Ze'ev Jabotinsky MBE was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leader, author, poet, orator, soldier, and founder of the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in Odessa. With Joseph Trumpeldor, he co-founded the Jewish Legion of the British army in World War I. Later he established several Jewish organizations in Palestine, including Betar, Hatzohar, and the Irgun.
His influence on Israeli politics is profound through his closest protégé Menachem Begin's administration, consolidating the domination of Israeli politics by the right-wing Likud party; and through the administrations of Likud's leader Benjamin Netanyahu, the son of his former personal secretary and historian, Benzion Netanyahu.