The Possibility of a Productive Palestine: Otto Warburg and Botanical Zionism

ABSTRACT:The article examines the role of science in the Yishuv (the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine) centering specifically on the so-called Botanischer Zionismus (Botanical Zionism) group, which was led by the German–Jewish colonial botanist and Zionist, Otto Warburg. By researching the motives and ideologies behind this group, we can gain valuable insights into the wider background of the Zionist movement and its principal aims, in particular the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The article shows how the Botanical Zionists set about turning Palestine into a green and fertile land, with a focus on the agricultural experiment stations in Atlit and Rehovot (established in 1910 and 1921 respectively), and the close connection between ideology and applicability which reveals how this helped create a new type of flora, which I have termed "Hebrew flora."