Russcol died of leukemia in 1985, three years before this special library edition was published.  It was his ninth book, his most notable success having come with The First Million Sabras.

Although he had worked for David Ben-Gurion’s Haganah, he came to have greater respect for Menachem Begin than he had for the paranoia-prone Ben-Gurion.  He knew full well that it was Begin—not Ben-Gurion—who finally provoked the occupying British to retreat from Palestine.

Russcol believed that someday the truth would be told about what really happened in those tumultuous years when Jews hunted down other Jews.  After waiting for over three decades, Russcol could wait no longer and he began to write this book as cancer eroded his body but not his determination to get the truth down in print.

Read what the book’s editor, O. Annette Makino, wrote in her introduction to this work:

Introduction

In 1948 the Jews of Palestine had finally won their War of Independence that they had waged against the British.  It had been a vicious war, with floggings, hangings, and other atrocities committed in equal measure by both sides, shattering the dusty peace of the Holy Land for four grim years.

Now, though, the combat was over.  The crushing cost of keeping nearly 100,000 troops in Palestine to suppress the Jewish terrorists had proved too high for a weary and dead broke Britain—just as Menachem Begin had predicted.  Britain announced that it was abandoning the country in a few months and would refer the “Palestine Question” to the United Nations.

It was a stupendous victory for the Jewish terrorist, Begin, who had personally directed every move in that war.  It was one of the most spectacular political and military successes of modern times, surpassed in magnitude only by Mahatma Gandhi’s one-man victory over the British on the subcontinent of India.

Living underground in disguise, rarely seeing daylight because of the price on his head, surviving on nerves, coffee and cigarettes, Begin and his tiny Irgun band (never numbering more than a few hundred) had challenged the mighty British Empire.  To everyone’s amazement, they brought this empire to its knees and forced it to quit Palestine in ignominy.

Then a very strange thing happened.  Instead of being hailed by his people as Liberator, father of his country, Begin was thrust aside and reviled.  Another man, David Ben-Gurion, who detested Begin with a mania, rose up and took the credit instead by declaring the independence of the State of Israel on the very day the British sailed away.

During the ceremony and amidst much sobbing and singing of Hatikva, Ben-Gurion referred to the historic rights of the Jewish people to the Promised Land, along with the recent UN vote which had sanctioned a Jewish State.  Ironically, he neglected to mention anything of his rival’s staggering feat against the British.

Why didn’t he?

Because to concede that Begin’s “blood and fire” tactics had worked would have required Ben-Gurion to admit that his cautious, non-violent policy towards the British had been dead wrong.  It was an embarrassing moment for Zionist supporters everywhere who generally shrank from Begin—that “Jewish fascist”—preferring instead to identify with “nice” Jews like Ben-Gurion (who looked every inch a modern day prophet and statesman), Golda Meir, and later with Moshe Dayan and Abba Eban—the Jewish Labor Party Establishment.

Now, they thought, at such an auspicious time, crawling out of his hiding place (looking every inch a wild-eyed, bomb-throwing terrorist) was this distasteful creature, Menachem Begin.  To admit that he had won the war was simply unthinkable for the Establishment.  About the only people who did credit Begin and his partisans with the victory were the defeated British generals.  Lieutenant General Sir Evelyn Barker, commanding officer dismissed in Palestine because he couldn’t cope with the Jewish terrorists, was quoted in London as saying, “Do you know what that cad Begin actually did?  He flogged British officers!  What’s this world coming to?”

Thus the “Conspiracy of Silence” regarding Begin’s role in the whole thing commenced.  This “Conspiracy” also spawned a “Great Myth.”  As Sidney Zion has shrewdly observed, “the wrong people” won the war and due to this, a frothy tale about the UN graciously creating the State of Israel replaced the ugly clatter of Irgun machine guns in the history books.

To complicate matters even further, a new war—Jews against Arabs—broke out immediately after the British left.  The Jews almost received desperately needed weapons when Begin tried to bring in a ship loaded with ammunition.  He nearly got his head blown off—by the Jews—for that effort.

Book upon book poured off the press, virtually ignoring Begin’s role while praising the sagacious David Ben-Gurion who was now Israel’s Prime Minister.  Mr. Begin, denied all recognition, went into politics.  For the next twenty-nine years he headed a small party and remained relatively obscure.  Menachem Begin was finally elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1977.

Since that time, the world has heard a great deal about Mr. Begin.  The world, no doubt, will continue to hear much about Mr. Begin even after he has passed away.  Yet the world knows practically nothing about Mr. Begin’s inner depth and character.

It is hoped that The Hunting Season will put all things, people, and events into the proper perspective—at last.  It is further hoped that this book will also explain why, in the midst of trying to oust the British from Palestine, Menachem Begin suddenly found himself relentlessly being hunted down by FELLOW JEWS!

O. Annette Makino

Editor

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