The Early Jewish Immigration to Palestine

In 1877–78, the Russo-Turkish War broke out, ending in a Russian victory. At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, European powers redrew borders: Serbia, Romania, and Montenegro gained independence, and Austria took control of Bosnia and Herzegovina—territories formerly ruled by the Ottomans. That same year, in response to violent anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia, Jewish activists formed the movement “Hovevei Zion” ("Lovers of Zion"). In 1881, the Jewish thinker Leo Pinsker published ‘Auto-Emancipation’, arguing that Jews needed a homeland to escape persecution—though he wasn’t focused on Palestine specifically. The Hovevei Zion favored settlement in Palestine.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian Jews migrated to Palestine in this early wave (known as the First Aliyah). About 3,000 settled in farming communities, which survived thanks to the financial support of wealthy European Jews.

In 1882, Britain had invaded Egypt and effectively took control of it from the Ottomans. Egypt soon became a major base of British power in the region. From that point on, Jewish investment and colonization in Palestine intensified. Jewish settlers had access to modern European technology, which gave them a significant economic advantage over local Arabs.

For most of the 19th century, Jews who came to Palestine did so for religious reasons. They mainly settled in cities like Jerusalem, which had a Jewish majority by 1890. Haifa, a coastal town, also grew rapidly after the 1850s and eventually lost its Muslim majority.

In 1891, a group of prominent Jerusalemites petitioned the Ottoman government to stop Jewish immigration and land sales. From 1895 to 1914, however, most Jews who came were Zionists with political goals. Unlike earlier immigrants, they aimed to build agricultural colonies as a foundation for a future Jewish state, rather than simply joining religious communities in cities.