A ruthless agitation was raised against the “Alliance,” and Crémieux was personally attacked owing to his advocacy of the emancipation of the Jews in Algeria, and the international character of the “Alliance.” The wildest rumours were circulated with regard to the intentions and activities of the “Alliance,” which were condemned as anti-patriotic, anti-Christian, and even anti-humanitarian. The greatest absurdities found their way into the sensational anti-Jewish Press of several countries, attributing to this humanitarian and charitable institution innumerable crimes and wickednesses. Had Crémieux been one of those weak-minded Jewish assimilants who are so easily frightened by accusations and perturbed by anti-Jewish prejudice, he would have made concessions or have entirely abandoned this sphere of activity. But he had sufficient moral strength to disregard senseless accusations.
Crémieux was not a Zionist in the modern sense of the term. But one may say, without exaggeration, that his Jewish enthusiasm, his conception of the greatness of Israel, and his love for Palestine were Zionistic. He was a happy combination of a great Jew and a great French patriot. Visions of the future of Israel elevated his intellectual outlook. The resurrection of the Holy Land was for him a question of first-rate importance. “This is,” he said, “the comfort, the sunshine of our life.” On another occasion he said: “It must be admitted that heretofore insufficient attention has been paid to the Eastern aspect.” Speaking of the agricultural school “Mikveh Israel,” near Jaffa, he said: “This will become the very bulwark of the future. When once the Jews set foot on their own native soil they will never leave it again.” In all his speeches he laid emphasis upon the need for knowledge of the Hebrew Bible. The Jewish ideal, to use his own term, “is quite distinct,” and those who trample upon justice will have to come back to us, the progeny and successors of those who first received “the Divine Word.” This is the spirit which animated the “Alliance Israélite Universelle,” particularly during the earlier stages of its existence.
One of the most active members of the “Alliance,” and a devoted friend, pupil and admirer of Crémieux, was Albert Cohn (1814–1877). He filled numerous communal and other offices with distinction. He was a member of the Central Consistory of France, President of the Paris Benevolent Society, a prominent member of the “Alliance,” and President of the Society of the Promised Land. He sympathized with all who were in distress, and participated in their grief; he expended a great part of his wealth in mitigating their sufferings; his time was always at the command of the poor. He combined the characteristics of an idealistic and a practical Jew. He was an ardent communal worker in the Jewish community in Paris, but at the same time was engaged throughout his life in Palestinian work. He had a remarkable gift of intuition, and foretold great future developments in Palestine.[¹]
[¹] Albert Cohn wrote in a letter, in French, from Jérusalem, ce 15 juillet (in a moment of extraordinary clairvoyance):—
“Monsieur le Redacteur,
“... when we succeed to make this patriarchal City a centre of religious studies, a sort of a Jewish University for the Orient and the adjacent countries ... we shall have erected a worthy monument to the spirit of the age” (Archives Israélites, Nº. 16—15 Août, 1864, p. 715).
Another French Jew of special note, as one of the first pioneers of the colonization of Palestine, was Charles Netter (1826–1882). As early as 1858 he was the chief promoter of the “Société de Patronage des Ouvriers Juifs de Paris.” In 1859 (after the Mortara case) he conceived, together with Crémieux and others, the idea of a “Universal Jewish Alliance.” The “Alliance” was definitely formed in 1861. Netter was a member of a Committee of six charged with drawing up the rules and the general work of organization. A few schools having been established by the “Alliance” in Turkey and Morocco, Netter began to direct his attention to the condition of the Jews in Palestine. He undertook a journey to Jerusalem and made very exhaustive inquiries. On his return he laid before his colleagues a plan for the establishment of an agricultural school in the Holy Land, which was immediately adopted. Returning to Palestine, he selected a large and convenient site in the vicinity of Jaffa, and personally superintended the erection of the school Mikveh Israel, the construction of the various buildings, the boring of the wells and the laying out of the grounds and gardens. That Crémieux could not be silent or idle while the work for Mikveh Israel proceeded, goes without saying. The school became the favourite institution of all the original leaders of the “Alliance.” It is a curious coincidence that the title of Manasseh Ben-Israel’s most famous book, Mikveh Israel (1650),[¹] became, two hundred and twenty years after its appearance, the name of the first Jewish agricultural school in Palestine. Netter visited Palestine very often in subsequent years. In 1882 he left Paris for his last visit to Jaffa, paying a visit to London on his way in order to consult the Jewish organizations of England on some pressing questions connected with the Jews in Palestine. He died at Jaffa whilst on a visit to Mikveh Israel.
[¹] The Hope of Israel.