![Theodor Herzl portrait](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Theodor_Herzl_portrait.jpg)
The principal common goal of
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
was to establish a
homeland for the Jewish people
A homeland for the Jewish people is an idea rooted in Jewish history, religion, and culture. The Jewish aspiration to return to Zion, generally associated with divine redemption, has suffused Jewish religious thought since the destruction o ...
. Zionism was produced by various philosophers representing different approaches concerning the objective and path that Zionism should follow.
Political Zionism
Political Zionism was led by
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern p ...
and
Max Nordau
Max Simon Nordau (born ''Simon Maximilian Südfeld''; 29 July 1849 – 23 January 1923) was a Zionist leader, physician, author, and social critic.
He was a co-founder of the Zionist Organization together with Theodor Herzl, and president or vic ...
in Russia. This
Zionist Organization
The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...
approach espoused at the
First Zionist Congress
The First Zionist Congress ( he, הקונגרס הציוני הראשון) was the inaugural congress of the Zionist Organization (ZO) held in Basel (Basle), from August 29 to August 31, 1897. 208 delegates and 26 press correspondents attende ...
aimed at establishing for the Jewish people a publicly and legally assured home in
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
, which among other items, included initial steps to obtain governmental grants from the established powers that controlled the area.
Nathan Birnbaum
Nathan Birnbaum ( he, נתן בירנבוים; pseudonyms: "Mathias Acher", "Dr. N. Birner", "Mathias Palme", "Anton Skart", "Theodor Schwarz", and "Pantarhei"; 16 May 1864 – 2 April 1937) was an Austrian writer and journalist, Jewish thinker a ...
, a Jew from Vienna was the original father of Political Zionism, yet ever since he defected away from his own movement Theodor Herzl has become known as the face of modern Zionism. In 1890, Birnbaum coined the term "Zionism" and the phrase "Political Zionism" two years later. Birnbaum published a periodical titled 'Self Emancipation' which espoused "the idea of a Jewish renaissance and the resettlement of Palestine." In this idea, Birnbaum was most influenced by Leon Pinsker.
Practical Zionism
![Leon Pinsker2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Leon_Pinsker2.jpg)
Known in Hebrew as ''Tzionut Ma'asit'' ( he, ציונות מעשית), Practical Zionism was led by
Moshe Leib Lilienblum
Moshe Leib Lilienblum ( yi, משה לייב לילינבלום; October 22, 1843 in Keidany, Kovno Governorate – February 12, 1910 in Odessa) was a Jewish scholar and author. He also used the pseudonym Zelaphchad Bar-Chuschim ( he, צלפח ...
and
Leon Pinsker
yi, לעאָן פינסקער
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Tomaszów Lubelski, Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire
, death_date =
, death_place = Odessa, Russian Empire
, known_for = Zionism
, occupation = Physician, political activ ...
and molded by the
Hovevei Zion
Hovevei Zion ( he, חובבי ציון, lit. ''hose who areLovers of Zion''), also known as Hibbat Zion ( he, חיבת ציון), refers to a variety of organizations which were founded in 1881 in response to the Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian ...
organization. This approach opined that firstly there is a need in practical terms to implement Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel,
Aliyah
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
, and settlement of the land, as soon as possible, even if a charter over the Land is not obtained.
Synthetic Zionism
Led by
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israel ...
,
Leo Motzkin
Leo Motzkin (also ''Mozkin''; 1867 – 7 November 1933) was a Ukrainian Zionist leader. A leader of the World Zionist Congress and numerous Jewish and Zionist organizations, Motzkin was a key organizer of the Jewish delegation to the 1919 Paris P ...
and
Nahum Sokolow
Nahum ben Joseph Samuel Sokolow ( he, נחום ט' סוקולוב ''Nachum ben Yosef Shmuel Soqolov'', yi, סאָקאָלאָוו; ) was a Zionist leader, author, translator, and a pioneer of Hebrew journalism.
Biography
Nahum Sokolow was bor ...
, an approach that advocated a combination of the preceding two approaches.
Labor Zionism
![Ber Borochov](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Ber_Borochov.jpg)
Another division between these generic types of Zionism derives from ideological differences that do not necessarily have to do with Zionism itself, but rather a comprehensive world view held by the people of these different groups regarding the character of the future Jewish State. Led by
Nachman Syrkin
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Mogilev, Russian Empire (now Belarus)
, death_date =
, death_place = New York City, U.S.
, spouse = Bassya Syrkin (née Osnos)
, partner =
, party =
, ...
,
Ber Borochov,
Haim Arlosoroff, and
Berl Katznelson
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Babruysk, Russian Empire (now Belarus)
, death_date =
, death_place = Jerusalem
, spouse =
, partner =
, party = Mapai
, children =
, kno ...
: As opposed to Practical and Political Zionism, Labor Zionism desired to establish an agriculturist society not on the basis of a private-bourgeoisie society, but rather on the basis of moral equality.
Liberal Zionism
![Mishmar HaEmek](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Mishmar_HaEmek.JPG)
General Zionism (or Liberal Zionism) was initially the dominant trend within the Zionist movement from the First Zionist Congress in 1897 until after the First World War. General Zionists identified with the liberal European middle class to which many Zionist leaders such as Herzl and
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israel ...
aspired. Liberal Zionism, although not associated with any single party in modern Israel, remains a strong trend in Israeli politics advocating free market principles, democracy and adherence to human rights. Their political arm was one of the ancestors of the modern-day
Likud
Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...
.
Kadima
Kadima ( he, קדימה, lit=''Forward'') was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan ...
, the main centrist party during the 2000s that split from Likud and is now defunct, however, did identify with many of the fundamental policies of Liberal Zionist ideology, advocating among other things the need for Palestinian statehood in order to form a more democratic society in Israel, affirming the free market, and calling for equal rights for Arab citizens of Israel. In 2013,
Ari Shavit
Ari Shavit (; born 16 November 1957) is an Israeli reporter and writer. Shavit was a senior correspondent at the left-of-center Israeli newspaper ''Haaretz'' before he resigned when a pattern of sexual misconduct came to public attention.
A sel ...
suggested that the success of the then-new
Yesh Atid
Yesh Atid ( he, יֵשׁ עָתִיד, , There Is a Future) is a liberal political party in Israel. Founded by Yair Lapid in 2012, it seeks to represent what it considers the centre of Israeli society: the secular middle class. It focuses prima ...
party (representing secular, middle-class interests) embodied the success of "the new General Zionists."
Dror Zeigerman
Dror Zeigerman (, born 15 May 1948) is an Israeli former politician and diplomat who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1981 and 1984, and as ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1998 until 2000.
Biography
Born in Ness Ziona th ...
writes that the traditional positions of the General Zionists—"liberal positions based on social justice, on law and order, on pluralism in matters of State and Religion, and on moderation and flexibility in the domain of foreign policy and security"—are still favored by important circles and currents within certain active political parties.
Philosopher
Carlo Strenger
Carlo Strenger ( he, קרלו שטרנגר; July 16, 1958 – October 25, 2019) was a Swiss and Israeli psychologist, philosopher, existential psychoanalyst and public intellectual who served as professor of psychology and philosophy at Tel Aviv U ...
describes a modern-day version of Liberal Zionism (supporting his vision of "Knowledge-Nation Israel"), rooted in the original ideology of Herzl and
Ahad Ha'am, that stands in contrast to both the
romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
of the right and the ''Netzah Yisrael'' of the ultra-Orthodox. It is marked by a concern for democratic values and human rights, freedom to criticize government policies without accusations of disloyalty, and rejection of excessive religious influence in public life. "Liberal Zionism celebrates the most authentic traits of the Jewish tradition: the willingness for incisive debate; the contrarian spirit of ''davka''; the refusal to bow to authoritarianism." Liberal Zionists see that "Jewish history shows that Jews need and are entitled to a nation-state of their own. But they also think that this state must be a
liberal democracy
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into diff ...
, which means that there must be strict equality before the law independent of religion, ethnicity or gender."
Revisionist Zionism
![Zeev Jabotinsky](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Zeev_Jabotinsky.jpg)
Revisionist Zionism was initially led by
Ze'ev Jabotinsky
Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...
and later by his successor
Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...
(later
Prime Minister of Israel
The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...
), and emphasized the romantic elements of Jewish nationality, and the historical heritage of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel as the constituent basis for the Zionist national idea and the establishment of the Jewish State. They supported
liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
, particularly
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...
, and opposed Labor Zionism and the establishing of a communist society in the Land of Israel. Revisionist Zionism opposed any
restraint in relation to Arab violence and supported firm military action against the Arabs that had attacked the Jewish Community in
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
. Due to that position, a faction of the Revisionist leadership split from that movement in order to establish the underground
Irgun
Irgun • Etzel
, image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px
, caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...
. This stream is also categorized as supporters of
Greater Israel
Greater Israel ( he, ארץ ישראל השלמה; ''Eretz Yisrael Hashlema'') is an expression, with several different biblical and political meanings over time. It is often used, in an irredentist fashion, to refer to the historic or desired bo ...
.
Religious Zionism
Led by
Yitzchak Yaacov Reines
Yitzchak Yaacov Reines ( he, יצחק יעקב ריינס, Isaac Jacob Reines), (October 27, 1839 – August 20, 1915) was a Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi and the founder of the Mizrachi Religious Zionist Movement, one of the earliest movements o ...
, founder of
Mizrachi (religious Zionism)
The Mizrachi ( he, תנועת הַמִזְרָחִי, ''Tnuat HaMizrahi'') is a religious Zionist organization founded in 1902 in Vilnius at a world conference of religious Zionists called by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaacov Reines. Bnei Akiva, which was ...
and by
Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH (), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one ...
. Religious Zionism maintained that Jewish nationality and the establishment of the State of Israel is a religious duty derived from the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
. As opposed to some parts of the Jewish non-secular community that claimed that the redemption of the Land of Israel will occur only after the coming of the
messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
, who will fulfill this aspiration, they maintained that human acts of redeeming the Land will bring about the messiah, as their slogan states: "The land of Israel for the people of Israel according to the Torah of Israel" ( he, ארץ ישראל לעם ישראל לפי תורת ישראל). Today they are commonly referred as the "Religious Nationalists" or the "
settlers
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
", and are also categorized as supporters of
Greater Israel
Greater Israel ( he, ארץ ישראל השלמה; ''Eretz Yisrael Hashlema'') is an expression, with several different biblical and political meanings over time. It is often used, in an irredentist fashion, to refer to the historic or desired bo ...
.
Cultural Zionism
Led by
Ahad Ha'am (Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg). Cultural Zionism opined that the fulfillment of the
national revival
National revival or national awakening is a period of ethnic self-consciousness that often precedes a political movement for national liberation but that can take place at a time when independence is politically unrealistic. In the history of Eur ...
of the Jewish People should be achieved by creating a cultural center in the Land of Israel and an educative center to the
Jewish Diaspora
The Jewish diaspora ( he, תְּפוּצָה, təfūṣā) or exile (Hebrew: ; Yiddish: ) is the dispersion of Israelites or Jews out of their ancient ancestral homeland (the Land of Israel) and their subsequent settlement in other parts of t ...
, which together will be a bulwark against the danger of assimilation that threatens the existence of the Jewish People.
Revolutionary Zionism
Led by
Avraham Stern,
Israel Eldad
Israel Eldad () (11 November 1910 – 22 January 1996), was an Israeli Revisionist Zionist philosopher and member of the Jewish underground group Lehi in Mandatory Palestine.
Biography
Israel Scheib (later Eldad) was born in 1910 in Pidvoloch ...
and
Uri Zvi Greenberg
Uri Zvi Greenberg ( he, אוּרִי צְבִי גְּרִינְבֵּרְג; September 22, 1896 – May 8, 1981; also spelled Uri Zvi Grinberg) was an acclaimed Modern Hebrew poetry, Israeli poet, journalist and politician who wrote in Yiddish ...
. Revolutionary Zionism viewed Zionism as a revolutionary struggle to ingather the Jewish exiles from the Diaspora, revive the Hebrew language as a spoken vernacular and reestablish a Jewish kingdom in the Land of Israel. As members of
Lehi during the 1940s, many adherents of Revolutionary Zionism engaged in
guerilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tac ...
against the British administration in an effort to end the
British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to:
* Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan.
* Mandatory P ...
and pave the way for Jewish political independence. Following the State of Israel's establishment leading figures of this stream argued that the creation of the state of Israel was never the goal of Zionism but rather a tool to be used in realizing the goal of Zionism, which they called ''Malkhut Yisrael'' (the Kingdom of Israel). Revolutionary Zionists are often mistakenly included among Revisionist Zionists but differ ideologically in several areas. While Revisionists were for the most part secular nationalists who hoped to achieve a Jewish state that would exist as a commonwealth within the British Empire, Revolutionary Zionists advocated a form of national-messianism that aspired towards a vast Jewish kingdom with a rebuilt
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...
.
[Israel Eldad, ''Israel: The Road to Full Redemption'', p. 37 (Hebrew) and Israel Eldad]
"Temple Mount in Ruins"
/ref> Revolutionary Zionism generally espoused anti-imperialist
Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...
political views and included both Right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
and Left-wing nationalists among its adherents. This stream is also categorized as supporters of Greater Israel
Greater Israel ( he, ארץ ישראל השלמה; ''Eretz Yisrael Hashlema'') is an expression, with several different biblical and political meanings over time. It is often used, in an irredentist fashion, to refer to the historic or desired bo ...
.
Reform Zionism
Reform Zionism, also known as Progressive Zionism, is the ideology of the Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
arm of the Reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...
or Progressive branch of Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
. The Association of Reform Zionists of America is the American Reform movement's Zionist organization. Their mission “endeavors to make Israel fundamental to the sacred lives and Jewish identity
Jewish identity is the objective or subjective state of Identity (social science), perceiving oneself as a Jew and as relating to being Jews, Jewish. Under a broader definition, Jewish identity does not depend on whether a person is regarded as ...
of Reform Jews. As a Zionist organization, the association champions activities that further enhance Israel as a pluralistic, just and democratic Jewish state.” In Israel, Reform Zionism is associated with the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism
The Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ; he, התנועה הרפורמית – יהדות מתקדמת בישראל) is the organizational branch of Progressive Judaism in Israel, and a member organization of the World Union ...
.
See also
* Anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestin ...
*Christian Zionism
Christian Zionism is a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 were in accordance with Bible prophecy. The term began to be used in the mid-20th century i ...
* Neo-Zionism
Neo-Zionism ( he, ניאו-ציונות) is a right-wing, nationalistic and religious ideology that appeared in Israel following the Six-Day War in 1967 and the capture of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Neo-Zionists consider these lands part o ...
*Non-Zionism
Non-Zionism is the political stance of Jews who are "willing to help support Jewish settlement in Palestine... but will not come on aliyah."David Polish, ''Prospects for Post-Holocaust Zionism'', in Moshe David (editor), ''Zionism in Transition'' ...
* Post-Zionism
Post-Zionism refers to the opinions of some Israelis, diaspora Jews and others, particularly in academia, that Zionism fulfilled its ideological mission with the formation of the modern State of Israel in 1948, and that Zionist ideology should ...
References
* Zion and State: Nation, Class and the Shaping of Modern Israel by Mitchell Cohen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Types of Zionism
Zionism