Oliver Cromwell was sympathetic to the Jewish cause, partly because of his tolerant leanings but chiefly because he foresaw the importance for English commerce of the participation of the Jewish merchant princes, some of whom had already made their way to London. At this juncture, the English gave Jews full rights in the colony of Surinam, which they had controlled since 1650. There is some debate among historians concerning whether Menasseh's motives for pursuing the readmission of the Jews by England were primarily political or religious. Ismar Schorsch, for example, has argued that the idea of England being a final place for Jews to inhabit in order to bring about the coming of the Messiah was hardly present in The Hope of Israel (1652), but rather was developed by Menasseh later (1656-57 when he was in London) in order to appeal to English Christians with Millenarian beliefs.[10] Henry Méchoulan, on the other hand, in his later in-depth detailed analysis of the book has striven to show that the Jewish messianic theme in it is also rather fundamental to its initial conception.[11] Steven Nadler, in his 2018 book, which is actually the last word on Menasseh's biography to be published to date, has seemingly also closed the debate on this issue of Menasseh's own messianic beliefs:
- "They [the sundry European Gentile Millenarians that were in contact with him] especially valued [Menasseh] as the Jewish expositor of a common [Jewish-Christian] Messianic vision, wherein the worldly empires will be swept away by a "Fifth Kingdom" [or Fifth Monarchy] ruled by a savior sent by God."[12]
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menasseh_Ben_Israel
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