Jewish Life of the Month: Benjamin Disraeli
Rebecca Keys
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Benjamin Disraeli
Dates
1804-1881
Impact
Served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party. He is widely celebrated for his role in Jewish history but is the perception of him as a Jewish hero accurate?
Famous Quote
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
By David Cesarani
Published April 26, 2016
304 pages
“Superb” —The Wall Street Journal
A fresh, vivid look at Disraeli's life, achievements, and temperament that casts doubts on his much-touted commitment to Jewish rights
Lauded as a “great Jew,” excoriated by anti-Semites, and one of Britain’s most renowned prime ministers, Benjamin Disraeli has been widely celebrated for his role in Jewish history. But is the perception of him as a Jewish hero accurate? In what ways did he contribute to Jewish causes? In this groundbreaking, lucid investigation of Disraeli’s life and accomplishments, David Cesarani draws a new portrait of one of Europe’s leading nineteenth-century statesmen, a complicated, driven, opportunistic man.
While acknowledging that Disraeli never denied his Jewish lineage, boasted of Jewish achievements, and argued for Jewish civil rights while serving as MP, Cesarani challenges the assumption that Disraeli truly cared about Jewish issues. Instead, his driving personal ambition required him to confront his Jewishness at the same time as he acted opportunistically. By creating a myth of aristocratic Jewish origins for himself, and by arguing that Jews were a superior race, Disraeli boosted his own career but also contributed to the consolidation of some of the most fundamental stereotypes of modern antisemitism.