• In 1912, prominent Jewish American Attorney Louis Brandeis became a Zionist, Why it Matters?

How US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis Became a Zionist? In 1912, Louis Brandeis who was to go on to become a Supreme Court Justice became a Zionist. It can be termed as judicial Zionism in contrast to political Zionism. Within two years, he became head of the International Zionist Central Office, newly moved to America from Germany. While Brandeis is an unusually well-known Supreme Court Justice, most Americans are unaware of the significant role he played in World War I and his connection to Palestine.

Some of this work was done with Felix Frankfurter, who became a Supreme Court Justice two decades later. Perhaps the aspect of Brandeis that is least known to the general public – and often even to academics – is the extent of his zealotry and the degree to which he used covert methods to achieve his aims.

While today Louis Brandeis is held in extremely high esteem by almost all Americans, there was significant opposition at the time to his appointment to the Supreme Court, largely centered on widespread accusations of unethical behavior. A typical example was the view that Brandeis was “a man who has certain high ideals in his imagination, but who is utterly unscrupulous, in method in reaching them.”

But why today such criticisms of Brandeis are either ignored or attributed to political differences and/or “anti-Semitism.” There is a historical connection to it.