ABSTRACT
The entrance to Jerusalem was anything but impressive—ugly low buildings, narrow roads that were not too clean. Zion played a crucial role in Jewish religion goes without saying, and Next Year in Jerusalem appears in the prayers. However, most Zionist leaders from Herzl and Ahad Ha'am to Weizmann and Nahum Goldman were appalled when they first came to Jerusalem and not one of them decided to settle there. Today, Jerusalem is the most populous city in Israel. The number of Jewish residents has grown fourfold, but the Arab population even slightly more and amounts now to about 30 percent. Jerusalem was anything but a pioneering city and had no interest in the building of a new society. It was right wing and nationalist—Irgun and Stern Gang were more popular there than in any other city in Palestine.
