Isaac Isaacs
Encyclopedia
Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs GCB
GCMG
KC
(6 August 1855 – 11 February 1948) was an Australian judge and politician, was the third Chief Justice of Australia
, ninth Governor-General of Australia
and the first born in Australia to occupy that post. He is the only person ever to have held both positions of Chief Justice of Australia
and Governor-General of Australia
. He was also one of only 3 Governors-General of Australia to live to 92.
. By 1845 he had passed through Paris and arrived to work in London. In London while working as a tailor he met Rebecca Abrahams, a fellow Jew; the two marrying in 1849. After news of the 1851 Victorian gold rush
reached England, Australia became a very popular destination for fortune seekers and the Isaacs decided to emigrate. By 1854 they had saved sufficient for the fare, departing from Liverpool
in June 1854 and arriving in Melbourne in September. Some time after arriving the Isaacs moved into a cottage and shopfront
in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
, where Alfred continued his tailoring. Isaac Alfred Isaacs was born in this cottage on 6 August 1855. His family moved to various locations around Melbourne while he was young, then in 1859 moved to Yackandandah
in northern Victoria, where friends of the family already lived. At this time Yackandandah was a large gold mining
settlement of 3,000 people.
Isaacs' three siblings, John, who later became a solicitor and Victorian Member of Parliament, Carolyn and Hannah were born in Yackandandah. Another brother, born in Melbourne, and a sister, born in Yackandandah, both died very young. His first formal schooling was from sometime after 1860 at a small private establishment. At eight he won the school arithmetic
prize, winning his photograph by the schoolmaster, who was also a photographer and bootmaker
. Yackandandah state school was opened in 1863 and Isaacs enrolled as a pupil. Here he excelled academically, particularly in arithmetic and languages, though he was a frequent truant
, walking off to spend time in the nearby mining camps. To help Isaacs gain a better quality education, in 1867, his family moved to nearby Beechworth
first enrolling him in the Common school then in the Beechworth Grammar School
. He excelled at the Grammar School, becoming dux
in his first year and winning many academic prizes. In his second year he was employed part time as an assistant teacher at the school, and took up after school tutoring of fellow students. In September 1870, when Isaacs was just 15 years old, he passed his examination as a pupil teacher and taught at the school from then until 1873. Isaacs was next employed as an assistant teacher at the Beechworth State School, the successor to the Common school.
While employed at the State School, Isaacs had his first experience of the Law, as an unsuccessful litigant in an 1875 County Court case. He disputed a payment arrangement with the headmaster of his school, resigning as part of the dispute. After returning to teaching, now back at the Grammar School, he expanded his interest in the law; reading law books and attending court sittings.
As a child Isaacs became fluent in Russian, which his parents spoke frequently, as well as English and some German. Isaacs later gained varying degrees of proficiency in Italian, French, Greek, Hindustani and Chinese.
of the Law Department. In 1876, while still working full-time, he studied law at the University of Melbourne
. He graduated in 1880 with a Master of Laws
degree in 1883. In 1888 he married Deborah Jacobs, then they had two daughters.
In 1892 Isaacs was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as a liberal. In 1893 he became Solicitor-General. He was the member for Bogong
from May 1892 until May 1893 and between June 1893 and May 1901. In 1897 he was elected to the Convention
, that drafted the Australian Constitution
, where he supported those arguing for a more democratic draft. He took silk as a Queen's Counsel
in 1899.
Isaacs was elected to the first federal Parliament
in 1901 to the seat of Indi
as a critical supporter of Edmund Barton
and his Protectionist
government. He was one of a group of backbenchers pushing for more radical policies and he earned the dislike of many of his colleagues through what they saw as his aloofness and rather self-righteous attitude to politics.
Alfred Deakin
appointed Isaacs Attorney-General in 1905 but he was a difficult colleague and in 1906 Deakin was keen to get him out of politics by appointing him to the High Court
bench. He was the first serving Minister to resign from the Parliament. On the High Court he joined H. B. Higgins
as a radical minority on the Court in opposition to the Chief Justice, Sir Samuel Griffith
. He served on the Court for 24 years, acquiring a reputation as a learned radical but uncollegial justice.
Isaacs was one of only eight justices of the High Court to have served in the Parliament of Australia
prior to his appointment to the Court; the others were Edmund Barton
, Richard O'Connor, H. B. Higgins
, Edward McTiernan
, John Latham, Garfield Barwick
, and Lionel Murphy
. He was also one of two to have served in the Parliament of Victoria
, along with Higgins.
In 1930 the Labor
Prime Minister, James Scullin
, appointed Isaacs, by this time aged 75, as Chief Justice. Shortly afterwards, however, Scullin decided to appoint an Australian as Governor-General and offered the post to Isaacs. Scullin personally advised King George V
to make the appointment, during his 1930 trip to Europe. The King reluctantly agreed to his advice, although his own preferred appointee was Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood
(later Lord Birdwood), who had commanded the Australian Imperial Force
during World War I.
Isaacs agreed to a reduction in salary and conducted the office with great frugality. He gave up his official residences in Sydney and Melbourne and most official entertaining. He was the first Governor-General to live permanently at Government House, Canberra
. This was well-received with the public as was Isaacs's image of rather austere dignity.
Although Isaacs was seen as a Labor appointment, the Scullin government fell at the end of 1931, and the rest of Isaacs's term was during the United Australia Party
government of Joseph Lyons
.
. His principal critic was Julius Stone
. Isaacs was supported by Rabbi Jacob Danglow and Harold Boas. Isaacs insisted that Judaism was a religious identity and not a national or ethnic one. He opposed the notion of a Jewish homeland in Palestine
. Isaacs said "[p]olitical Zionism to which I am irrevocably opposed for the reasons which will be found clearly stated, must be sharply distinguished from religious and cultural Zionism to which I am strongly attached."
Isaacs opposed Zionism partly because he disliked nationalism of all kinds and saw Zionism as a form of Jewish national chauvinism—and partly because he saw the Zionist agitation in Palestine as disloyalty to the British Empire
to which he was devoted. When Zionist terrorists blew up the King David Hotel
in 1946 he wrote that "the honour of Jews throughout the world demands the renunciation of political Zionism".
Isaacs' main objections to Political Zionism were:-
Isaacs said "the Zionist movement as a whole...now places its own unwarranted interpretation on the Balfour Declaration, and makes demands that are arousing the antagonism of the Moslem world of nearly 400 millions, thereby menacing the safety of our Empire, endangering world peace and imperiling some of the most sacred associations of the Jewish, Christian, and Moslem faiths. Besides their inherent injustice to others these demands would, I believe, seriously and detrimentally affect the general position of Jews throughout the world..".
He died in February 1948 and thus did not live to see the creation of the State of Israel
.
At a redistribution in November 1968 the electorate was abolished and a separate Division of Isaacs
was created in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It exists to this day.
The Canberra
suburb of Isaacs
was named after him in 1966.
In 1973 he was honoured on a postage stamp bearing his portrait issued by Australia Post
.
Kirby, Michael. Sir Isaac Isaacs – a sesquicentenary reflection [online]. Melbourne University Law Review, v.29, no.3, Dec 2005: 880–904.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
GCMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
KC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(6 August 1855 – 11 February 1948) was an Australian judge and politician, was the third Chief Justice of Australia
Chief Justice of Australia
The Chief Justice of Australia is the informal title for the presiding justice of the High Court of Australia and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Commonwealth of Australia...
, ninth Governor-General of Australia
Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
and the first born in Australia to occupy that post. He is the only person ever to have held both positions of Chief Justice of Australia
Chief Justice of Australia
The Chief Justice of Australia is the informal title for the presiding justice of the High Court of Australia and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Commonwealth of Australia...
and Governor-General of Australia
Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
. He was also one of only 3 Governors-General of Australia to live to 92.
Early life
Isaac Isaacs was the son of Alfred Isaacs, a tailor of Jewish ancestry from the town of Mława, Poland. Seeking greater fortune, Alfred left Poland and worked his way across what is now Germany, spending some months in Berlin and FrankfurtFrankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. By 1845 he had passed through Paris and arrived to work in London. In London while working as a tailor he met Rebecca Abrahams, a fellow Jew; the two marrying in 1849. After news of the 1851 Victorian gold rush
Victorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
reached England, Australia became a very popular destination for fortune seekers and the Isaacs decided to emigrate. By 1854 they had saved sufficient for the fare, departing from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in June 1854 and arriving in Melbourne in September. Some time after arriving the Isaacs moved into a cottage and shopfront
Shopfront
Shopfront contemporary arts centre has members between the ages of 8 and 25, located in Carlton, New South Wales, Australia. Shopfront provides a place, resources, training, and development opportunities for young artists...
in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
Elizabeth Street is one of the main north-south streets in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837.- Geography :...
, where Alfred continued his tailoring. Isaac Alfred Isaacs was born in this cottage on 6 August 1855. His family moved to various locations around Melbourne while he was young, then in 1859 moved to Yackandandah
Yackandandah, Victoria
Yackandandah is a small tourist town in northeast Victoria, Australia. It is near the regional cities of Wodonga and Albury, and is close to the tourist town of Beechworth. At the 2006 census, Yackandandah had a population of 663.- History :...
in northern Victoria, where friends of the family already lived. At this time Yackandandah was a large gold mining
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
settlement of 3,000 people.
Isaacs' three siblings, John, who later became a solicitor and Victorian Member of Parliament, Carolyn and Hannah were born in Yackandandah. Another brother, born in Melbourne, and a sister, born in Yackandandah, both died very young. His first formal schooling was from sometime after 1860 at a small private establishment. At eight he won the school arithmetic
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...
prize, winning his photograph by the schoolmaster, who was also a photographer and bootmaker
Shoemaking
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or...
. Yackandandah state school was opened in 1863 and Isaacs enrolled as a pupil. Here he excelled academically, particularly in arithmetic and languages, though he was a frequent truant
TruANT
Truant is Alien Ant Farm's second album. It was released on August 8, 2003 by DreamWorks Records. The producers of the album were Stone Temple Pilots' guitarist and bassist Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo....
, walking off to spend time in the nearby mining camps. To help Isaacs gain a better quality education, in 1867, his family moved to nearby Beechworth
Beechworth, Victoria
Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s...
first enrolling him in the Common school then in the Beechworth Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
. He excelled at the Grammar School, becoming dux
Dux
Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....
in his first year and winning many academic prizes. In his second year he was employed part time as an assistant teacher at the school, and took up after school tutoring of fellow students. In September 1870, when Isaacs was just 15 years old, he passed his examination as a pupil teacher and taught at the school from then until 1873. Isaacs was next employed as an assistant teacher at the Beechworth State School, the successor to the Common school.
While employed at the State School, Isaacs had his first experience of the Law, as an unsuccessful litigant in an 1875 County Court case. He disputed a payment arrangement with the headmaster of his school, resigning as part of the dispute. After returning to teaching, now back at the Grammar School, he expanded his interest in the law; reading law books and attending court sittings.
As a child Isaacs became fluent in Russian, which his parents spoke frequently, as well as English and some German. Isaacs later gained varying degrees of proficiency in Italian, French, Greek, Hindustani and Chinese.
Working life
In 1875 he moved to Melbourne and found work at the Prothonotary's OfficeProthonotary
The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. prothonotarius , from Greek protonotarios "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine Empire, from Greek protos "first" + Latin notarius ; the -h-...
of the Law Department. In 1876, while still working full-time, he studied law at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
. He graduated in 1880 with a Master of Laws
Master of Laws
The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...
degree in 1883. In 1888 he married Deborah Jacobs, then they had two daughters.
In 1892 Isaacs was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as a liberal. In 1893 he became Solicitor-General. He was the member for Bogong
Electoral district of Bogong
The Electoral district of Bogong was an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.-Members of Bogong:-See also:*Parliaments of the Australian states and territories*List of members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly...
from May 1892 until May 1893 and between June 1893 and May 1901. In 1897 he was elected to the Convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...
, that drafted the Australian Constitution
Constitution of Australia
The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...
, where he supported those arguing for a more democratic draft. He took silk as a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1899.
Isaacs was elected to the first federal Parliament
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
in 1901 to the seat of Indi
Division of Indi
The Division of Indi is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. It is located in north-eastern Victoria. Its northern border is formed by the Murray River...
as a critical supporter of Edmund Barton
Edmund Barton
Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia....
and his Protectionist
Protectionist Party
The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in...
government. He was one of a group of backbenchers pushing for more radical policies and he earned the dislike of many of his colleagues through what they saw as his aloofness and rather self-righteous attitude to politics.
Alfred Deakin
Alfred Deakin
Alfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the...
appointed Isaacs Attorney-General in 1905 but he was a difficult colleague and in 1906 Deakin was keen to get him out of politics by appointing him to the High Court
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
bench. He was the first serving Minister to resign from the Parliament. On the High Court he joined H. B. Higgins
H. B. Higgins
Henry Bournes Higgins , Australian politician and judge, always known in his lifetime as H. B. Higgins, was a highly influential figure in Australian politics and law.-Career:...
as a radical minority on the Court in opposition to the Chief Justice, Sir Samuel Griffith
Samuel Griffith
Sir Samuel Walker Griffith GCMG QC, was an Australian politician, Premier of Queensland, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and a principal author of the Constitution of Australia.-Early life:...
. He served on the Court for 24 years, acquiring a reputation as a learned radical but uncollegial justice.
Isaacs was one of only eight justices of the High Court to have served in the Parliament of Australia
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
prior to his appointment to the Court; the others were Edmund Barton
Edmund Barton
Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia....
, Richard O'Connor, H. B. Higgins
H. B. Higgins
Henry Bournes Higgins , Australian politician and judge, always known in his lifetime as H. B. Higgins, was a highly influential figure in Australian politics and law.-Career:...
, Edward McTiernan
Edward McTiernan
Sir Edward Aloysius McTiernan, KBE , was an Australian jurist, lawyer and politician. He served as an Australian Labor Party member of both the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and federal House of Representatives before being appointed to the High Court of Australia in 1930...
, John Latham, Garfield Barwick
Garfield Barwick
Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, was the Attorney-General of Australia , Minister for External Affairs and the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia...
, and Lionel Murphy
Lionel Murphy
Lionel Keith Murphy, QC was an Australian politician and jurist who served as Attorney-General in the government of Gough Whitlam and as a Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1975 until his death.- Personal life :...
. He was also one of two to have served in the Parliament of Victoria
Parliament of Victoria
The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of The Queen, represented by the Governor of Victoria; the Legislative Council ; and the Legislative Assembly...
, along with Higgins.
In 1930 the Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Prime Minister, James Scullin
James Scullin
James Henry Scullin , Australian Labor politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Two days after he was sworn in as Prime Minister, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred, marking the beginning of the Great Depression and subsequent Great Depression in Australia.-Early life:Scullin was...
, appointed Isaacs, by this time aged 75, as Chief Justice. Shortly afterwards, however, Scullin decided to appoint an Australian as Governor-General and offered the post to Isaacs. Scullin personally advised King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
to make the appointment, during his 1930 trip to Europe. The King reluctantly agreed to his advice, although his own preferred appointee was Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood
William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood
Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, CIE, DSO was a First World War British general who is best known as the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.- Youth and early career :Birdwood was born...
(later Lord Birdwood), who had commanded the Australian Imperial Force
Australian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
during World War I.
Isaacs agreed to a reduction in salary and conducted the office with great frugality. He gave up his official residences in Sydney and Melbourne and most official entertaining. He was the first Governor-General to live permanently at Government House, Canberra
Government House, Canberra
Government House, Canberra, commonly known as Yarralumla, is the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia. It is located in the suburb of Yarralumla, in the City of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory....
. This was well-received with the public as was Isaacs's image of rather austere dignity.
Although Isaacs was seen as a Labor appointment, the Scullin government fell at the end of 1931, and the rest of Isaacs's term was during the United Australia Party
United Australia Party
The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...
government of Joseph Lyons
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931...
.
Opposition to political Zionism
Isaacs was 81 when his term ended in 1936, but his public life was far from over. He remained active in various causes for another decade and wrote frequently on matters of constitutional law. In the 1940s he became embroiled in controversy with the Jewish community both in Australia and internationally through his outspoken opposition to ZionismZionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
. His principal critic was Julius Stone
Julius Stone
Julius Stone was Challis Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the University of Sydney from 1942 to 1972, and thereafter a visiting Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales and concurrently Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the Hastings...
. Isaacs was supported by Rabbi Jacob Danglow and Harold Boas. Isaacs insisted that Judaism was a religious identity and not a national or ethnic one. He opposed the notion of a Jewish homeland in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. Isaacs said "[p]olitical Zionism to which I am irrevocably opposed for the reasons which will be found clearly stated, must be sharply distinguished from religious and cultural Zionism to which I am strongly attached."
Isaacs opposed Zionism partly because he disliked nationalism of all kinds and saw Zionism as a form of Jewish national chauvinism—and partly because he saw the Zionist agitation in Palestine as disloyalty to the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
to which he was devoted. When Zionist terrorists blew up the King David Hotel
King David Hotel bombing
The King David Hotel bombing was an attack carried out by themilitant right-wing Zionist underground organization Irgun on the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on 22 July 1946...
in 1946 he wrote that "the honour of Jews throughout the world demands the renunciation of political Zionism".
Isaacs' main objections to Political Zionism were:-
- “A negation of Democracy, and an attempt to revert to the Church-State of bygone ages.
- Provocative anti-Semitism.
- Unwarranted by the Balfour Declaration, the Mandate, or any other right; contrary to Zionist assurances to Britain and to the Arabs’ and in present conditions unjust to other Palestinians politically and to other religions.
- As regards unrestricted immigration, a discriminatory and an undemocratic camouflage for a Jewish State.
- An obstruction to the consent of the Arabs to the peaceful and prosperous settlement in Palestine of hundreds of thousands of suffering European Jews, the victims of Nazi atrocities; and provocative of Moslem antagonism within and beyond the Empire, and consequently a danger to its integrity and safety.
- Inconsistent in demanding on one hand, on a basis of a separate Jewish nationality everywhere Jews are found, Jewish domination in Palestine, and at the same time claiming complete Jewish equality elsewhere than in Palestine, on the basis of a nationality common to the citizens of every faith.”
Isaacs said "the Zionist movement as a whole...now places its own unwarranted interpretation on the Balfour Declaration, and makes demands that are arousing the antagonism of the Moslem world of nearly 400 millions, thereby menacing the safety of our Empire, endangering world peace and imperiling some of the most sacred associations of the Jewish, Christian, and Moslem faiths. Besides their inherent injustice to others these demands would, I believe, seriously and detrimentally affect the general position of Jews throughout the world..".
He died in February 1948 and thus did not live to see the creation of the State of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Honours
In May 1949 he was honoured with the naming of the Australian Electoral Division of Isaacs (1949–69) in the outer southern suburbs of Melbourne.At a redistribution in November 1968 the electorate was abolished and a separate Division of Isaacs
Division of Isaacs
The Division of Isaacs is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, on the eastern shores of Port Phillip Bay...
was created in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It exists to this day.
The Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
suburb of Isaacs
Isaacs, Australian Capital Territory
Isaacs is a suburb in the district of Woden in Canberra, Australia. The postcode is 2607.The suburb was gazetted as a Division Name on 12 May 1966 but residential housing was not built until the late 1980s. Isaacs is next to the suburbs of O'Malley, Mawson and Farrer. It is bounded by Yamba Drive...
was named after him in 1966.
In 1973 he was honoured on a postage stamp bearing his portrait issued by Australia Post
Australia Post
Australia Post is the trading name of the Australian Government-owned Australian Postal Corporation .-History:...
.
Isaacs's written works
- The new agriculture, 1901, Melbourne : Department of Agriculture
- Opinion of the Hon. Isaac A. Isaacs, K.C., M.P., re the case of Lieutenant Witton, 1902, Melbourne :
[s.n.] - The Riverina Transport case, 1938, Melbourne : Australian Natives' Association, Victorian Board of Directors
- Australian democracy and our constitutional system, 1939, Melbourne : Horticultural Press
- An appeal for a greater Australia : the nation must itself take power for its post-war reconstruction; the constitutional issue stated; dynamic democracy, 1943, Melbourne : Horticultural Press
- Referendum powers : :a stepping stone to greater freedom, 1946, Melbourne :
[s.n.] - Palestine : peace and prosperity or war and destruction? Political Zionism : undemocratic, unjust, dangerous, 1946, Melbourne : Ramsey Ware Publishing
Biographies
- Gordon, Max. Sir Isaac Isaacs: A Life of Service (Heinemann: Melbourne) 1963.
- Cowen, Sir Zelman. Isaac Isaacs (Oxford University Press) 1967
- Cowen, Sir Zelman. Sir Isaac Isaacs (Melbourne University Press) 1979
Articles
Lee, Godfrey S. The battle of the scholars: the debate between Sir Isaac Isaacs and Julius Stone over Zionism during World War 2. Australian Journal of Politics and History, v.31, no.1, 1985: 128–134Kirby, Michael. Sir Isaac Isaacs – a sesquicentenary reflection [online]. Melbourne University Law Review, v.29, no.3, Dec 2005: 880–904.
External links
- University of Melbourne: Isaac Alfred Isaacs includes photograph (1898).
- Australian Dictionary of Biography: Isaac Alfred Isaacs includes portrait as Chief Justice
- National Library of Australia: Papers of Sir Isaac Isaacs
- Isaac Isaacs Victorian Parliamentary Profile
- Indi Election Results 1901