Why did the Jews want to establish a national homeland in the middle east?

Answer 1

Here are some of the reasons.

Israel is important to Jews because God promised it to Jacob (Genesis ch.28), the father of the Israelites, and his descendants. Jacob was renamed Israel by God (Genesis ch.35); and the Israelites lived in Israel during the era of the Patriarchs (220 years), during the era from Joshua until the First Destruction (850 years), during the Second Temple era (420 years) and afterwards. They remained a majority in the land for another 300 years after the Second Destruction; and a minority of Jews remained there throughout the ensuing centuries.

Israel had been the site of the First Temple, built by King Solomon; the dynasty of King David; the Second Temple, built by Ezra; and the Hasmonean Dynasty. It was where the Hebrew Prophets lived, and where the Mishna (Oral Torah) was codified. Also, many of the Torah's commands apply only in Israel.

Answer 2

Partly because of the persecutions that they were subject to, but also because God told them to (Deuteronomy 1:6-8). See also:

Why is Israel important to the Jewish people?

Answer 3

According to historical, religious, legal, and political grounds, the territory of the British Mandate of Israel at least partially, if not entirely, belongs to the Jewish people.

1) Historically: The Jews have an undeniable presence in the land from at least 700 BCE until 70 CE and this is proven not only by the Biblical account, but from Assyrian Ruins, Babylonian documents, Hellenistic inscriptions, and Roman volumes. Jews had a continuous presence in the land from 70 CE until the present day (even though they were nowhere near the majority) even though they were forcibly deported from the territory. The fact that they survived, as opposed to the Arameans or Hittites who were similarly exiled does not illegitimate their claims. For more on the history, please see the Related Question.

In addition to the population-part of the historical claim, Jews have physical ruins and cities that are very sacred to them in the territory of the British Mandate of Palestine. The city of Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in the Jewish Bible. The city of Nablus used to be the Northern Metropolis of Shechem. Hebron was the first capital of Ancient Israel whence Saul ruled and David ruled until he conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites. Even more recent sites like Masada document the Jewish presence and struggle to persevere.

2) Religiously: The Jewish claim to have a connection to the land of the British Mandate of Palestine is firmly grounded in their religion. Jews as early as the Babylonian exiles wrote about returning to the land because God had promised it to them. According to the Pentateuch, God promised Abraham that piece of land. (This promise is even acknowledged in the Qur'an 5:20-21, 17:104, and 26:59.) Many Jewish Holy Sites are in Israel such as the Kotel Hama'aravi (Western Wall).

3) Legally: By international law, the Ottoman Empire took the territory from the Seljuks and Abbassids by internationally recognized conquest. The territory was ceded to the British as a Mandate by the Ottomans as a term of surrender in World War I. (Even though the British had promised the territory to both the Arabs and Jews during the War, neither promise is legally binding.) According to the terms of the Mandate, even though the British were in control, the League of Nations had official jurisdiction. In 1947, the British gave direct authority to the League of Nations' successor, the United Nations, in accordance with the terms of their Mandate. The UN passed the 1947 Partition Plan that gave both a Jewish State and an Arab State the Right to Declare Statehood. The fact that the Arabs decided not to immediately declare such a state does not make the Israeli declaration any less valid. (It is important to note that Palestine did declare statehood on these grounds in 1988, which further cements the legality of this view.)

4) Politically: Jews invested a lot in building the political and physical infrastructure of the land even before they had control. Jews built farms, trained military brigades, created political parties, studied government, and defended themselves. This created a system that was able to repel the Arab Attacks in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9, secure expanded borders in the Six Day War of 1967, and hold those borders in the Arab-Israeli War of 1973. Israelis were actually able to exert control over this territory.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive, but should capture the sentiment of the question.

Answer 4

God claims it for us.

• Genesis 12:7 And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said: 'Unto your seed I will give this land.'
  
• Genesis 13:14-17 And the Lord said unto Abram... 'Lift up your eyes, and look...northward and southward and eastward and westward. All the land which you see, to you I will give it, and to your seed forever...Arise, walk through the land..for unto you I will give it.'
  
• Genesis 15:7 and 18 And He said unto him: 'I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur,...to give you this land to inherit it'....On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'Unto your seed I have given this land'...
  
• Genesis 17:8,18,19 And I will give unto you (Abraham), and to your seed after you...all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. ...And Abraham said unto God: 'would that Ishmael might live in Your presence!' And God said: 'No; Sarah shall bear you a son; and you shall name him Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.'
  
• Genesis 21:2,3,12 And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son...And Abraham...named his son Isaac....And God said unto Abraham...'through Isaac shall it be called your seed.'
  
• Genesis 26:1-3 And Isaac went unto Abimelech...And the Lord appeared to him, and said...'Sojourn in this land...unto your seed I will give all these lands.'
  
• In Genesis ch.25: Isaac has two sons, Jacob and Esau. In Genesis 28:13,14: And, behold, the Lord stood beside him (Jacob), and said: 'I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your (grand)father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you are laying, to you I will give it, and to your seed...and you shall spread to the west, east, north, and south.'
• Genesis 35:9-12 And God appeared unto Jacob...and He called his name Israel...And God said unto him...'the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to you I will give it, and to your seed.'
  
• Genesis 50:24 And Joseph said unto his brothers (in Egypt): 'I am dying; but God will surely remember you, and bring you...unto the land which He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.'
  
• Exodus 3:7,8 And the Lord said (to Moses): 'I have seen the affliction of My people in Egypt, and ... I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land...unto the place of the Canaanites'...
  
• Exodus 6:6-8 Say unto the children of Israel: 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians...And I will bring you in to the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for an inheritance.'
  
• Numbers 33:51-54 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say....'unto you I have given the land to possess it; and you shall inherit the land'...
  
• Deuteronomy 1:6-8 The Lord our God spoke unto us in Horeb (Sinai), saying....'Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.'
  

See also:Facts about Israel (and the links at the end of the Answer)

The conflict over Israel (and the links there too)

What a Muslim scholar says

Answer 5

The Jews claimed Israel based on The Bible.

The state of Israel was given to them in 1948 by the U.N.

Answer 6

It is theirs. G-d promised them a land flowing with milk and honey. And he keeps his promises.

Answer 7

Autonomy is the desire of ALL nations. The Ancient Hebrews were no different.

Answer 8

Because antisemetic beliefs

Answer 9

The temple in Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish world until the year 70, when Imperial Rome destroyed the temple while putting down the first great Jewish revolt. Rome destroyed Jerusalem, exiled the surviving Jews, and renamed the land Palestine after putting down the second great revolt in 135-136. Large parts of the Jewish liturgy remember these disasters in one way or the other. For example, the traditional daily prayers include prayers for the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. This keeps the memory of the exile alive to this day, and renews the bond between Jews and the traditional Jewish homeland. The earlier Babylonian exile created a foundation of liturgical elements with similar themes on which the more recent liturgy built.