A wide range of observers have commented that, as an unmistakable generality, Zionism always found its social base, if at all, in the middle class. The Jewish haute‐bourgeoisie [almost] never had the least interest in abandoning its wealth in the Diaspora for remote and poor Palestine; the Jewish working class tended to link its destiny to that of its fellow workers. The untenable position of the Jewish petite‐bourgeoisie, particularly in eastern and central Europe, the “trading nation” par excellence, provided the recruits for all of the tendencies within the WZO.⁶

They saw themselves between their class rivals of the “native” capitalist class, who sought to drive the Jews out of “their” home market; the peasants, who were organizing marketing cooperatives which replaced the traditional Jewish “middle man”; and the workers who, everywhere in Europe, intended to do away with the entire capitalist system. A portion of the Jewish petite‐bourgeoisie, or more particularly a portion of their youth, fully abandoned their class for Marxism. But a substantial element retained their class ambitions and sought to transfer to a new colonial setting in Palestine.⁷

[…]

By the 1930s it became apparent, even to Jabotinsky, that Britain would never consider giving Trans‐Jordan to the Zionists and, despite his reservations about Fascism as a system, he became increasingly oriented toward Italy. In November 1934, Mussolini set up a Betar squadron at his scuola marittima Civitavecchia, where 134 cadets were trained by the notorious Blackshirts; in 1936, Il Duce himself reviewed his Zionist wards.²⁶

The training in Italy only certified Revisionism's fascist image, but the imperious Jabotinsky scarcely cared. In 1931 he had written one of his Italian followers, who was handling the preliminary negotiations with the régime, that they could set up the training program elsewhere, but “we […] prefer to have it established in Italy.”²⁷ Jabotinsky became an advocate of Mussolini in the Jewish political world and, in April 1935, while touring the U.S., he wrote an article, “Jews and Fascism—some Remarks—and a Warning.”

[…]

The apologist for “fascismo” was quite impressed by the [Fascist] romp over Ethiopia: “England is now by far not the strongest power in the Mediterranean.” By 1936, he became convinced that it was time to shop around for a new mandatory, preferably one with the proper willingness to use the sternest measures against the Arabs. “Logically,” he wrote a friend, “the Ersatz could be either Italy, or some condominium of less anti‐Semitic states interested in Jewish immigration, or a direct Geneva Mandate. […] Before June 30‐July 15 I sounded alternative № 1. Result: not yet ripe, not by a long shot.”²⁹

[…]

Wolfgang von Weisl, then the NZO’s financial director and diplomatic representative in eastern Europe, was certainly more accurate when he told a Bucharest diplomatic paper that, **“although opinions among the Revisionists varied, in general they sympathized with Fascism.” He assured his interlocutor that “He personally was a supporter of Fascism, and he rejoiced at the victory of Fascist Italy in Abyssinia as a triumph of the White races against the Black.”**³¹

Naturally such opinions were well received in Rome, and Mussolini told David Prato, later to become chief rabbi of Rome, that “For Zionism to succeed you need to have a Jewish state, with a Jewish flag and a Jewish language. The person who really understands that is your fascist, Jabotinsky.”³²

By 1936, the Fascist régime had irrevocably moved into Hitler’s camp; the training at Civitavecchia was abandoned in 1937, and Jabotinsky severed all ties with Mussolini. But the hard‐core fascists among his followers became convinced that the Jews were responsible for Mussolini’s turn to Hitler. Hadn’t they warned the Jews not to attack Fascism? If only the Zionists had supported Italy in the Ethiopian war, and showed that they were really prepared to fight Britain, Mussolini would have backed them.

Many of these later split off from Jabotinsky and backed Avraham Stern and Yitzhak Shamir ([later a neocolonial] prime minister) and the “Stern Gang” in their fantastic wartime proposals to Mussolini, and then Hitler, for a military alliance against the British in Palestine.³³

(Emphasis added.)

Although the concept of a ‘moderate fascist’ may strike us as comical, it is a useful descriptor for antisocialists like Karl Plagge, Oskar Schindler, and many Italian Fascists who thought that the German Fascists took their white supremacy too far.

\ Further reading: Between imago and res: The Revisionist–Zionist Movement's Relationship with Fascist Italy, 1922–1938