How has the religion of Judaism influenced and contributed to Zionism?

Answer 1

When Zionism was first debated, it was debated outside of the Jewish religious circles. It came exclusively from members of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) and it was created to mirror the various nationalisms of Europe, such as German and Italian nationalism. Zionism described the Jews as a nation or people, with the particular work Judensvolk - Jewish people. Herzl, Ahad Ha'am, Jabotinsky, Trumpeldor, and Weizmann and other leading Zionists were all (1) Atheist or Agnostic, (2) never used scriptural references when discussing the Jewish State - except as evidence that Jews used to live in the Holy Land and their longing for it, (3) never sought rabbinical or community approval, and (4) wished to create a democratic state in violation of Halakha (which provides for the theocratic monarchy). Zionism only used Judaism in the most general sense, such as using Jewish symbols such as the blue and white from the tallit to form a flag or using the Jewish star as a national symbol.

In fact, only a small minority of religious Jews accepted Zionism before Israeli independence, led by Rav. Avraham Kook in the 1930s. He claimed that Zionism was supportable as an intermediate stepping stone to an eventual Jewish religious state. However, Rav Kook and the Religious Zionist movement did have increasing sway in Israel after 1967 when it became tied with Israeli government initiatives to populate the West Bank and Judaize East Jerusalem (in response to the Jewish depopulation during the Jordanian Occupation). The Religious Zionists use the religious narrative from Rav Kook, but take it one step further. In many cases, any Israeli national policy which would controvert the rise of the theocratic Jewish state in all of Mandatory Palestine should be opposed.

Most Orthodox Jews do not consider Israel to be a Jewish State, but rather a non-religious state run by Jews. It is worth noting that religious Judaism has also critiqued Zionism and sees the state apparatus as something designed to remove the uniqueness of the Jewish mission. Some take this to its farthest extreme and declare Israel to be a blasphemy without having a Messiah.

Liberal Judaism also has mixed opinions on Zionism. Some Jews have replaced devotion to God and religion with a strong patriotism to Israel and Zionism as its founding ideology and history. Other Liberal Jews take a view that Judaism supports liberal thought and development and so supporting a democracy like Israel is worth doing. Still others reject Zionism as a valid political avenue for Jewish self-realization and development.