Comparable to the state of New Jersey in size and a population slightly over 7.5 million (7,465,500 inhabitants), Israel is a land of immeasurable beauty, diverse cultures/peoples, and topography. A land of spiritual and historical relevance as revered in biblical scriptures, from an infrastructural standpoint it has been and continues to be the site of much controversy, confusion, and tragic violence. In modern times this sacred land has become an integral constituent deeply enmeshed in the contentious Middle East Crisis – a crisis primarily fueled by the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Another crisis just as paramount is the perception, importance, and status of Jewish statehood, amongst the Jewish community, from a political and religious/spiritual standpoint. The Jewish State: The Struggle for Israel’s Soul by American born-Israeli writer/political theorist, and philosopher, Yoram Hazony, tackles this crisis which in effect commenced with Zionism’s inception.
Born in 1964 in Rehovot, Israel, Hazony studied at Princeton (BA – East Asian Studies, 1986) and Rutgers (PhD – Political Philosophy, 1993). Presently he is Provost and Senior Fellow for the Shalem Center’s Institute of Philosophy, Political Theory, and Religion (PPR). An academic research institute co founded in 1994 by Hazony and located in Jerusalem, the Shalem Center’s primary focus is Zionist history/ideas, moral and political thought, economic and social policy, democratic theory, and Biblical archaeology (shalem.org). The author of numerous articles which have appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, Ha’aretz, etc, Hazony served as an advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his first term in office (1991-94). Zionism is an international, political movement which advocates the existence and establishment of a sovereign, Jewish national homeland/state. Under the auspices of its founding father, Austro-Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl, the movement was the foundational impetus for early 19th century Jewish migration to Israel (then the Ottoman Empire) and its subsequent establishment as a state on May 14, 1948.
Equally celebrated and reviled, The Jewish State was published in September 2000. Spanning 433 pages with thirteen chapters and divided into three parts, it asserts Hazony’s primary thesis/concern that post-Zionism, drastically different from its parent Zionism, in essence has catapulted Israel into a religious/ spiritual as well as political quagmire and malaise. The book, two fold in purpose, highlights the history of Jewish statehood and the feats, efforts ideologies of Herzl, David Ben Gurion, Joseph Trumpeldor , Golda Meir, Hannah Senesh, and other Zionist pioneers. At the same time it provides an exposure on their contemporary assailants or on those opposed to the establishment of a sovereign, Jewish state – the Jewish intellectual community. Jewish intellectuals, primarily from Germany, Hazony asserts laid the foundation for post-Zionism which does not follow the original tenets of Herzl’s/Gurion’s Zionism. Such departure from original Zionist/Jewish statehood ideology can be seen in various aspects of life in Israel – education, politics, the legal system, and the military. Although national security has its importance/priority, Hazony contends Jewish statehood has been relegated.
“This book seeks to achieve two aims. First, I hope to persuade the reader that the idea of the Jewish state is under systematic attack from its own cultural and intellectual establishment. I am not, of course, speaking of an effort directed at Israel’s physical existence but rather of one leveled against Israel’s legal, political, and moral status as the state of Jewish people. Second, I trace the history of the struggle over the idea of the Jewish state, with the hope that this will offer some clues as to how we arrived at this juncture and where we can go from there (Hazony, p. xxvii).”
Who comprised this relatively unknown intellectual movement against Zionism and Herzl’s quest for Jewish identity/state of mind and what was the impetus for their motivations? Gershom Scholem, Hannah Arent, Martin Buber, Judah Magnes, even Albert Einstein according to Hazony were Jewish intellectuals /influential thinkers who bitterly opposed Zionism and used the Hebrew University as their podium/incubator/backbone to espouse their beliefs. Founded in 1925, the Hebrew University’s social and humanities faculties laid the foundation for the establishments of other academic institutions throughout Israel. Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freund, Chaim Weizmann, and Martin Buber were among the University’s First Board of Governors. According to Hazony, many Western European intellectuals and civic leaders, in particular German, viewed Jewish statehood/sovereignty “as an immoral departure from what they saw as the Jewish ideal of national disempowerment and statelessness (p. xxviii).” In Chapter Five entitled, ”Herzl As Statesman: The Creation of a Jewish State of Mind”, Hazony elaborates:
“UNTIL PUBLICATION OF HERZL’S The Jewish State, the rejection of Jewish nationalism by the Jews of the West had been a highly theoretical position, used as a heuristic to demonstrate how marvelously far Judaism had progressed since biblical times. Not only had there been no actual Jewish state to oppose, but there had been virtually no one seriously proposing one. But with the publication of Herzl’s pamphlet in February 1896, and with his trip to Constantinople to discuss Turkish support for the plan a few months later, Herzl succeeded in making hearts stop throughout Western Jewry….. Herzl’s efforts were immediately understood to be a mortal blow to the world they had created for themselves. What difference would it make how much they emphasized that their Judaism was merely a faith, without political implications? The very existence of a Jewish state–even the existence of a political movement for the creation of one–would render all their protestations meaningless (p. 117).“
Furthermore, they vociferously supported a bi-national state committed to the best and overall interests of all citizens (Arabs, etc.) as opposed to just the Jewish people, because they believed such particularism would only lead to future strife and turmoil.
The German intellectual faction’s rejection could almost be seen as an irony. Herzl’s quest was fueled by support from Russian Jewry, but it was the backing of Western Jewry – the Jews of German central Europe (Prague, Berlin, Vienna), in particular the elite/intellectuals – were all his hopes lay. He likened them as kindred spirits and the guarantor of success for Jewish state and the Jewish people as a whole. Hazony quotes Herzl as saying “All my love goes to them….I want to see their breed multiply…because I see in the inherent future of the strength of the Jews. They are, in other words the likes of myself (p.181).” German Zionism and its intellectual constituents were not in tune with Herzl’s form of Zionism.
“Yet German Zionism during the years of the first Zionist congresses was not composed of men such as Herzl—intellectuals who had rejected the emancipation and who ultimately saw their own place in Palestine constructing a Jewish state…German Zionism consisted principally of individuals who, though committed to the idea of a Jewish state, nevertheless conceived of it as a solution to other people’s problem (p. 181).”
As Herzl was the helmsman for the Zionist movement, Martin Buber, a German intellectual and a focal point in the book, could likewise be considered that for the post/anti-Zionist movement. Herzl’s compatriot (Austrian descent as well), Buber was a philosopher, and ardent proponent of philosophy of dialogue and/or ontology, a branch of religious existentialism. Born an observant Jew, Buber broke away to pursue his career in philosophic studies. From 1930 to 1933 he served as an honorary Professor at the University of Frankfurt at Main and resigned when Hitler came to power. He moved to Palestine/Israel with his wife, Paula, in 1938 – a migration Hazony contends was more for professional purposes than a matter of pure choice (p. 195). While at Hebrew University, Buber, not only was on the First Board of Governors for Hebrew University, he lectured on subjects such as sociology and anthropology.
Initially, Buber was an ardent supporter of the Zionist movement and considered, according to Hazony, to be “Herzl’s most gifted follower “yet would later go on to be “the foremost theoretician of the opposition of the Jewish state (xxviii).” The political and cultural direction of the movement was the divisive point for the two. Some historians claim that although they disagreed, they were mutually respectful of each other’s position. Hazony on the other hand purports it was contentious and even personally bitter with the ramifications being the quagmire which exists today regarding Jewish statehood (xxx). In arguing against the establishment of a Jewish state (in particular outlined in Chapter 7 – Martin Buber and the Rejection of the Jewish State), Buber attributes Zionism and its “belief in the efficacy of power” as influenced by Hitler (p. 6). Such an equation, believes Hazony, empowered other intellectuals such as Yeshayahu Liebowitz, an esteemed philosopher, to link Zionism and Nazism. He declared the Israeli armed forces as “Judeo-Nazi’s” and believed that ultimately Jewish sovereignty would bring about the “mass expulsion and slaughter of the Arab population (p. 6).”
Post Zionism in essence, according to Hazony, is the offspring of Martin Buber’s revenge against Theodor Herzl. “Buber’s ideological children” Hazony argues “are on the verge of transforming Israel into precisely that which the early dreamers of Zionism had fought to escape: A state devoid of any Jewish purpose and meaning, one that neither inspire the Jews nor save them in distress (p. xxx).” The back cover list the reviews and comments about the book – all similar in vein in that Hazony’s premise is highly charged and brings many questions /concerns to the forefront. Walter Reich of The New York Times stated “Yoram Hazony’s new book is likely to be one of the most hotly debated publications on a Jewish theme this year….Because its bold thesis, forceful presentation, and novel interpretation of the Zionist experience…few people who read this book will be neutral about it (back cover).”
Suffice to say, the current plight of the State of Israel is indeed indicative of these two schools of thought along with an array of other factors as well. As in the past, so it is today, it serves only to explain a compounded and agitated controversy. Israel’s uniqueness, as ordained by God in biblical scripture (Genesis 15:13-21), is that it was to be the holiest of all lands – a land of promise, peace, and unbound blessings, the spiritual capital (Jerusalem) of the world. The Jewish State: The Struggle for Israel’s Souls and other similar exhibits aid in keeping at the forefront the fundamental and most asked question of our times – will peace ever come to this land?
Work Cited
“Israel’s population at 2010 is 7.5m.” The Jerusalem Post. Web.
Hazony, Yoram. The Jewish State: The Struggle for Israel’s Soul. Basic Books: New York, 2000.
“The Shalem Center.” Web.