went to the United States to work on behalf of the Irgun. - Merlin became a member of [[Hillel Kook]]'s [[Bergson Group]], the primary network of Irgun operatives in the US in the 40s. - Merlin was involved with various Irgun front organizations including: - [[Hebrew Committee for National Liberation (HCNL)]] - [[American League for a Free Palestine (ALFP)]] - Merlin returned to Palestine in 1948 aboard the infamous ship Altalena during the [[Altalena Affair]]. - Merlin was present and involved in the creation of the Revisionist Israeli part [[Herut]] in 1948. - The party was formed and led by [[Menachem Begin]]. - From 1948-51 Merlin served for [[Herut]] in the Knesset. - After leaving the Israeli government Merlin returned to the US and became a college lecturer. He taught on Middle East issues and Revisionist ideology at Dropsie College in Philadelphia. #### References - “Shmuel Merlin,” _Wikipedia_, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmuel_Merlin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmuel_Merlin). - _Knesset Members in the First Knesset: Shmuel Merlin_. Knesset.gov.il. Accessed August 16, 2025. https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=604. - “Herut Movement.” _Jewish Virtual Library_. Accessed August 16, 2025. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/herut-movement. - Shindler, Colin. _The Triumph of Military Zionism: Nationalism and the Origins of the Israeli Right_. London: I.B. Tauris, 2006. - Medoff, Rafael. _The Jews Should Keep Quiet: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, and the Holocaust_. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2019. - Betar Movement. _The Betar Tradition_. Jerusalem: Betar World Center, 1970.