Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild - Israel

Israel

In the 1880s his grandfather Edmond had been responsible for supporting massive land purchases and underwriting the very first Jewish settlements in what was then Palestine and despite his refusal to back the pioneers of Zionism he was widely praised by Zionist leaders. Although Edmond had not been brought up in a religious environment, he became a passionate Zionist when young and his frequent trips to Israel raised family concerns that he might create problems due to his youthful enthusiasm. After the death of his uncle James Armand de Rothschild in 1957, he was left as the only direct male descendant of his grandfather and carried on his grandfather's enthusiastic support for Israel. Following the advice of Israel's first prime minister, David ben-Gurion, Edmond concentrated on providing capital to create jobs in the infant state—a policy which brought him into conflict with his Uncle's widow, his aunt Dorothy de Rothschild, who preferred philanthropy as a policy.