The Triumph and Tragedy of Zionism

The success of the Zionist project has placed Jews — both within and outside of Israel — in complex and oftentimes fraught positions.

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Zionism, the movement for the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in Israel, has been one of the most impactful forces in modern Jewish history.

From its conception in the late 19th century to its culmination in the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, Zionism has given the Jewish People a renewed sense of dignity and national pride. It revived Jewish sovereignty in the ancestral homeland after nearly two millennia of exile and statelessness, offering a refuge for Jews from relentless persecution and creating a focal point for Jewish identity.

However, the triumph of Zionism has also been shadowed by a profound tragedy. The success of the Zionist project has placed Jews — both within and outside of Israel — in complex and oftentimes fraught positions. The establishment of Israel has introduced dilemmas of dual loyalty, where Jews are sometimes seen as torn between our loyalty to Israel and to our countries of citizenship.

Furthermore, the political landscape within and around Israel has given rise to deep contradictions in political beliefs. These tensions expose the thornier side of Zionism, illustrating how a movement that sought to restore dignity to a marginalized people has also generated new challenges and internal conflicts for Jews worldwide.

The Triumph of Zionism: Restoring Jewish Dignity

To understand the triumph of Zionism, it is crucial to appreciate the conditions of Jewish life before the movement emerged. For centuries, Jews lived as a dispersed people — regularly marginalized, persecuted, and excluded from the national frameworks of the societies in which they lived.

The pogroms in Russia, the Dreyfus Affair in France, and centuries of antisemitic laws and practices throughout Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and elsewhere reinforced the Jews’ status as an alien, stateless minority. Zionism emerged as a response to this deep-seated Jewish vulnerability, envisioning a solution through the establishment of a Jewish state.

At its core, Zionism sought to normalize the status of Jews by giving us control over our own destiny. This was not merely about creating a safe haven; it was about restoring the dignity that comes with sovereignty.

Theodor Herzl, the father of political Zionism, articulated this vision in his writings, arguing that only through statehood could Jews become “a people like all other peoples.” This notion of normalcy was vital. Zionism aimed to end the condition of Jews as perpetual outsiders, offering us the ability to defend ourselves and define our own future.

However, not all Jews in the late 1800s and early 1900s were on board with political Zionism. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808–1888), a leading figure in the development of Modern Orthodoxy, opposed early forms of political Zionism, maintaining that Jews should focus on religious observance and spiritual renewal in the Diaspora, rather than on establishing a Jewish state.

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) supported the cultural Zionism of Ahad Ha’am and believed in the idea of a Jewish cultural revival, but he was skeptical of political Zionism, fearing that a Jewish state established without proper respect for the Arab population could lead to conflict. Hannah Arendt (1906–1975), a Jewish political theorist and philosopher, was critical of political Zionism, concerned that the Jewish state would become ethnocentric and authoritarian.

Nonetheless, the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 marked the fulfillment of the Zionists’ vision. For Jews around the world, Israel became a symbol of rebirth and renewal. It was a place where Jews could live openly and unapologetically as Jews, free from the fear of persecution that had haunted us in the Diaspora.

The triumph of Zionism was also seen in Israel’s early achievements — its ability to build a modern state in a relatively short time, its military successes, and its transformation of Jewish culture and language through the revival of spoken Hebrew. The dignity that came with these achievements was palpable, both in Israel and across the global Jewish community.

For Holocaust survivors, Israel was particularly significant. It was not only a refuge but also a symbol of resistance and defiance against a world that had largely abandoned them during the darkest period of Jewish history. The creation of Israel represented a form of justice, a statement that the Jewish People would never again be passive victims of history.

The Tragedy of Zionism: The Burden of Dual Loyalty

The success of Zionism has also brought new challenges and burdens, particularly the issue of dual loyalty. With the creation of a Jewish state, Jews in the Diaspora — especially in Western countries — found themselves in a unique and often uncomfortable position.

On the one hand, they were citizens of their home countries, with the full rights and responsibilities that citizenship entails. On the other hand, Israel’s existence as a Jewish state inevitably created a strong emotional, cultural, and political attachment for many Jews.

This attachment has often been interpreted, fairly or not, as a form of dual loyalty. Jews who support Israel are sometimes accused of placing their loyalty to a foreign country above their loyalty to their own. This accusation, while often rooted in antisemitic tropes, has real-world implications. It puts many Jews in a difficult position, particularly when the policies of Israel come into conflict with the values or interests of their home countries.

American, European, and Australian Jewish communities, for example, have faced this tension acutely in the context of their countries’ foreign policy in the Middle East. As Israel has increasingly become Right-wing in response to genocidal wars and antisemitic terrorism incessantly launched against it since 1948, many Left-leaning Jews find themselves torn between their support for Israel and their commitment to Left-wing issues.

There is also the question of liberalism in Israel, which differs significantly from liberalism in many Western countries, primarily due to the unique historical, cultural, and geopolitical context in which the Jewish state developed.

In the West, liberalism typically emphasizes individual rights, secular governance, and a commitment to social equality and democracy. Western liberalism has roots in the Enlightenment and often revolves around principles like free speech, the rule of law, minority rights, and personal freedom.

In countries like the United States and many parts of Europe, liberalism has long been associated with a vision of a multicultural society that accommodates various ethnicities and religious beliefs, promoting tolerance and inclusivity.

In Israel, liberalism intersects with the country’s Jewish identity, the realities of an ongoing conflict with the Palestinians — and, by extension, their Iranian and Qatari sponsors — and the obvious need for national security. At the same time, Israel defines itself as both a Jewish and democratic state, which creates inherent tensions between liberal democratic principles and the country’s ethno-religious character.

For instance, Israel’s Law of Return, which grants automatic citizenship to Jews, reflects the ethno-nationalist element of the state and contrasts with the liberal ideal of equal rights for all citizens, regardless of ethnicity or religion. This dual identity complicates the application of Western-style liberalism, particularly when it comes to balancing democratic governance with the preservation of Israel as a Jewish homeland.

One of the most contentious areas where Israeli liberalism differs from its Western counterparts is in the role of religion across public life. In many Western liberal democracies, there is a strong commitment to secularism and the separation of church and state.

In Israel, however, religion plays a much more prominent role in politics and society. The Israeli government recognizes Orthodox Judaism as the official religion, and religious parties hold considerable influence in the political system.

Issues such as marriage, conversion, and public observance of the Sabbath are often regulated by religious authorities, which creates tension with liberal secular values that seek to separate religion from state functions. This intertwining of religion and politics often challenges the liberal ideals of personal freedom and equality before the law.

These developments have led to a profound moral and political dilemma for many Jews, both within and outside of Israel. On the one hand, Zionism is celebrated as a movement for Jewish liberation. On the other hand, it is criticized for Right-wing tendencies, a dynamic that some see as a betrayal of the very ideals that Zionism was supposed to represent.

The political contradictions of Zionism have also contributed to a growing fragmentation within the global Jewish community. Historically, Zionism was a unifying force for Jews across the political spectrum. Today, however, it has become a source of division.

Some Jews, particularly those on the political Right, continue to see Zionism as an unambiguous good and view criticism of Israel as illegitimate or even antisemitic. Others, particularly those on the Left, have grown increasingly critical of Zionism, seeing it as incompatible with their liberal values.

This fragmentation has led to heated debates within Jewish communities across the world about the role of Zionism in Jewish identity. For some, Zionism remains central to their understanding of what it means to be Jewish. For others, particularly younger Jews, Zionism is seen as an outdated or even harmful ideology at odds with their worldviews.

The tragedy of Zionism, in this sense, is that it has come to embody not only the triumph of Jewish sovereignty but also the painful divisions within the Jewish world. It has given Jews a homeland, but it has also created new tensions and contradictions that have complicated the very sense of unity that Zionism was supposed to foster.

The triumph of Zionism is undeniable, but so too is its tragedy. As the Jewish People continue to grapple with the legacy of Zionism, we must confront these complexities with honesty and a commitment to addressing the increasingly wide moral and sociopolitical spectrums which the movement has created.

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