A universal notion that many Jewish anti-Zionists promulgate is that Zionism causes antisemitism. Whether the anti-Zionist is a secular Jew or an ultra-Orthodox hassid, anti-Zionists all agree that Zionism causes antisemitism.
For example, hassidic Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro said: “The causes of today’s antisemitism, whether in the Holy Land, in European countries or elsewhere, are the policies of the Zionists. The actions and policies of the Zionist leaders undoubtedly endanger all Jews worldwide,” and, “Zionism breeds antisemitism because it gives the impression that Jews are disloyal to the countries they live in.” Secular Jew Miko Peled stated, “Zionism causes antisemitism by demanding that Jews worldwide pledge loyalty to a state that commits atrocities.”
In response to the idea that Zionism causes antisemitism, one Israel advocate posted the following statement, “Antisemitism isn’t a result of Zionism. Zionism is a result of antisemitism.” The notion that Zionism was a result of antisemitism is also a principle maintained by anti-Zionists.
In the words of Arab anti-Zionist Prof. Edward Said, “What in Zionism served the no doubt justified ends of Jewish tradition, saving the Jews as a people from homelessness and antisemitism, was also a movement that entailed the near-total destruction of another people.”
Well-known Zionists also maintained that Zionism was a result of antisemitism. David Ben-Gurion said, “Zionism is the Jewish people’s answer to the antisemitism that has haunted us for centuries, offering a homeland where we can live in dignity.” Chaim Weizmann wrote, “Zionism was born of the pain and suffering of the Jewish people under the constant threat of antisemitism in Europe.”
Zionism's ideology
The ideology of Zionism does not maintain that the Jewish people have a right to refuge from antisemitism in their own land, but rather a right to their own land irrespective of any other factors or forces. A benefit of the Jewish people governing their own state is a permanent refuge for persecuted Jews, but refuge from antisemitism isn’t the cause of Zionism’s ideology.
The belief that the Jewish people have a right to the land of Israel stems from God’s promise to Abraham that his children will inherit the land. Whether secular or religious, Zionist or anti-Zionist, Jew or Gentile, it is undeniable as a historical fact, the Jewish people have maintained their rights to the land of Israel since Abraham’s time. Throughout Jewish history the Jewish axiom that the land of Israel belonged to the Jewish people stood alone from antisemitism and the many times Jews were persecuted by non-Jews.
In more modern times international recognition of the Jewish right to govern the land of Israel stemmed from the Jewish people’s historical connection to the land of Israel, not to the need of a refuge from antisemitic persecution. In the British Balfour Declaration, the statement committing to a Jewish homeland omitted any reference to antisemitism, “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object.”
The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 was a secret arrangement between Britain (represented by Mark Sykes) and France (represented by François Georges-Picot) to divide Ottoman territories, including Palestine, after World War I. Speaking about the imperative to create a Jewish state in Palestine, Mark Sykes said, “Palestine must be a home for the Jewish people, not merely a refuge, but a place where they can develop their national aspirations.”
The Peel Commission, officially known as the Palestine Royal Commission, was established in 1936 by the British government to investigate unrest in Mandatory Palestine and propose solutions. Chaired by Lord William Robert Peel, it published its report in July 1937, recommending the partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. “A Jewish state would give the Jews a chance to build up a national life of their own in a land which is sacred to them.”
Instead of the position that Zionism was brought about by antisemitism, it is more accurate to maintain that the modern political Zionist movement was fueled by antisemitism. It is the perspective that the immediate imperative of creating a Jewish state in the late 19th and early 20th Century can be understood as well as the Ben-Gurion and Weizmann quotes cited earlier.
An important point to remember about antisemitism is that although many antisemites, and, unfortunately, some naive Jews, claim the opposite, antisemitism is never caused by Jewish action, policies, or statements. Jew-hatred is caused by those who look at Jews disparagingly due to their own character and intellectual flaws. These people will hate Jews irrespective of Jewish action.
Whether a Jewish state exists or doesn’t exist, whether its policies align with the political Right or Left, and whether the Jewish state uses its military to defend itself or doesn’t, antisemites will reflexively judge the Jewish state critically, deserved or undeserved. Antisemites will employ a double standard in judging the Jewish state and will accuse it of motivations and actions it has neither held nor pursued.
Jewish history and the Israeli present situation demonstrate this to be true. Herzl misunderstood this point when he wrote, “The Jewish question still exists. It would be foolish to deny it. It is a remnant of the Middle Ages, which civilized nations do not even yet seem able to shake off, try as they will.... The only solution is our own state....Wherever we remain politically isolated, we are oppressed, and we shall continue to be oppressed until we have a place where we can develop our own nationality.”
Just as it is a mistake to conflate correlation with causation, it is a mistake to confuse acceleration of an idea or movement with causation. Assuming that Zionists were motivated to quickly find an immediate refuge from global persecution doesn’t mean that the Zionist ideology is based in a solution to antisemitism.
Zionism is misunderstood and the Zionist movement is delegitimized when its advocates confuse the need for a Jewish state with the Jewish right to a state. This mistake allows Zionism’s opponents to claim that other solutions can be found to antisemitism and there is no right or need for a Jewish state, especially in the land of Israel. Zionists must always be careful with their words when explaining Zionism.
The writer is a Zionist educator at institutions around the world. He recently published his book Zionism Today.