Jacob de Haas

Jacob de Haas (13 August 1872 – 21 March 1937) was a British-born Jewish journalist and an early leader of the Zionist movement in the United States and England. At the Third Zionist Congress in 1899, he and L. J. Greenberg were elected as members of the Zionist Organization's Propaganda Committee.

He moved to the United States in 1902. Theodor Herzl had suggested to Richard Gottheil that he hire de Haas as the new secretary of the Federation of American Zionists (FAZ) to replace Stephen Samuel Wise. De Haas assumed the leadership of the fragmented American Zionist movement. One of his best known relationships was his friendship with Louis Brandeis.

In 1927, he published a two-volume biography of Theodor Herzl and was regarded as the most exhaustive study of Theodor Herzl published to that date. Charles Willis Thompson of The New York Times praised the "vigorous and animated biography".

In 1934, he published Palestine: The Last Two Thousand Years. It was highly praised by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: "This book should prove to be the definite history of Palestine. It should take its place alongside of those authoritative texts which serve as standard books of reference."

In his later years, he moved away from the "general Zionists" to align himself with the Revisionist Zionism movement of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. In accordance with his expressed wishes, a simple funeral service was held at his home at 50 Morningside Dr in Morningside Heights. He was buried at Beth Olam Cemetery in the Cypress Hills section of East New York in Brooklyn.

Rabbi and Zionist leader Stephen Samuel Wise paid tribute to De Haas in a statement, writing that he “won for himself a place of honor and distinction in Zionist history” and that he was one of the “devoted furtherers and upbuilders” of the Zionist movement.

13 years after his death, he was commemorated in Tel Aviv at a ceremony organized by the world executive of Herut. At the gathering, officials announced plans to construct an assembly hall in Israel that would bear his name. They also reported that a group of American Jews had formed to raise funds in support of the project.

Selected bibliography

Editor of "The Jewish World" (1892–1900), London Editor of "The Jewish Advocate" (1908–1918), Boston Author of "Theodor Herzl, a biographical study", New York City, 1927. (2 volumes) Editor of The Encyclopedia of Jewish Knowledge (1934), New York City and London Author of History of Palestine: The Last Two Thousand Years (1934), in New York City