ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines major historical themes that influenced the Jewish settlement of modern Palestine. It sketches briefly the origins of Israeli resilience and its features, including romantic nationalism, Zionism, and secularism. Modern settlement in Eretz-Israel started in 1882 and bore a mainly rural character. From the beginning, it distinguished itself from the traditional Jewish population, which indeed remained on the margins of the political, social, and cultural processes of Hebrew nation building. The 1940s in Eretz-Israel were years of obstinate struggle by paramilitary Hebrew undergrounds against British rule, which culminated in the end of the British Mandate in 1948. The chapter considers the major influence of Zionism on Eretz-Israeli resilience. Romantic nationalism was a sentiment shared by most European nations at the start of the twentieth century. Both modernism and secularism had impacts on resilience. Both national and individual resilience saw serious challenges in Israel's first two decades due to a combination of several crucial situations.
