In the early 1880s, Jews in the Russian Empire experienced harsh antisemitism, violence, and persecution. In response to that, and in opposition to assimilation, some Jews suggested settling a home for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, the only place Jews could become a nation.

Haim Nissim Amzlag was a Jewish businessman and community leader during the Yishuv period.

Abraham Isaac Kook, known as Rav Kook, was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel (in British Mandatory Palestine). He is considered one of the fathers of religious Zionism.

Born in Belarus to a Chabad Hasidic family, Zalman David Levontin was one of the pioneers of the first aliyah. He was one of the founders of Rishon Lezion and the Jewish Colonial Trust.

Shlomo (Salomon) Yaakov Florentin was a contractor and entrepreneur of Thessaloniki descent who founded the Florentin neighborhood in Tel Aviv in the 1930s.

1900 - 1988. Source: Wikipedia. Ziona Tager was an Israeli painter known for painting the Yishuv period and the country's first years....

Decades before the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, the establishment of a Jewish state embodying Zionist ideology had already started.

Moshe Yitzhak Matlon was one of Tel Aviv's founders. The Matlon family first arrived in Israel from Iraq in 1817, over 200 years ago, playing a pioneering role in establishing the Jewish community in Jaffa.

1861 - 1936. Entry of Field Marshall Allenby, Jerusalem, December 11, 1917. Source: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/matpc.00169/...

Throughout the 19th century, the city of Jaffa served as the main entry point to the land of Israel for Jews from around the world returning to the Land of Israel.