I. Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, claiming that Jews, like any other nation, are entitled to a homeland. History has demonstrated the need to ensure Jewish security through a national homeland. Zionism recognizes that 'Jewishness' is defined by shared origin, religion, culture and history.

Israel's Law of Return grants automatic citizenship to Jews, but non-Jews are also eligible to become citizens under naturalization procedures similar to those in other countries. Israel's policy is not unique; many other countries, including Germany, Greece, Ireland and Finland have special categories of people who are entitled to citizenship.

More than one million Muslim and Christian Arabs, Druze, Baha'is, Circassians and other ethnic groups also are represented in Israel's population. The presence in Israel of thousands of Jews from Ethiopia, Yemen and India is the best refutation of the calumny against Zionism. In a series of historic airlifts, labeled Operations Moses (1984), Joshua (1985) and Solomon (1991), Israel rescued more than 20,000 members of the ancient Ethiopian Jewish community.

Zionism does not discriminate against anyone. Israel's open and democratic character, and its scrupulous protection of the religious and political rights of Christians and Muslims, rebut the charge of exclusivity. Moreover, anyone—Jew or non-Jew, Israeli, American, or Chinese, black, white, or purple—can be a Zionist.

II. Jews have had a presence in the land of Israel for over 3,000 years. Most Jews were exiled from the area due to wars, and were spread out across Europe and North Africa and the Middle East. Jews began immigrating in large numbers back to the land of Israel in the 1800s and 1900s, legally purchasing land building communities. Before WWI, this land was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. With the fall of the Ottomans, the "Mandate of Palestine," which includes the land known by the Jewish people as the land of Israel was under the control of the British Empire. There was no Palestinian state, although there were Arabs who lived in the area at the same time. Both the British and the U.N. agreed that the Mandate of Palestine would be divided into two states, one Jewish state and one Arab state. The Jews accepted in 1948, while the Arabs rejected the offer of a state, and the state of Israel was born. Israel was not "stolen"; achieving statehood was a long process that required international approval and cooperation.

The Israeli Declaration of Independence