a Jewish fighting force. Patterson became the needed champion of that vision. Through his efforts the Zion Mule Corps, a band of Jewish fighters, was formed in 1915. The corps was disbanded shortly after fighting Ottoman forces in Gallipoli, Turkey. But Patterson’s ultimate dream was to lead Jewish soldiers back into the land of Israel, to fight for its liberation. At the swearing in of new Jewish volunteers to the corps, he implored them: ‘Pray with me that I should . . . be divinely permitted to lead you into the Promised Land.’ 1
“His dream would come true when the British Army approved the formation of the Jewish Legion. The Jewish Legion would constitute the first Jewish band of soldiers to fight on the soil of the Promised Land since the days of the Roman Empire. And they would fight not only in the land but for the land, for its return.”
“So when did the Jewish Legion come into existence?”
“1917.”
“The year of Jubilee!”
“The Jewish Legion came into existence in the summer of 1917, the same summer in which Allenby was preparing to take the land. In the Jubilee the heir comes back to the land and the one occupying it has to depart. And if the one occupying the land refuses to leave, then the transfer must happen by force. And so it did. After nearly two thousand years, the heir, in the form of the Jewish soldier returned to the land to drive out the one occupying it, the Ottoman Empire. So in the year of Jubilee the Jewish soldier returned to his own possession.”
“Did the Jewish Legion actually fight with Allenby’s army?”
“By the end of the campaign, it is estimated that one out of every six soldiers in his army belonged to the Jewish Legion.”
“And what was John Patterson’s part?”
“He was its commander. So the first Jewish legion to enter the land of Israel since ancient times was led by an Irish Christian.
“But Patterson would play a part in yet another central event of that Jubilee. He would bring Jabotinsky to London for a critical meeting with a member of parliament, Leo Amery. Amery would become a critical voice in the British government not only for the creation of the Jewish Legion but for the most important document in Jewish history since ancient times, the Balfour Declaration. He would be central in its passage and the penning of its words.
“But Patterson’s role in Israel’s resurrection would go still further. Without a military force Israel would never have become a nation or remained in existence for more than a moment. His Jewish Legion would serve as the prototype and forerunner of the Israeli army. In fact Patterson would be called ‘the godfather of the Israeli army.’ 2
“And yet his role would extend still further. By bringing the Jewish Legion into existence, Patterson created the training ground for Israel’s founders and its first generation of leaders. Members of the Jewish Legion included Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Israel’s second president; Yaakov Dori, first chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces; Eliyahu Golomb, architect of the Haganah, Israel’s underground defense force; and David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister and the nation’s founding father.
“Patterson would continue to labor on behalf of Israel’s restoration for the rest of his life, which would come to its end in another critical year, 1947, on the eve of the nation’s birth, the year Israel was voted back into existence. And yet his impact would extend beyond his life. In the Jubilee of 1967 Israel’s prime minister was Levi Eshkol. Eshkol was the ultimate overseer of the Six-Day War, by which Jerusalem was regained. But Eshkol’s preparation for that war began fifty years and one Jubilee earlier, when he served as a young man as a member of Patterson’s Jewish Legion.
“And there was yet another connection. In the days of the Second World War Patterson would befriend and partner with a young Jewish man to advocate for the creation of a Jewish army. The friendship was so deep that the man would name his firstborn son after Patterson. A year before his death Patterson would bless the new family as godfather at the child’s circumcision. The child would later become one of Israel’s revered heroes, giving his life to save Israeli hostages. His death would in turn lead his younger brother to go into public life—and later become the prime minister of Israel. The family name was Netanyahu, and the younger brother was named Benjamin. Benjamin Netanyahu would be