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Leading Zionist historian was first to say ‘Israel Firster’– in 1960

by Philip Weiss on February 7, 2012
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/02/leading-zionist-historian-and-president-of-brandeis-was-first-to-say-israel-firster-in-1960.html

A History of the Jews (1965)

In recent weeks, the Israel lobby has drawn a red line on the use of the phrase "Israel Firster." Supporters of Israel have lectured us that it is an "anti-Semitic trope." Here, for instance, is Spencer Ackerman denouncing the use of the term at Tablet:

“Israel Firster” has a nasty anti-Semitic pedigree, one that many Jews will intuitively understand without knowing its specific history. It turns out white supremacist Willis Carto was reportedly the first to use it, and David Duke popularized it through his propaganda network. And yet [M.J.] Rosenberg and others actually claim they’re using it to stimulate “debate,” rather than effectively mirroring the tactics of some of the people they criticize.

As if the very words have anti-Semitism in their DNA.
Well Ackerman is wrong. The term Israel Firster was used by a Zionist before it was used by white supremacists. I just got a hold of the American Jewish Committee's Yearbook for 1961. It cites the use of the term "Israel Firster" by a legendary Zionist, the late Abram Leon Sachar, the leading American historian of Jews and president of Brandeis when he said it.
Read the screenshot below: