Reclaim the term ‘Zionism’, Herzog urges in Basel
Zionists must work to take back the word to be "an expression of our own national identity, traditions, hopes, pride, enlightened values, justice, and commitment to tikkun olam".
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on Monday called for the reclamation of the word “Zionist” as a positive term, saying it has been turned into a slur to abuse Jews and Israelis.
Speaking at an event marking the 125th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress, Herzog said Zionists – people who believe in the right and necessity of Jewish self-determination in the biblical land of Israel – must work to take back the word to be “an expression of our own national identity, traditions, hopes, pride, enlightened values, justice, and commitment to tikkun olam”.
Herzog, speaking in Hebrew, made his remarks at the Stadtcasino concert hall in Basel, Switzerland, the same location where the First Zionist Congress first met on August 29, 1897.
“Today, 125 years after that formative moment when a handful of pioneering, inspirational Zionist leaders, changed human and Jewish history forever here in Basel, the cradle of political Zionism, in the hall where Theodor Herzl opened the First Zionist Congress, I stand before you as the President of the State of Israel, having come from Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the nation-state of the Jewish people,” Herzog said.
In his speech, which gave a broad overview of the history and philosophy of political Zionism, Herzog called on those present to reclaim the term.
The President, who previously served as the head of the Jewish Agency and as a long-time Knesset member and government minister, said the word Zionist has increasingly been used as an epithet, as a way to make antisemitic comments under the guise of legitimate criticism of Israel.
“Around a year ago, there was a discussion about whether the word ‘Zionist’ should be censored on social media, for fear that it is being used as a term of antisemitic abuse against Jews and Israelis, or whether, to quote the counterargument, the word ‘Zionist’ is a term of legitimate criticism of Israeli policy,” Herzog said.
“I was appalled because, inconceivably, at no point did anyone suggest that ‘Zionist’ might actually be a positive term!”
Herzog then called for Zionists to reclaim the term, declaring this to be “the mission of our generation”.
To Herzog, Zionism includes making Israel a Jewish and democratic state, maintaining the “cohesion” of the “diverse, opinionated” Jewish people, and also helping to solve the “greatest challenges of humanity” as part of the “family of nations”.
Earlier in the day, Herzog recreated a famous photograph of Herzl that was taken at the nearby Hotel Trois Rois, of the bearded Zionist leader looking out from a balcony over the Rhine River. Coincidentally, Isaac Herzog’s father, Chaim Herzog, who also served as Israel’s president, did the same thing during a state visit to Switzerland in 1987.
Herzog also addressed what he called the “unfinished business” of the Zionist dream in an op-ed for a Swiss Jewish newspaper.
He wrote that while many of the ideas announced at the congress have been realised – the establishment of a Jewish nation-state, mass immigration of Jews to it, and the forming of Jewish political organisations – Herzl “left us unfinished business”.
“One item is still a work in process: the strengthening of Jewish feeling and consciousness,” he declared and said his purpose in publishing the article was to “reinvigorate our sense of shared Jewish identity and destiny. Because we, Israeli and Diaspora Jews, can only do this together.
“That is perhaps the primary task of our generation. It is also a core mission of my presidency: to strengthen our collective Jewish sense of togetherness.
“To reaffirm that we all belong to the same family,” Herzog wrote.
Herzog said the Israeli and Diaspora communities could learn from “the astonishing progress of Jewish–Muslim dialogue” resulting from the Abraham Accords that normalised relations between Israel and several Arab states.
“As we celebrate 125 years since Herzl and his fellow delegates announced their ambitious dream, let us recommit, around the Jewish world, to strengthening our collective Jewish sense of togetherness. Together, hand in hand,” he concluded.
Herzog’s remarks came a day after Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai called for a reversal in the thinking about Israel’s relationship with the Diaspora, from how Jews abroad can help Israel to how Israel can help them.
“The State of Israel is thriving and leading in many fields – and it is now time to ask what Israel can do to secure the destiny of the Jewish people and Jewish resilience around the world,” Shai said at an event in Basel as part of the anniversary celebrations.
Some 1400 people were in attendance at the event, principally representatives from the Israeli government, top officials from international Jewish groups and Jewish businesspeople from around the world.
Times of Israel
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