“Boney was a warrior...” - Napoleon in the Land of Israel and his Proclamation to the Jews

 

“Boney was a warrior...”

Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul

“Boney was a warrior...” go the words of the old sea shanty and indeed Napoleon Bonaparte was a warrior.  He was such a great military commander that even today his campaigns are studied in military academies in many countries.  His expedition to the Middle East which brought him to the Land of Israel was not, however, his finest hour.  He failed to achieve his objectives and suffered defeat at sea, frustration on land and the loss of much of his army.  Despite this, within two months of his return to France he became First Consul and within five years was proclaimed Emperor.

 

 

Napoleon’s campaign to the Middle East

 

Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar

In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte set out for Egypt.  His major objectives were to establish a French presence in the Middle East and to disrupt Britain’s important trade route to India.   After initial victories in Egypt he suffered a major setback when the British fleet under Horatio Nelson captured or destroyed all but two ships of the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile.

To the north lay the Holy Land ruled from Acre by Ahmad Pasha “al-Jazzar” (the butcher).  Napoleon reasoned that without at least a truce with al-Jazzar it would be hard for him to maintain his hold on Egypt.  He made the approach but did not receive a reply.  He felt that he had no option but to set out on an expedition to defeat al-Jazzar.

Somehow the fate of this expedition was already sealed by the time it reached the coastal town of el-Arish in northern Sinai.  The French military intelligence was badly flawed.  Napoleon expected a town without any defences.  He found a fortress there held by al-Jazzar’s troops.  He took el-Arish only after a twelve day siege.   It gave al-Jazzar valuable time to prepare the defence of his headquarters in Acre.  In the course of the siege the bubonic plague that had broken out amongst the Turkish troops also infected the French camp.  It was to have dire consequences.

The Siege of Jaffa 

Napoleon visits plague victims

Napoleon took his army north to the port of Jaffa.  By the time he arrived some 4,000 Turkish soldiers had gathered there.  He prepared for a siege and sent two French officers to offer a last chance for the town to surrender.  The defenders’ answer was to seize the officers, kill them and display their heads on the walls of the city.  When the French forces breached the walls they massacred every man, woman and child that they found.  And when after some 30 hours the slaughter of civilians had stopped Napoleon ordered the execution of the thousands of Turkish soldiers who had surrendered to his forces.  They were marched out to the sand dunes south of Jaffa and taken off in groups to be shot.  When the French ran out of cartridges they killed them with knives and with bayonets.

By now the plague had really taken hold in Napoleon’s camp and had begun to spread through the town.  Dozens of his soldiers were falling sick every day.  He had the infected troops quartered in the Armenian Monastery and visited them there before pressing on to Acre, al-Jazzar’s capital, with the remainder of his army.

Failure and retreat

Armenian Monastery, Jaffa. Photo Ori~

Napoleon attempted a direct assault on Acre.  When this failed he laid siege to the city.  Al-Jazzar was supported by a British fleet commanded by Sir Sidney Smith.  The British bombarded the French army and prevented them from mounting an effective attack.  The plague continued to spread amongst them and their morale collapsed.  After a two month siege Napoleon was forced to accept defeat.  His campaign in the Middle East had come to an end. He began his retreat towards Egypt.

Napoleon worried that the Turks would overtake his retreating army.  In Jaffa a number of French plague patients remained in the Armenian Monastery.  Napoleon did not want to leave them to the mercy of the Turks.  Nor was he willing to take the risk that they would slow down the retreat.  Overriding the objections of his chief medical officer he gave orders that they should be poisoned.

What to see today

 

19th century cannon on wall of Acre

Jaffa and Acre are port cities, thousands of years old. They are fascinating places to visit.  Each one bears the marks of Napoleon’s campaign.  The room where Napoleon stayed in Jaffa is now incorporated into St Peter’s Church. The Armenian Monastery where his plague infected soldiers were billeted still stands by the sea.  The place where his soldiers breached the walls is noted in the alleys of the Old City.  In Acre you can find the remains of the city walls and cannons that helped to resist Napoleon’s siege as well as a cemetery where some of his soldiers were buried.  It also has a Napoleon Bonaparte Street.  Nearby is Napoleon Hill where he and his army camped.  The archaeological museum at Kibbutz Nahsholim has weapons and ammunition that his troops abandoned during their retreat.

Napoleon’s proclamation to the Jews

Napoleon grants freedom to the Jews

In May 1799, during the siege of Acre, the main French newspaper of its time, Le Moniteur Universel, published a brief statement:

“Bonaparte has published a proclamation in which he invites all the Jews of Asia and Africa to gather under his flag in order to re-establish the ancient Jerusalem.  He has already given arms to a great number, and their battalions threaten Aleppo.”

The plan was never carried out and historians argue as to whether the proclamation was indeed made and, if so, whether it was ever more than mere propaganda.  In 1940, however, the author Franz Kobler claimed to have found a detailed version of the proclamation that Napoleon had prepared.  His version, replete with quotations from the Prophets, claimed that Napoleon had established his headquarters in Jerusalem, described the Jews as “rightful heirs to Palestine” and invited them to re-establish there a Jewish state. Whether this document is genuine or, as some have claimed, a forgery there is no doubt that Napoleon had tremendous influence on the emancipation of the Jews of Europe and on the course of Jewish history.