Canaanism was a cultural and ideological movement founded in 1939 that reached its peak in the 1940s among the Jews of Palestine. It has had significant effect on the course of Israeli art, literature and spiritual and political thought. Its adherents were called Canaanites (Hebrew: כנענים‎‎). The movement's original name was the Council for the Coalition of Hebrew Youth (Hebrew: הוועד לגיבוש הנוער העברי‎‎); "Canaanism" was originally a pejorative term. It grew out of Revisionist Zionism and according to Ron Kuzar had "its early roots in European extreme right-wing movements, notably Italian fascism" which was not as anti-Semitic as German fascism. Most of its members were part of the Irgun or Lehi, never had more than around two dozen registered members (but most of these were influential