Baron Edmond de Rothschild

Baron Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (1845-1934) was a member of the ultra-wealthy Rothschild banking family. He spent well over a billion dollars (in today’s money) supporting Zionist activities in Palestine, especially the creation of moshavot villages like Rishon LeZion, Rosh Pinna, Zichron Ya’akov, and Petah Tikva. He provided city services, schools, doctors, and the financial support necessary for the moshavot to stay afloat. And although he was a huge supporter of the Zionist movement, he was not a big fan of Herzl or most of the other Zionist leaders. He thought Theodore Herzl was just a political agitator, and he resented any of the other Zionist thinkers trying to impress upon him their ideologies and big plans. “These are my colonies,” he said. “And I shall do what I like with them.”