The 300th Treasure Trove: Are We ‘Built Ford Tough’ Enough?

Henry Ford (1863 to 1947) would have been appalled to see this advertisement that appeared in the Souvenir Book of the 23rd Zionist Congress that was held in Jerusalem in 1951.[See https://thecjn.ca/arts-culture/treasure-trove-the-zionist-congress-wrestles-with-its-purpose-after-the-state-of-israel-is-established/] It shows a Ford Motor Company container being loaded on to a cargo ship in New York City and “Off to Israel”, bound for Tel Aviv.

Ford revolutionized American industry by developing the assembly line which brought automobiles to the masses and created the foundation for the middle class by paying factory workers livable wages. He was also a vicious antisemite. He believed antisemitic conspiracy theories including that Jews had international control over unions, banks and the media.

To give himself a platform to spew his vitriol, in 1918 he bought the Dearborn Independent newspaper and in 1920 began publishing a weekly series called “The International Jew: The World’s Problem” which appeared on the front page. The series was based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fictional text which purported to prove a global Jewish conspiracy for money and power. The series ran for several years and had extensive reach as the paper was available in Ford dealerships and the series was republished in four booklets.

Ford’s essays fuelled antisemitism both within and outside the United States. Hitler referred to Ford in Mein Kampf and at the Nuremberg trials in 1946 one Nazi credited Ford’s book for his radicalization.

In April 1924 the Independent targeted a San Francisco based Jewish lawyer named Aaron Sapiro, accusing him in 21 separate articles of exploiting farmers. Sapiro fought back and sued Ford for liable, framing his case broader than his own reputation and extending it to the Jewish community and immigrants. The case created a stir as a Jewish lawyer fought back against one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. The hearing began in March 1927 and before Ford was scheduled to testify, he ordered the closing of the newspaper and then settled the case by apologizing to Sapiro and making a cash payment.

Henry Ford II (1917 to 1987), also known as “Hank the Deuce”, was Henry Ford’s oldest grandson and held one or more positions of President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Ford Motor Company from 1945 to 1980. This Henry Ford publicly supported the State of Israel, made donations to it, orchestrated a trade deal that shipped car parts to help alleviate the new country’s transportation issues, encouraged new vehicle sales to Israel (as reflected in this advertisement) and worked to establish an assembly plant in Israel.  

Ford opened that assembly plant in Nazareth in 1968 which operated for 13 years assembling Escorts, trucks and buses. The plant opened notwithstanding the threat of an Arab boycott of the Ford company to which Hank the Deuce responded “Nobody’s going to tell me what to do.” He said the decision was made in part to overcome the company’s past history of antisemitism, but that it was primarily a prudent business decision. The Arab boycott of Ford lasted for 18 years until lifted in July 1985, and the assembly plant closed in 1981 because it was unprofitable.

In 2019 Henry Ford’s great grandson Bill Ford visited Israel to inaugurate the Ford Research Center in Israel.

In 1979 the Ford Motor Company introduced “Built Ford Tough” as its marketing slogan. Ford Tough is Aaron Sapiro who fought Henry Ford and won. Ford Tough is Henry the Deuce who defied the Arab Boycott and worked hard to redress his company’s history of antisemitism. We have so many challenges. What can each of us do to show we are Ford Tough?

The first weekly Treasure Trove column was featured in the Canadian Jewish News on February 2, 2021.  We have not missed a week, making this the 300th Treasure Trove.  Thank you for reading Treasure Trove and for being part of the continuing story that is the history of Israel, our people and our community.

For more treasures from the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, which have appeared weekly in the Treasure Trove column in the Canadian Jewish News (www.thecjn.ca) since February 2021, see https://herzlcollection.com/treasure-trove

Treasure Trove is a program of the Herzl Project.  Another program is the #Herzl100 where 100 Herzl videos were posted in 100 days between June 6 and September 9, 2026.  You can watch all of the videos here:  https://herzlcollection.com/%23herzl100  They are available for viewing individually by searching #Herzl100 on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.  Also check out #Herzlbreak on these platforms.