Shmuel Katz - Biography

This page is for the writer and historian. For the illustrator and cartoonist, see Shemuel Katz

Shmuel "Mooki" Katz, born Samuel Katz ( 9 December 1914 – 9 May 2008) was an Israeli writer, historian and journalist. He was a member of the first Knesset and is also known for his research on Jewish leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky.

Background

Katz was born in 1914 in South Africa, and in 1930 he joined the Betar movement. In 1936 he immigrated to Mandate Palestine and joined the Irgun. In 1939 he was sent to London by Ze'ev Jabotinsky to speak on issues concerning Palestine. While there he founded the revisionist publication “The Jewish Standard” and was its editor, 1939–1941, and in 1945.

In 1946 Katz returned to Mandate Palestine and joined the HQ of the Irgun where he was active in the aspect of foreign relations. He was one of the seven members of the high command of the Irgun, as well as a spokesman of the organization.

In 1948 Katz assisted in the bringing of the ship, Altalena to the shores of Israel. Shmuel Katz was one of the founders of the Herut political party and served as one of its members in the First Knesset. In 1951 he left politics and managed the Karni book publishing firm. He was co-founder of the Movement for Greater Israel in 1967, and in 1971 he helped to create Americans for a Safe Israel.

In 1977 Katz became "Adviser to the Prime Minister of Information Abroad" to Menachem Begin. He accompanied Begin on two trips to Washington and was asked to explain some points to President Jimmy Carter. He quit this task on January 5, 1978 because of differences with the Cabinet over peace proposals with Egypt. Katz was then active with the Tehiya party for some years and later with Herut - The National Movement after it split away from the ruling Likud. He also has written for the Daily Express and The Jerusalem Post.

A well known book by Katz is Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine. In this book Katz describes the roots of the Arab-Israeli conflict and claims to expose anti-Zionist myths about it. Katz attacks what he calls propaganda used by Arab sources about the roots of the conflict and attempts to refute them. In the preamble of the last edition of the book, the author writes that the book is being taught in numerous schools around the world.

Another project for which Katz dedicated many years of his life is the two volume biography of Jabotinsky of 1792 pages, entitled Lone Wolf, A Biography of Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky.

Bibliography

• Days of Fire (1966)
• Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine (1973)
• Lo Oz Velo Hadar (No Courage and No Glory) (1981) In English: The Hollow Peace
• Lone Wolf: A Two-Volume Biography of Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky (1993)
• Ha-Reshet: ha-hagadah le-beit aaronson (The Network: the legend of the House of Aaronsohn) (2000); in English translation: The Aaronsohn Saga Gefen Publishing House (2007). ISBN 978-9652294166

External links

• Shmuel Katz on the Knesset website (in English)
• Fact and Fantasy in the Holy Land EretzYisrael.Org
• AFSI Honors Shmuel Katz MidEast Outpost
• Shmuel Katz: Recent articles Freeman Center for Strategic Studies