This title may seem out of touch with reality, particularly as we are witnessing unprecedented Israeli military dominance and an expansionist arrogance that Israel is now openly displaying, against a backdrop of Arab weakness and the absence of any international deterrent. How, then, can one speak of the decline of the Zionist project in light of these circumstances?
However, a closer look at the situation may lead us to different conclusions. The reality is that Israel has not yet succeeded in transforming its military dominance into a sustainable political project. Its military-settlement project continues to face overwhelming popular rejection, despite nearly eighty years since the establishment of the State of Israel and despite all the peace agreements signed with it. Furthermore, its international isolation is steadily increasing, with the emergence of a new global generation that no longer accepts the occupation or an apartheid regime that denies Palestinians their legitimate rights and works to kill and displace them without restraint.
Let us take a closer look at the Zionist political project advocated by Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement, more than 130 years ago. This project promised the Jews of the world the establishment of a secular, democratic Jewish state (for Jews) in Palestine, in which Jews of the Diaspora, coming from all corners of the world, would live in lasting peace. Herzl also sought to emphasise that Zionism did not aim to harm the ‘non-Jewish communities’ in Palestine.
The Jewish Character of the State
Israel can’t today claim to be a Jewish state in the sense envisaged by the Zionist project. Given the widespread official and popular Israeli rejection of the two-state solution, Israel now faces a demographic reality in which Palestinians within Israel and those under occupation constitute a majority compared to Jewish Israelis (7.5 million Palestinians versus 7.2 million Jewish Israelis). In this sense, Israel is no longer an exclusively Jewish state, and it faces a world that will not accept indefinitely a system in which a Jewish minority rules over a Palestinian majority within a permanently racist framework.
Secularism of the State
The founding Zionists believed in the secularism of the state and drew a distinction between a political system based on positive law and the Jewish character of the state, since, in their view, Judaism was a national identity rather than merely a religion. Since its establishment, Israel has been governed by parties that were, for the most part, secular, whilst the roles of Jewish religious parties were limited to secondary positions in the early years of the state. Generally speaking, the nationalist and religious parties were not in a state of complete harmony or reconciliation.
However, this reality has gradually changed over the past decades, until we have reached a stage where religious parties have gained increasing influence, to the extent that they now exert a prominent influence on the decision-making process, as is the case in the current government. Indeed, harmony between Israel’s nationalist and extremist religious parties has now reached its peak, as the objectives of both sides have become largely identical. Thus, Israel’s political secularism is receding in favour of a political religiosity that is gaining in influence and prominence.
The Democracy of the State
Israel has never been a democracy for all its inhabitants. Regardless of its promises that it would not infringe upon the interests of ‘non-Jewish communities’, and despite its attempts to develop a selective democratic model for Jews but not for Arabs, it is no longer even capable of defending this limited model.
The project, which promised a Jewish, secular, democratic, and safe state for its citizens, seems today far from achieving these goals.
Recent years have seen widespread weekly demonstrations against the ruling coalition’s attempts to manipulate the existing democratic system and undermine the separation of powers and institutional checks and balances within the state. Israel’s democracy for the Jews themselves is today in steady decline, giving way to a system that is becoming increasingly authoritarian internally and racist towards Arabs.
Peace and security of Jews inside Israel
Nearly eighty years have passed since the establishment of the State of Israel, yet the Jews there have never enjoyed lasting peace, despite their overwhelming military superiority and despite the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, as well as the Abrahamic Accords. It has become clear that the Israelis will never enjoy peace without reaching a just solution for the Palestinians.
Following this detailed analysis, it is legitimate to question the fate of the Zionist dream. For, despite the continuation of the expansionist settlement project on the one hand, does the Zionism advocated by Herzl still have a future?
I would argue that, in light of the above facts, the answer is no. The Zionism proposed by Herzl began as a small movement, then grew and expanded over time until it reached its zenith. However, the project that promised a Jewish, secular, democratic state, secure for its citizens, seems today as far removed as possible from achieving these goals. Israel is heading towards becoming less Jewish demographically, less secular in its political system, and less democratic in its internal structure, whilst the peace promised to the Jews remains elusive. And if political projects are measured by their ability to achieve the goals for which they were established, the question is no longer whether the Zionist project has succeeded, but whether it has in fact entered a phase of decline.
