Why was the Jewish State set up?

Answer 1

Answer 1

Many Jews wanted to have their own country. Many countries wanted to get rid of Jews. It was decided that Palestine should become the Jewish state of Israel and that the Palestinians should enjoy life without their own country.

Answer 2

This answer depends on whether you are discussing the Zionist Jewish views on why they wanted a state or the International Community's views on why there should be a Jewish State. In neither context was there ever an intent to dispossess the native Palestinians from their land. The conflict that Arabs started in order to prevent Jewish Nationalist aspirations were what eventually resulted in the flight of the Palestinians.

Zionist Views:

There are two operative parts to the State of Israel, firstly the creation of a Jewish State and secondly its location and borders.

1) Why a Jewish State: Herzl explained quite well that the European concept of a nation-state was dependent on the idea that all of the people in any particular nation were of the same ethnic stock and heritage. Jews were branded by this system to be "the Other" and were regarded at best as possible equals and at worse as traitors, spies, thieves, and fifth columns. When the Dreyfus Affair turned out marches in Paris that said "Death to the Jews" on account of a kangaroo court against a particular guiltless Jew, it became clear that the Jew could not be integrated into Europe. After the Holocaust, the strongest proof that the Jew and the European Nation-State were irreconcilable, this view persists. In Europe, it is now directed at the Muslims since the Jews are not large enough of a threat to the European System. Unlike Muslims, though, which can return to their countries of origin if the discrimination becomes intolerable, the Jews did not have such a place. This is why the Jewish State is necessary. Since it came into existence it has accepted Jewish political refugees from over 50 nations and flown missions at its own expense to rescue Jews from at least 10 nations.

2) Why Palestine: Ahad Ha'am explains that the Jewish Soul is intrinsically connected to his history and in the same way that a German-American can never be as properly German as a German in Germany, the People of Israel can never be as properly Jewish if they are not in the Land of Israel. The relics in that land speak to a Jewish sensibility and character. There are also religious reasons as expounded by Rav Avraham Kook which posit that the development of a Jewish State in Israel hastens the arrival of the Messiah. There are additional political reasons why Palestine and not Europe. As explained above, the European Culture is strongly anti-Other and making a Jewish State there would have fostered much more contempt and alienation (ironically).

International Community:

It is important to note that Jews did not "receive" Israel as if it were some sort of pre-wrapped gift. Israel was created in 1948 by its own leaders and citizens. What the United Nations and the International Community did provide was the legal legitimacy for the Jews to declare a State. There are several reasons why they felt this way.

1) Be Gone & Good Riddance: (written by someone else) Many nations looked on with favor and relief, assuming that all Jews would eventually migrate there, and the nations would finally be rid of them. But even that fond hope was not enough for most Muslim nations, who bitterly opposed the creation of Israel, and after 64 years, still do.

2) Holocaust Pity: The Holocaust bore out two major truths as concerned the Jewish people. The first was that without a government loyal to their interests, they could easily be targeted against and brutally murdered. The second major truth was that such an event was no longer a hypothetical since 6 million Jews were intentionally mass-murdered by what had previously been seen as one of the most progressive modern countries: Germany.

3) Middle East Control: Although it seems odd to say it today, both the United States and the Soviet Union believed that Israel could be converted to "their side" in the Cold War. Given that any Jewish State in the Arab World would be isolated, it would be natural for such a state to create a strategic relationship with one of the major powers. Additionally, a Jewish State might be able to influence neighboring Arab states and make them more pliant as concerns oil shipments. Both the USA and USSR supported the Creation of the State of Israel for these strategic reasons.

4) Solidarity with the Oppressed: Many nations in Latin America supported Israel because they sympathized with the oppressed Jewish people and saw the Independence of Israel as akin to their wars against Spain/Portugal and the internal fights for more indigenous equality.

5) Because It's the Right Thing to Do: There was certainly support for a Jewish State because some just saw it as the proper thing to return Palestine to the Jews. Churchill, who was no longer Prime Minister, held many pro-Zionist views out of respect for the Jews and their contribution to that region of the world.

6) Diplomatic Pressure: Both the United States and Soviet Union pressured their allies and third world countries to support the United Nations Resolution. This does not make the vote any less valid, but is worth noting.

Answer 2

Answer 1

Jews have often been severely persecuted in many different nations, and eventually they began to realize that no matter how modern and sophisticated the world became, there would never be a place outside of their own historic nation where they could live in peace without persecution.

Answer 2

To protect the Jewish people from the non-Jewish world which has consistently historically attacked them, murdered them, forcibly converted them, and made their lives a living hell in some cases. The Holocaust proved that even modern Western countries could be prone to such malicious Anti-Semitic Activities.