I have no wish to divert this thread into detailed 'academic' byways or disputes again but just a brief comment about 'The Jewish state'

Der Judenstaat or The Jewish State is a book written by Theodor Herzl, later hailed as the founder of the Zionist movement, published in 1896 in Leipzig and Vienna in which he describes in detail his vision of a Jewish state.

It is interesting that Herzl opposed the efforts already made by Zionist groups to settle Jews in Ottoman-controlled Palestine, arguing that
"important experiments in colonization have been made, though on the mistaken principle of a gradual infiltration of Jews.
An infiltration is bound to end badly.
It continues till the inevitable moment when the native population feels itself threatened,"
Quoted from The Jewish State, translated by Sylvie d'Avigdor, Nutt, London, 1896, and reprinted by Dover, 1988)

His last literary work Altneuland envisioned a Jewish state which combined both a modern Jewish culture with the best of the European heritage

Herzl did not envision the Jewish inhabitants of the state being religious, but there would be much respect for religion in the public sphere.

He did not foresee any conflict between Jews and Arabs as all non-Jews have equal rights, and an attempt by a fanatical rabbi to disenfranchise the non-Jewish citizens of their rights fails in the election which is the center of the main political plot of the novel
He directed his wrath against the nationalist party which wished to make the Jews a privileged class in Palestine.

Herzl regarded that as a betrayal of Zion, for Zion was identical to him with humanitarianism and tolerance

He also assumed that many languages would be spoken, but Hebrew would not be the main tongue. Proponents of a Jewish cultural rebirth, such as Ahad Ha'am were critical of Altneuland.



The terms a 'Jewish State' and the 'State of Israel' are frequently used interchangeably including in the November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly resolution outlining the 'Future Constitution and Government of Palestine'

"Hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in the land of Israel to be known as the State of Israel. …Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the "Ingathering of the Exiles"