[5] Being of Jewish ancestry and motivated by the power of Nazi Germany during the 1930s, Ziff became one of the most prominent American endorsers of Revisionist Zionism.
During 1935, he was persuaded by devotees of the Revisionist Zionist spokesman Ze'ev Jabotinsky to accept the presidency of the Zionist-Revisionists of America organization although he resigned after one year, being uncomfortable with his role as a Jewish organizational official.
Ziff remained active with Zionist politics and caused controversy when he authored during 1938 a criticism of British policy in the Holy Land entitled The Rape of Palestine.
His bearing is languorous and courtly, in vivid contrast to the direct speech and often uncouth manners of the immigrant Jew.
It would be hard to pose a wider disparity of culture, instinct and mind than lies between these people and the returning Hebrew.