Israel summary

In 1896, Theodor Herzl published The Jewish State – a small book that advocated the establishment of an independent state for Jewish people, which is the main cause of the Zionist movement. The book was an immediate sensation. It was quickly published in multiple languages and prompted the first Zionist congress, which was held in Basel in 1897.

From the very start, there were divisions among Jewish people about the concept of a Jewish state. Even among self-proclaimed Zionists, there were widely varying ideas about what this state should be like and where it should be located.

Some dark ideas emerged in the wake of the Kishinev pogrom. An image took shape in the imaginations of many – an image of Jewish men hiding in fear while Russian thugs had their way with the Jewish women. Whether accurate or not, this image animated Zionists who argued that European Jews, content to read books and lead a life of thinking and debating, were an easy target for racist violence.

A number of the Zionist leaders began to support the idea of the “new Jews” – people who would work the land, have dirt under their nails, and be strong, proud, capable, and unbendable. These people, though culturally Jewish, would also be secular. This idea, combined with the reordering of the Middle East in the wake of World War I, influenced the shape that the Jewish state eventually took.

Before World War I, there was the honest if naive belief among Zionists that Jewish immigration to Palestine would lead to a harmonious coexistence. The theory went that Jewish investment in Palestine would help develop the region and improve the economy. Everyone would benefit. But given how Britain and France had carved up the region before the war was even over – and how little regard they had for the Arab people and leadership in their decision-making – it was all but assured that there would be animosity from the beginning.

The key message here is: Despite the unfriendly conditions, Jewish immigration quickly transformed the region.

While thousands of Jewish people were escaping the threat of violence in Europe, those who were able to immigrate to Palestine in the 1920s and ’30s were entering a region with its own escalating violence.

Ever since the Balfour Declaration was officially ratified by France, Italy, Japan, and Britain at the San Remo Conference in April 1920, there had been outbursts of violence by a deeply incensed Arab population. In 1920, riots in Jerusalem led to the deaths of six Jewish people. In 1921, riots in Jaffa killed 48 more. In 1929, 133 Jews died in riots that began in Hebron and spread outward. Early riots led to organized defense groups like Hashomer, but as the violence increased, splinter groups emerged that were less focused on the Hashomer principle of restraint and more inclined to meet violence with violence.

The war left no one unscathed. Nearly 2,000 people were killed in the first six months alone: 1,069 Arabs, 769 Jews, and 123 Britons. In the end, Israel got its independence, but, in the process, over 300,000 Arab Palestinians became refugees.

Prior to the war, the UN had proposed a Jewish state with a population of 498,000 Jews and 407,000 Arabs. The Jewish Agency accepted this proposal; the Arab Higher Committee did not – just as it rejected all proposals that included the establishment of a Jewish state. Blame for the horrible tragedy of the Arab refugees has been variously assigned. But there’s no avoiding the fact that it all began as a result of Plan Dalet.

There were many principles and ideals that the Zionist leaders envisioned as being foundational to a Jewish state. These included the establishment of a new, secular Jewishness that would champion collectivism and the protection of Jews from around the world.

But as the newly independent Israel began to establish itself, many of these initial ideals proved impossible to square with political and social developments. 

At the end of the Six Day War, Israel was in possession of the West Bank and Gaza Strip regions. This meant that many of the Palestinians who fled during previous conflicts were now, once again, living under Israeli rule. The future of Israel hinged on a question: What’s next?

It’s no coincidence that this moment gave rise to a peace movement. Israeli citizens, including a famous group of 58 teenagers, wondered aloud if the nation could sustain a seemingly endless war. But just as these calls for peace were being voiced, a new conflict began – one which proved that the Israeli military wasn’t infallible.

The events of the 1970s greatly diminished Israel’s standing in the international community. Not only was the violence increasing, with no end in sight; there were also new issues. Arab states were enacting oil embargoes on Israel’s allies. And airplanes were being hijacked by PLO supporters, with travelers from around the world being held hostage in front of international news cameras. 

Amid this turmoil, in the 1980s, a new antagonist emerged: Hamas. This militant group called upon Islam to destroy the Jewish state. Hamas brought violence to the streets of Israel – a development that began taking an even greater toll on Israeli soldiers, who were now fighting Arab teenagers wielding stones in Gaza and the West Bank. Clearly, something needed to be done.