Origins and creation of the State of Israel: from political Zionism to independence

The State of Israel is the product of a process spanning six decades, from the First Zionist Congress in Basel (1897) to David Ben-Gurion’s declaration of independence (May 14, 1948). This process combines European Jewish nationalism, opportunistic British diplomacy (Balfour 1917), colonial mandate, mass immigration (aliyot), armed resistance, and postwar geopolitics. The Shoah (1941-1945) constituted the decisive accelerator that transformed the Zionist project from a minority utopia into a moral imperative in the eyes of the international community.

1. Political Zionism (1897-1917)

Modern Zionism was formally born with Theodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian journalist traumatized by the Dreyfus affair (1894). In 1896, he published 'Der Judenstaat' (The Jewish State), advocating for a Jewish nation-state as the only answer to European antisemitism. The First Zionist Congress was held in Basel on August 29, 1897, creating the World Zionist Organization (WZO). Herzl wrote in his diary: 'In Basel, I founded the Jewish State. If I said this aloud today, universal laughter would answer me. In five years perhaps, in fifty years surely, everyone will realize it.'

Zionism was not monolithic: political Zionism (Herzl), cultural Zionism (Ahad Ha'am, who insisted on Hebrew cultural renaissance), socialist Zionism (A.D. Gordon, the kibbutzim), revisionist Zionism (Jabotinsky, advocate of a state on both banks of the Jordan). These currents fought each other as much as they cooperated.

The first waves of immigration (aliyot) preceded even Herzl: the First Aliyah (1882-1903, approximately 25,000 people) was motivated by Russian pogroms. The Second Aliyah (1904-1914, approximately 35,000 people) brought future leaders: Ben-Gurion, Ben Zvi.

2. The Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate (1917-1939)

On November 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour addressed a letter to Lord Rothschild: 'His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.' This declaration was a masterpiece of calculated ambiguity: 'national home' (not 'state'), 'in Palestine' (not 'of Palestine'), and the crucial caveat: 'it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.'

British motivations were multiple: rallying American Jewish communities to the war effort, preempting the French in the Middle East (Sykes-Picot agreements, 1916), and creating a strategic ally near the Suez Canal. The promises simultaneously made to the Arabs by McMahon (Hussein-McMahon Correspondence, 1915-1916) contradicted the Balfour Declaration.

In 1920, the League of Nations entrusted Great Britain with the Mandate over Palestine. Article 2 of the Mandate incorporated the Balfour Declaration. Jewish immigration increased: Third Aliyah (1919-1923), Fourth Aliyah (1924-1929), Fifth Aliyah (1929-1939, fleeing Nazism — more than 200,000 people). Intercommunal tensions exploded: Jaffa riots (1921), Hebron massacre (1929, 67 Jews killed), Great Arab Revolt (1936-1939).

Facing the Arab revolt, the 1939 White Paper (MacDonald White Paper) drastically limited Jewish immigration to 75,000 people over 5 years — at the very moment when Europe's Jews most needed to flee. This document was experienced as a betrayal by the Yishuv (Jewish community of Palestine).

3. The Shoah and Radicalization (1939-1945)

The extermination of six million European Jews radically transformed the political equation. Zionism, which had been a minority movement even among Jews (many were Bundists, assimilationists, or anti-Zionist Orthodox), became self-evident for a majority. Camp survivors, gathered in displaced persons (DP) camps in Europe, often had nowhere to go: the United States maintained quotas, Great Britain blocked immigration to Palestine.

Clandestine immigration (Aliyah Bet) organized the transfer of survivors to Palestine despite the British blockade. The Exodus episode (July 1947), in which the British sent back 4,500 Shoah survivors to Germany, was a public relations disaster for London.

Jewish paramilitary organizations radicalized: the Haganah (Yishuv militia, led by Ben-Gurion), the Irgun (revisionist, led by Menachem Begin), and the Lehi/Stern Group (extreme, led by Yitzhak Shamir, future Prime Minister). The King David Hotel bombing (July 22, 1946, 91 dead) by the Irgun marked a turning point.

4. Partition and the Birth of Israel (1947-1949)

Britain, exhausted, referred the matter to the UN. The UNSCOP Commission proposed partition. On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 by 33 votes to 13 (10 abstentions): two states, one Jewish (56% of the territory for 33% of the population) and one Arab (43%), with Jerusalem under international administration (corpus separatum). The Jews accepted; the Arabs refused.

Civil war erupted immediately (December 1947). On May 14, 1948 (5 Iyar 5708), David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the independence of the State of Israel at the Tel Aviv Museum. The United States (Truman) recognized the state de facto 11 minutes later. The USSR recognized Israel de jure on May 17 — Stalin saw it as a means to weaken British influence in the Middle East and hoped for a socialist Israel.

On May 15, the armies of five Arab countries (Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon) invaded Israel. Against all expectations, Israel survived and expanded its territory beyond the partition plan. The 1949 armistices (Rhodes) established the armistice lines ('Green Line'), not recognized borders.

Major consequence: the Nakba ('catastrophe' in Arabic). Approximately 700,000 Palestinians were displaced or expelled. The 'Plan Dalet' (March 1948) of the Haganah, whose interpretation is still debated, aimed to secure the areas assigned to the Jewish state. Massacres occurred (Deir Yassin, April 9, 1948). The refugees would never return: Israel adopted the Law of Return (1950) for Jews but refused the right of return for Palestinians.