A Cause in Search of Itself: American Zionism After the State

Two weeks before the 1947 United Nations vote to partition Palestine, the lead editorial in the New Palestine attacked “foolish speculation” that the creation of a Jewish state would “absolve the organized Zionists of the world, particularly in America, from further responsibilities. On the contrary, the real task for the ZOA and for Zionists throughout the Diaspora will only be starting.” ¹ In the light of historic Zionist philosophy, one could not argue with that statement. Zionism had never seen the establishment of a political state as its only goal; rather, that state, once established, together with the movement would become the chief instrumentalities for the rejuvenation of the Jewish people. Israel would be a haven for the persecuted and a refuge from anti-Semitism, but that would only be the first step in the process of creating a modern, thriving Jewish life for those settling in the homeland as well as for those who chose to remain in the Diaspora.