Editing Jewish Legion (section)

== Formation and objectives ==
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During the [[First World War]], a debate emerged within the [[Zionist]] leadership on whether to support either side, the [[Allies of World War I|Entente Powers]] or the [[Central Powers]], or to maintain neutrality and on the policy that would best ensure the survival of the Jewish community in Palestine during the war and benefit its aspirations for a national home afterward. The debate created a rift between those who supported the Entente Powers and those who supported the Central Powers. The Jews of [[History of the Jews in Germany|German origin]] were patriotic to their country of origin, and the battalions were a [[United Kingdom|British]] initiative against the [[Ottoman Empire]], which was allied to Germany. Therefore, the "German" Jews opposed the battalions vehemently, and [[Chaim Weizmann]] yielded to them by opposing the battalions mainly because the one protecting the [[Yishuv]] in Palestine was a German general. There was also the real fear that the Ottomans would carry out a massacre if they decided that the Jews were a [[fifth column]], as [[Armenian genocide|had occurred to the Armenians]].

[[Pinhas Rutenberg]] was a member of the [[Socialist Revolutionary Party]] (SR), which, unlike the [[Bolsheviks]], supported the Russians' alliance with Britain. [[David Ben-Gurion]] and [[Yitzhak Ben-Zvi]] were supported the Ottomans and opposed the battalions. What changed their minds completely was the [[Balfour Declaration]], and they later enlisted in the battalion.