Until 1791 and the Jewish emancipation during the French Revolution, Jews lacked the mobility essential to the success of Zionism. In the 19th century, however, rising national sentiment in Europe inspired Moses Hess, David Luzatto, Leo Pinsker, Zvi Kalischer, and Yehudah Alkalai to attempt to raise the national consciousness of ghetto Jewry. Financial assistance came from philanthropists Moses MONTEFIORE, Edmond de Rothschild (see ROTHSCHILD family), and Maurice de Hirsch, and various programs for the return of Jews to the Middle East were implemented. Not until 1897, however, with Herzl's World Zionist Congress at Basel, Switzerland, was an effective worldwide political movement created.
(Jer 32:44) 'Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,' says the LORD."