Page 6: Jewish Quotes

“My heart is in the east, and I in the uttermost west. How can I find savour in food? How shall it be sweet to me? How shall I render my vows and my bonds, while yet Zion lieth beneath the fetter of Christianity, and I in Arab chains? A light thing would it seem to me to leave all the good things of Spain. Seeing how precious in mine eyes to behold the dust of the desolate sanctuary.”

– Yehuda Halevi, Andalusian (Sephardi) physician, poet and philosopher (Tribe of Levi). c. 1075 – 1141 AD

Yehuda Halevi (1141): My Heart Is In the East. [Translated by Nina Salaman in 1924]. 

“In calling the Jews together under the protection of the American Constitution and laws, and governed by our happy and salutary institutions, it is proper for me to state that this asylum is temporary and provisionary. The Jews never should and never will relinquish the just hope of regaining possession of their ancient heritage, and events in the neighborhood of Palestine indicate an extraordinary change of affairs. (...) They will march in triumphant numbers, and possess themselves once more of Syria, and take their rank among the governments of the earth."

– Mordecai Manuel Noah, American (Sephardi) diplomat, journalist and playwright. 1785 – 1851 AD​ 

Klinger, J.: Major Noah. American Patriot, American Zionist. Page 9, 16.

“Judaism (...) is not a temporary passing, it is an ancient good of humanity, that has attained its full worth within a tribe which was especially qualified for this purpose, which carries continuous force in itself and must strive for its expansion across the entirety of humankind. (...) We will not give up on the name 'Jews', which may be much reviled, but is tied to the purest perception of the divine, the noblest freedom of mind and the noblest moral purity. (...) All the great transformations that have brought forth cultural conceptions have connected themselves particularly to Judaism; Christianity and Islam arose from it, nourished from it, and within Judaism a new religious restructuring must therefore take place."

– Abraham Geiger, German founder of Reform Judaism. 1810 – 1874 AD 

Geiger, A. (1872): Nachgelassene Schriften. Brief vom 8. Oktober 1872. [Translated by C. Nooij].

“Judaism is not a passive religion, but an active life factor which has coalesced with the national consciousness into one organic whole. It is primarily the expression of a nationality whose history for thousands of years coincides with the history of the development of a humanity and the Jews are a nation which, having once acted as the leaven of the social world, is destined to be resurrected with the rest of civilized nations.” 

– Moses Hess, German founder of Labour Zionism. 1812 – 1875 AD 

Moses Hess (1943). “The Revival of Israel: Rome and Jerusalem, the Last Nationalist Question". Page 49.

“What invested the Jew of all times with an economic, and in part also spiritual,  superiority over other people has been, first, his thrift and temperance, cultivated by his religious law and moral code; second, his actually boundless attachment to and care of his wife and children; and third, his capacity and desire for learning, which stands out even more significantly and irresistibly among the poor than among the rich.” 

– Dr. Isaac Rülf, German Rabbi (Orthodox) of Memel. 1831 – 1902 AD 

Baron, J.L. (1996): A Treasury of Jewish Quotations. 

“A nation such as Israel, which, for 3000 years, has not tolerated any analphabetics in its womb, even without any compulsory schooling, a nation which couldn’t even be robbed by all powers of hell in the course of millennia, still possesses enough vitality to lead an independent national existence and can’t even abandon it. As a nation, we have our productive and influental history and the first struggle for freedom in world history, was the exodus of our fathers from Egypt, only after which started the history of the nations. But the history of Israel is that of the world-conquering thought. The first organised humane legislation is the Jewish one. Our ancient classical literature has, under the name Bible, been translated into all civilized and semicivilized languages, she serves hundreds, millions of families as a housebook and devotional book. Priests of all confessions make use of our chants (psalms). The only thing lacking in the Jewish nation’s completeness is its fatherland.”

– Karpel Lippe, Polish physician. 1839 – 1915 AD 

Stenographisches Protokoll der Verhandlungen des Zionisten-Kongresses in Basel. 29. bis 31. August 1897. Seite 3. [Translated by C. Nooij].

"Throughout the Diaspora the news spreads that there are true Jewish farmers in the Holy Land – true farmers, who with their own hands plough and sow and reap, and true Jews, sterling men, who at eventide, when they come home from the fields, read and study, nor do they drink to excess. Jewish farmers in an age of complete emancipation! A rare, almost incredible phenomenon in the lands of the Diaspora! Is it remarkable, then, that a number of prominent Jews journey from their homes in the various countries of the Exile and go to Palestine to witness the wonder with their own eyes? And when they see this and more that has been accomplished by the Palestinian Jews, their hearts swell with deep love for the land of their fathers and for their brethren there, who by their normal, healthy life are glorifying the name of Israel in the sight of the other nations."

– Asher Ginsberg / Ahad Ha’am, Ukrainian-Palestinian founder of Cultural Zionism. 1856 – 1927 AD 

Ha'am, A. (1891): An Open Letter to My Bretheren in the Spirit.

“I was very pleased with the sight of Tel-Aviv, Petah Tikva, etc. One must visit Palestine to get a correct impression of the capabilities of the Jewish people. One must see the wonderfully cultivated land, the resplendent garden colonies, the well planted vineyards, the neat streets and the carefully maintained roads. Hundreds of Jews work on making the country fertile and have the satisfaction of seeing that their work is crowned with success. You’ll be filled with admiration upon seeing the young Russian-Jewish girls engaged in agriculture, keeping their chins up and being proud of their freedom. They owe this transformation merely to the impacts of freedom and self-determination that dominate there. The Hebrew language is spoken everywhere, which befits the glorious language of our forebears that we have neglected for so long. And what charm and ease it is spoken with!”

– Henry Morgenthau Sr., German-American Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. 1856 – 1946 AD 

Die Kammerwahlen. In: Die Welt. 18. 21 (22.5.1914). [Translated by C. Nooij].

"If we wish that the name Israel be not extinguished, then we are in duty bound to create something which may serve as a center for our entire people, like the heart in an organism, ​from which the blood will stream into all the arteries of the national body and fill it with life."

– Eliezer Perlman / Eliezer ben Yehuda, Lithuanian-Palestinian father of Modern Hebrew. 1858 – 1922 AD 

Baron, J.L. (1996): A Treasury of Jewish Quotations. 

“Zionism will create the political and economical conditions in Palestine that will guarantee for our people a happy life; Zionism will revive Hebrew culture; and Zionism will ultimately pave the way for the establishment of a Synedrion. (…) We, the Children of Israel, have not lived through centuries of storm and stress to ultimately capitulate in the face of difficulties. A race with our proud history, our magnificent traditions, will never give up on its ideals, goals and hopes. (…) We (…) are no effete or decadent race; we are still capable of creating for ourselves a destiny worthy of our great past. (…) Once this rebirth is completed, we will once again be the people of the book, we will once again pass on to the nations of the earth the Jewish teaching, that not power, nor violence, but rather divine spirit will provide them with dominion.”

– Clarence Isaac de Sola, Canadian contractor and diplomat. 1858 – 1920 AD 

Rede des Präsidenten der kanadischen Federation Herrn Clarence I. de Sola. In: Die Welt. Vol. 18 (20/02/1914) Issue 8, page 198. [Translated by C. Nooij].

"Does a Jew realize what lies in these few simple words – 'a piece of earth, a corner that is our own'? Does a Jew feel how necessary and how advantageous it is for each and every one of us, and for the whole community, for us all? Does a Jew ever think what we would have looked like among the nations of the world if we had a piece of land somewhere, our own small corner – that we would be no longer paupers, wandering Gypsies, outcast and unwanted! (...) We must see to it that this idea should be the ideal of the entire people. We must see to it that our wives and sisters should understand it, so that our children will be brought up under our national flag, so that our children should be Jewish children, who will not be ashamed of their people."

– Solomon Rabinovich / Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American writer in Yiddish. 1859 – 1916 AD 

​"The material goods and cultural progress that we supply the country with, also benefits the Arab population and will, with time, encourage the harmonical cooperation between both national elements, which are so closely related racially and linguistically. In our Zionist work, we are of one heart with all humankind, for we feel we are, with our aspirations, in a lasting fellowship with the most outstanding promoters of human culture, with which we pursue the same great tasks, the same noble goals of peace and social progress. Therefore we are also convinced that all governments and nations view our peace project favourably; after all most states have their own material or moral interest in the Orient being restored to a site of a thriving civilization."

– Otto Warburg, German-Palestinian botanist. 1859 – 1938 AD 

Die Wahrheit. 1913 Heft 35 (5.9.1913). Seite 4. [Translated by C. Nooij].

"Zionism was not merely a political movement by secular Jews. It was actually a tool of God to promote His divine scheme and to initiate the return of the Jews to their homeland - the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God wants the children of Israel to return to their home in order to establish a Jewish sovereign state in which Jews could live according to the laws of Torah and Halakha and commit the Mitzvot of Eretz Israel (these are religious commandments which can be performed only in the land of Israel). Moreover, to cultivate the land of Israel was a Mitzvah by itself and it should be carried out. Therefore, settling Israel is an obligation of the religious Jews and helping Zionism is actually following God’s will."

– Abraham Isaac Kook, Latvian-Palestinian Chief Rabbi and founder of Religious Zionism . 1865 – 1935 AD 

Fishman, T. & Samson, D. (1991): Torat Eretz Yisrael.

“No one else is capable of saving this country. The Arabs possess unmeasurably wide areas. (…) They command over gigantic stretches of land, they have points of access to the Mediterranean, offering better harbours than the coast of Palestine, which is poor in bays and rich in cliffs. In addition they have access to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean as well. Tiny Palestine, barely the size of Lower Austria, is of no vital necessity to them. And unless they are incited, they do not even see Palestine as a vital necessity anyways. (…) The Jews however have been linked and connected to Palestine since time immemorial. It is their country, the soil of their roots, and considering that two millennia could not tear the threads connecting people and country, Palestine will always remain the country of the Jews and soil of their roots, in eternity. Amen.”

– Siegmund Salzmann / Felix Salten, Hungarian author. 1869 – 1945 AD 

Wiener Morgenzeitung. Heft 2097 (21.12.1924). Seite 2. [Translated by C. Nooij].

"That dark, leaden cloud which hung over your spirit, weakening and disheartening, is quickly dissipated by the clear sun of Eretz Yisroel. Only now that I am in Eretz Yisroel and my soul feels secure about the future, do I begin to understand how many heavy stones weighed upon my heart in the Goluth. (...) Eretz Yisroel is the chief concern, the centre of all things. (...) People and land have come together, and the meeting of the long-parted twins has been as spontaneous and impetuous as the attraction of chemical affinities. (...) In Eretz Yisroel all Judaism will find its redemption. (...) Jewish sunniness and Jewish joy will find their redemption. The source of dejection is weakness; the source of happiness is strength. Now we shall become strong, and our life will become one great joy. How much energy shall now flow into us! For the greatest part of it used to go to waste in erecting ghetto-walls. (...) Now all this energy will be released to build up new Tel-Avivs, to plant orange groves, develop Jewish industries, and found Jewish universities."

– Solomon “Yehoash” Bloomgarden, Lithuanian-American poet in Yiddish. 1870 – 1927 AD 

“We believed that it was Britain's mission to restore prosperity and civilisation to those ancient lands that had once been the very centre of the civilised and prosperous life of the world and of its creative thought. We knew that (…) real regeneration could only come from some more intimate and directly quickening influence. It seemed to us that the Jews alone could supply that influence. They alone could bring Western civilisation to the East with an instinctive understanding of its outlook. Above all, they would come, not as transient administrators, not even as colonists looking back to a motherland elsewhere, but as a people coming back to their own homeland, prepared unreservedly and wholeheartedly to identify themselves with its fortunes.”

– Leo Amery, English/British Conservative MP. 1873 – 1955 AD 

Amery, L.S. (1939): Speech in House of Commons, May 22nd 1939.

“In contrast with the pitiful Arab villages, with their huts of baked clay, the Jewish colonies, with their wide streets, their strong stone houses and their red-tiled roofs, look like veritable oases of culture. The Jewish colonists have also contributed a great deal to the technical improvement of Palestinian agriculture. They have been particularly active in plantation work – oranges, almonds and olives. (...) The Jews have been pioneers in the starting of plantations; they were the first to resort to deep well boring, and it is they who have brought the orange culture of the country to its present high level. There is a lively spiritual activity in the colonies, and Jewish self consciousness finds much stronger expression here than in the cities. Hebrew is rapidly gaining ground as the language of daily use. In the streets one hears the children speaking only Hebrew; it is from the colonies that the language thrusts its way into the cities, where it is already playing an important role.”

– Arthur Ruppin, German-Palestinian co-founder of Tel Aviv. 1876 – 1943 AD 

Ruppin, A. (1908): Address to the Jewish Colonization Society of Vienna. February 7, 1908.

"Gradually, a free social commonwealth is starting to grow in Palestine. Some unforeseen forces are brought into play. A rigid icecap of hatred, self-contempt, wrong lifeforms and invalid cultural evaluations is beginning to melt. Admiringly, we see how the ancient language of the people is interweaved into the babbling noises of the child, in order to dominate the forms of its whole awareness. (...) The Jew probably finds in Palestine – in the country itself – traces of inner force, which, like the touching of Mother Earth, affect the giant Antaeus. And these forces are vital for providing his private life with firmness and fertility."

– Ernst Müller, Austrian-Jewish anthroposophist. 1880 – 1954 AD 

Emunah (1912): Heimkehr: Essays juedischer Denker. Seite 1. [Translated by C. Nooij].

“That the Jews have kept their race at least as pure as the majority of European nations, that the destiny of the ancestors determined, through selection and natural inheritence, the uniqueness of the descendants and linked the Jews as a natural community, can barely be questioned. But not only the community of blood, but also the community of tradition of cultural assets tied a tight line around the Jews. They had their own language, their own strong ideology, their own morals, which already distinguished them externally from the nations among which they lived by itself. They only contributed to the destinies of the nations, in whose midst they lived, to a small extent – aside from their economical, social and and political lives. For they might have traded with them, they did not live with them, they had their own destiny, their own history, and therefore also their own culture.”

– Otto Bauer, Foreign Minister of German-Austria (SDAP). 1881 – 1938 AD 

Hilferding, R. (1907): Marx-studien. Seite 368. [Translated by C. Nooij].

“In the diaspora there is no other outcome for our people, other than the dissolution and the assimilation, and this is not desired by the other peoples and is impossible anyways, as a result of many factors that have been determined for centuries. Loving strangers and imitating them does not serve us well. The only alternative to the dispersion in exile is the national concentration in Palestine.”

– Nehemia de Lieme, president of the Dutch Zionist Federation. 1882 – 1940 AD 

[Translated by C. Nooij].

“Well attested descendants of those Jews, who were robbed of their state by Titus, still live in various countries. (…) How come that even today, almost two thousand years later, there are still people, in whom the historical consciousness of being descendants  of the once politically united nation of Jews residing in Palestine, is still so strong, as if the catastrophe of the state had only occurred yesterday?”

– Isaac Breuer, German-Palestinian rabbi and philosopher. 1883 – 1947 AD. 

Breuer, I. (2017): Frühe religionsphilosophische Schriften. Seite 217. [Translated by C. Nooij].

​“The real miracle of Palestine is the Jew who masters the labor of orchard and garden, field and vineyard, quarry and harbor, water and power, factory and craft, highway and byway. That sort of Jew the Diaspora never made. (...) The land of Israel was the birth place of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious, and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave the world the eternal Book of Books. (...) In Palestine you are faced not merely with a large and growing number of Jews, but with a distinct Jewish nation. There are Jews and Jewish communities in many countries, but in Palestine there is a new and unique phenomenon - a Jewish nation, with all the attributes, characteristic resources and aspirations of nationhood. This nationhood springs from a long history and an uninterrupted connection, for three thousand five hundred years, with its ancestral soil. Palestine, which, for the Jewish people, has always been and will always remain the land of Israel, was in the course of centuries conquered and invaded by many alien peoples, but none of them ever identified its national faith with Palestine. The Jewish nation in Palestine is rooted not only in past history but in a great living work of reconstruction and rebuilding, both of a country and of a people. (...) We have no conflict with the Arab people. On the contrary, it is our deep conviction that, historically, the interests and aspirations of the Jewish and Arab peoples are compatible and complementary. What we are doing in our country, in Palestine, is reclaiming the land, increasing the yield of the soil, developing modem agriculture and industry, science, and art, raising the dignity of labour, ensuring women’s status of equality, increasing men’s over nature and working out a new civilisation based on human equality, freedom and co-operation in a world which we believe is as necessary and beneficial for our Arab neighbours as for ourselves.”

– David Grün / David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister of Israel. 1886 – 1973 AD 

Baron, J.L. (1996): A Treasury of Jewish Quotations. Page 227.

Ben Gurion, D. (1947): Speech in General Assembly of UN. May 8, 1947.

"I stand on Mt. Gilboa, at the foot of which lies the encampment of Beth Alpha – and down below stretches the long valley, from Mount Carmel to the Jordan River, and settlement by settlement, white houses, tents and barracks. To the left is Ein Harod – wasn’t it yesterday that Gideon had his warriors drink from the well? And to the right is Beth She’an, do the daughters of Israel not weep for Saul still today? When was it again? Let’s see, what is three thousand years? My octogenarian mother rejoices over her great-grandchild. Threethousand divided by eighty equals  less than fourty. A string, barely thirty meters long, positioned in front of me, capturing the line of ancestors from Saul up to me within one view, that’s the farandole of procreations and births: indeed, it has just begun.”

– Markus Reiner, Romanian-Palestinian physicist and civil engineer. 1886 – 1976 AD 

Der Jude: eine Monatsschrift - Volume 10, Nummer 1 - Seite 23. [Translated by C. Nooij].

"We Jews strive to redeem ourselves from our state of ‘untouchability’. We seek bread, work, freedom and human dignity. These we wish to secure by emerging from that anomalous state to which history has doomed us - the state of homelessness and landlessness. For over fifty years, the best of our youth have been devoting the fullness of their energy toward the recreation of our former national centre in Palestine. (...) In Palestine, too, there once existed a higher state of civilisation than we found when our generation began to return. The remnants of terraces on the mountains, the magnificent synagogues excavated in Capernaum and Beth Alpha, the signs of a former irrigation system, all bear witness to this. During the centuries of our absence, war and oppression raging for generations reduced our land to a state of barrenness and decay. This did not dishearten our pioneers. In every spot where they were given the chance, they built again prospering villages and towns. Where the earth was swampy they drained it; where it was barren and parched, they made water spring from hidden deeps. They drove out the curse of malaria. (...) In many places which recently were but sand and rock, the green woods of ancient Palestine bloom resurrected. (...) In Palestine and through Palestine we are freeing ourselves from the moral hump which rose on our backs during centuries of unsound development. We have given back to physical labour its dignity and sanctity. We have returned to the truly Jewish, profoundly human concept of our Talmudists. (...) All impartial observers who have visited Palestine, all honest students of the question, have come to the conclusion that our movement has in no way injured the Arab people, that, on the contrary, the mass of the Arab population has profited socially, economically and culturally from Jewish immigration. (...) In recent history, Zionism is the first instance of colonisation free from imperialist ambition or the desire to rule any part of the population."

– Hayim Greenberg, Moldovan-American thinker. 1889 – 1953 AD 

A LETTER TO GANDHI, BY HAYIM GREENBERG, 1937.

"Since the destruction of our independence by the Romans, we have never ceased to live in that country for any length of time. There have been considerable Jewish colonies there, and the Jewish spirit has brought forth unique fruit. In this way, the country was always not only Arab but also Jewish, not as a historic right, but in the living present. But what draws us to Palestine (...) is our love for this country. (...) The country belongs to those who make it so fertile through the strength of their minds and their hands that they can make their their living there. Palestine, a region of approximately 27,000 km is too large for its present population of 700,000. It is very thinly populated; there is no industry that could support a large number of workers; agriculture is primitive; and wide expanses have not been reclaimed. That is why Palestine needs massive immigration so that it can achieve its potential for humanity and the world economy."

– Hans Kohn, Bohemian-American philosopher and historian. 1891 – 1971 AD 

Iggers, W. (1992): The Jews of Bohemia and Moravia. A Historical Reader. Page 240.

“For me, Israel is the Holy Land, with which the Jewish people has been connected ever since it was promised to us that we would possess this land. This connection was never abandoned, not even when the Jewish nation went into exile after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD nor after the abandonment of the national independence in 429, when the patriarchate was abolished. (…) Wherever in the world a Jew is buried, ground from the Holy Land is buried along with him. (…) Many people say that Israel is the only place where one might be safe as a Jew – as crazy as it sounds. There, you’re together and you know what to expect from each other. With this in mind, I could indeed underwrite (…) that a Jew, even if he stays in the US, Argentina or Australia, cannot be looked at without taking into consideration that piece of land where the State of Israel is located.”

– Hans Rodrigues Pereira, Dutch rabbi.​ 1931 – 2020 AD

[Translated by C. Nooij].

“In Palestine, they will see what the Jewish people, inspired by the hope of reconstituting this national home after the long, weary centuries of homelessness, and relying upon the honour and the pledged word of the world community, has achieved in a few short years against great odds and seemingly insurmountable handicaps. The task was enormous: untrained hands, inadequate means, overwhelming difficulties. The land was stripped and poor, neglected through the centuries, and the building took place between two disastrous world wars when European Jewry was shattered and impoverished. Nevertheless, the record of pioneering achievement of the Jewish people in Palestine has received the acclaim of the entire world. And what was built there with social vision and high human idealism has proved a blessing, we believe, not only to the Jews of Palestine, but to the Arabs and to other non-Jewish communities as well. (...) We are an ancient people, and though we have often, on the long, hard road which we have travelled, been disillusioned, we have never been disheartened. We have never lost faith in the sovereignty and the ultimate triumph of great moral principles. In these last tragic years, when the whole household of Israel became one great hostelry of pain, we could not have built what we did build had we not preserved our unshakeable trust in the victory of truth. It is in that strong faith and hope that we wish to co-operate with you in the task which you have undertaken. The Jewish people belongs in this society of nations. Surely the Jewish people is no less deserving than other peoples whose national freedom and independence have been established and whose representatives are now seated here. The Jews were your allies in the war, and joined their sacrifices to yours to achieve a common victory. The representatives of the Jewish people of Palestine should sit in your midst. We hope that the representatives of the people which gave to mankind spiritual and ethical values, inspiring human personalities and sacred texts which are your treasured possessions, and which is now rebuilding its national life in its ancient homeland, will be welcomed before long by you to this noble fellowship of the United Nations. (...) The Land of Israel will be small, but the people of Israel will make it great. Not in opulence, but in eminence will their destiny be fulfilled, and the elixir of their pride will be distilled not out ​of dominion or far-flung borders, but out of the faithful and skillful building of the good society.” 

– Abba Hillel Silver, American rabbi. 1893 – 1963 AD 

Hillel Silver, A. (1947): Speech in General Assembly of UN. May 8, 1947.

Baron, J.L. (1996): A Treasury of Jewish Quotations.

"The great historic phenomenon of the Jewish return to Palestine is unique because the position of the Jewish people as a homeless people and yet attached with an unbreakable tenacity to its birthplace is unique. (…) There has been no receiving of Jewish immigrants by Arabs nor any settlement of Jews at the expense of the Arabs. The Jews did not come as guests of anyone. They came in their own right. They received themselves and their brothers; and they did so by their own efforts and at the expense of no one else. Every acre of land we tilled was bought and had to be wrested from wilderness and desolation. Nothing was taken away - not one house, not one job. A tremendous amount of work, wealth, and well-being was presented to the Arab population. (...) They come to Palestine not to fight the Arab world, but to live at peace with it. They are not an outpost of any foreign domination. Their ambition is to integrate themselves into the modem structure of reviving Asia. They are an old Asiatic people returning to their home. At the same time, they are anxious to make their contribution to the great work of bridge-building between modem Asia and the rest of the world. They claim what is the natural right of any people on the face of the earth: that as many of them as possible should live together in their own country, freely develop their civilisation, make their contribution to the common stock of humanity, and be self-governing and independent. They cannot possibly surrender that claim, and for its attainment they appeal for the assistance of the entire family of nations."

– Moshe Chertok / Moshe Sharett, Prime Minister of Israel (Mapai). 1894 – 1965 AD 

Sharett, M. (1947): Speech in General Assembly of UN. May 8, 1947.

“From its infancy the Zionist enterprise in this country has been imbued with the faith that peace and true cooperation between the peoples of our area are possible and express the true interests and aspirations of its peoples. This faith still inspires us today. (…) The Israel Defence Forces constitute a mighty fighting force, as the whole world has learned, because of their high standards, because their officers and men are second to none - above all, because every man and officer is inspired by the mission of our people in its Land. Our forces are a people's army: when they fight, the entire nation fights; when they fight the whole of Jewish history watches them. When our army fights, it fights not only for the life of the people, but for its redemption. The people stood the test. Hundreds of thousands of young people and new immigrants, in big or little tasks, each according to his age and his abilities, proved that their roots in this country are eternal. It was shown that the spirit of the people flows from the spiritual revival of the State. We saw clearly that this is no mere ingathering of the exiles, but a new - yet ancient - nation, a united nation, which has been tempered in the furnace into one Israel, forged out of all our tribes and the remnants of scattered communities - they, their sons and their daughters. A nation has come into being which is ready for any effort or sacrifice in order to achieve its goals. The State of Israel has stood the test because it knew that it carried the hopes of the entire Jewish people. The unity of our people has been forged anew in these days."

– Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel. 1895 – 1969 AD 

Statement to the Knesset by Prime Minister Eshkol. 24.06.1963.

Prime Minister Eshkol Reviews Six-Day War (June 12, 1967).

“That’s why these people come to Palestine: to slowly build their state here. Not consciously, but rather subconsciously. Not because they want to, but rather because they have to. Because an invisible fist – the fist of God, if you will – rests on everyone’s neck and forces one to take the path of statehood.”

– Wolfgang von Weisl, Austro-Palestinian author. 1896 – 1974 AD 

Weisl, W. (1926): Gespräche über Kunst, Judentum und Judenstaat. In: Menorah. Vol. 4. Heft 8. Seite 467-470. [Translated by C. Nooij].

"Today, there is already a new, truly new Jew. He is a peasant, a craftsman, a laborer. He has a proud attitude and a calm, natural peace of mind. That’s the new Jew of the new Palestine. He will be understood and respected the world over, for labor is understood everywhere. He will be able to talk to every peasant, with every craftsman in the world. Everyone will know: that’s a Jew standing there. He lives in his country. He tills there, as I do here, he carpenters there, as I do here. (…) It’s all about returning to this ancient Jewish people the power of its soil, so that will once again have a sincere and proper name among the peoples. We are tired of the tinkerers and merchants. We need the soil, the smell of the fields, the personal space in which we can breathe deeply and freely. (…) Palestine will be a modern country and is already on the way to achieving it. Its architectural style will bind the building experience of Europe to the necessity of local life and to the conditions of the Oriental landscape."

– Joachim Prinz, German-American rabbi and activist. 1902 – 1988 AD 

“The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. (…) The Jews are alone in the world. If Israel survives it will be solely because of Jewish efforts. And Jewish resources. Yet at this moment Israel is our only reliable and unconditional ally. We can rely more on Israel than Israel can rely on us. (…) A world that did not lift a finger when Hitler was wiping out six million Jewish men, women, and children is now saying that the Jewish state of Israel will not survive if it does not come to terms with the Arabs. My feeling is that no one in this universe has the right and the competence to tell Israel what it has to do in order to survive. On the contrary, it is Israel that can tell us what to do. It can tell us that we shall not survive if we do not cultivate and celebrate courage, if we coddle traitors and deserters, bargain with terrorists, court enemies, and scorn friends."

– Eric Hoffer, German-American philosopher. 1902 – 1983 AD 

Eric Hoffer on Israel, 1968.

“In 1948, the year of Israel's creation, my feelings were of course with the Israelis. (…) [I am] a friend of Israel, but not a Zionist; not an Israeli, but a Frenchman. However, I have a greater sensitivity toward the state of Israel now than in 1948. In a way, the tragic events of World War II have progressively penetrated deeply into my being.”

– Raymond Aron, French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist and journalist. 1905 – 1983 AD 

Aron, R. (2020): Thinking Politically. Liberalism in the Age of Ideology.

​“How often have we all heard that the Jews do not work with their hands, cannot till the soil, and are destined for ever to be urban dwellers engaged in small urban business? Palestine, for whatever the reason, is the only country where the Jews, after 2,000 years, have been able to get back to their real business of tilling the soil and living on the land. Can we put ourselves in their position and realize what it means, having at last settled down in what they believe to be the Promised Land, when their fields are burnt and ravaged by gangs of marauding Arabs, while they are utterly unable to defend themselves?”

– Victor Rothschild, English secret agent. 1910 – 1990 AD 

Rothschild, V. (1977): On Palestine (1946). In: New York Times. Dec. 6, 1977.

“The [Geneva] Convention prohibits many of the inhumane practices of the Nazis and the Soviet Union during and before the Second World War - the mass transfer of people into and out of occupied territories for purposes of extermination, slave labor or colonization, for example. The Jewish settlers in the West Bank are most emphatically volunteers. They have not been ‘deported’ or ‘transferred’ to the area by the Government of Israel, and their movement involves none of the atrocious purposes or harmful effects on the existing population it is the goal of the Geneva Convention to prevent.”

– Eugene V. Rostow, American legal scholar. 1913 – 2002 AD 

Rostow, E.V. (1990). In: Baker, A. (2011): The Settlements Issue. Distorting the Geneva Convention and the Oslo Accords.

"King David made Jerusalem the capital of Israel almost three thousand years ago, and Jerusalem has remained the capital ever since. During the centuries the term 'Zion' grew and expanded to mean the whole of Israel. The Israelites in exile could not forget Zion. While praying to his God every Jew, wherever he is in the world, faces towards Jerusalem. For over two thousand years of exile these prayers have expressed the yearning of the Jewish people to return to their ancient homeland, Israel. Zionism is the name of the national movement of the Jewish people and is the modern expression of the ancient Jewish heritage. The re-establishment of Jewish independence in Israel, after centuries of struggle to overcome foreign conquest and exile, is a vindication of the fundamental concepts of the equality of nations and of self-determination. To question the Jewish people's right to national existence and freedom is not only to deny to the Jewish people the right accorded to every other people on this globe, but it is also to deny the central precepts of the United Nations."

– Chaim Herzog, President of Israel (HaMa'arach). 1918 – 1997 AD 

Speech to the United Nations General Assembly, by Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Chaim Herzog, November 10, 1975. Source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Zionism is the modern expression of the ancient Jewish heritage. Zionism is the national liberation movement of a people exiled from its historic homeland and dispersed among the nations of the world. Zionism is the redemption of an ancient nation from a tragic lot and the redemption of a land neglected for centuries. Zionism is the revival of an ancient language and culture, in which the vision of a universal peace has been a central theme. Zionism is the embodiment of a unique pioneering spirit, of the dignity of labor, and of enduring human values. Zionism is creating a society, however, imperfect it may still be, which tries to implement the highest ideal of democracy — political, social and cultural — for all the inhabitants of Israel, irrespective of religious belief, race or sex. Zionism is, in sum, the constant and unrelenting effort to realize the national and universal vision of the prophets of Israel.”

– Yigal Peikowitz / Yigal Allon, Prime Minister of Israel (HaAvoda). 1918 – 1980 AD 

Yigal Allon at the UN General Assembly, 1975.

“The reestablished state of Israel became a homeland for Jews who survived Hitler's slaughter, as well as those who fled Arab lands as well as others in which they had been persecuted. Despite all of those difficulties, Israel has absorbed hundreds of thousands of Jews over the past five decades, and has become a thriving multicultural democracy that holds a special place as a strong ally of our own nation. The special relationship that we in our nation share with Israel is based on democratic values, common strategic interests and moral bonds of friendship and mutual respect. Israel is a strong and trusted friend and is an important strategic partner.”

– Benjamin A. Gilman, American Representative (GOP) from New York. 1922 AD 

SENSE OF CONGRESS ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF FOUNDING OF MODERN STATE OF ISRAEL. April 28, 1998 - House (Vol. 144, No. 49).

"In Israel, a land lacking in natural resources, we learned to appreciate our greatest national advantage: our minds. Through creativity and innovation, we transformed barren deserts into flourishing fields and pioneered new frontiers in science and technology. (...) Israel has little land, even less water and no oil. But we became a start-up nation through hi-tech and hard work. (...) Israel, essentially a desert country, has achieved remarkable agricultural yields by applying science to its fields, without expanding its territory or its water resources. (...) In history, Judaism has been far more successful than the Jews themselves. The Jewish people remained small but the spirit of Jerusalem went from strength to strength. (...) Slings, arrows and gas chambers can annihilate man, but cannot destroy human values, dignity, and freedom. Jewish history presents an encouraging lesson for mankind. For nearly four thousand years, a small nation carried a great message. Initially, the nation dwelt in its own land; later, it wandered in exile. This small nation swam against the tide and was repeatedly persecuted, banished, and down-trodden. There is no other example in all of history, neither among the great empires nor among their colonies and dependencies - of a nation, after so long a saga of tragedy and misfortune, rising up again, shaking itself free, gathering together its dispersed remnants, and setting out anew on its national adventure. Defeating doubters within and enemies without. Reviving its land and its language. Rebuilding its identity, and reaching toward new heights of distinction and excellence. The message of the Jewish people to mankind is that faith and moral vision can triumph over all adversity. The conflicts shaping up as our century nears its close will be over the content of civilizations, not over territory. Jewish culture has lived over many centuries; now it has taken root again on its own soil. For the first time in our history, some five million people speak Hebrew as their native language.” 

– Shimon Peres, President of Israel (Kadima). 1923 - 2016 AD 

Israeli FM Peres' Speech Upon Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize - English (1994)

Medved, J. (2016): Dare To Dream - How Shimon Peres Helped Found The Start Up Nation. In: HuffPost. 30/09/2016 11:30am BST.

Shimon Peres’s speech at US Congress. 26 June 2014, 7:23 pm.

“The people of Israel have established a vibrant, functioning, pluralistic democratic system which cherishes the right of free speech, free press, free and fair and open elections, the rule of law, and all the democratic practices of a free society. During the 50 years of its existence, this young State absorbed well over a million refugees from throughout the world, ranging from Ethiopia to the former Soviet Union and integrated these people fully into the very fabric of Israeli society. (...) Although Israelis have been relentlessly under attack since their nation's birth, they have succeeded in creating one of the most democratic, prosperous, technologically advanced and humane societies on earth.”

– Tom Lantos, Hungarian-American Representative (Dem) from California. 1928 – 2008 AD 

SENSE OF CONGRESS ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF FOUNDING OF MODERN STATE OF ISRAEL; April 28, 1998 - House (Vol. 144, No. 49).

“The critical tactic in carrying out an anti-Semitic agenda is to attack the Jewish people at its strong point – where, ironically, it is both most exposed and most vulnerable. In the Middle Ages and beyond, the target was the Court Jew who had the ear of the ruler; during the Inquisition it was the Cristianos Nuevos – the Spanish Jews who had thrived after their conversion to Christianity. Under Hitler it was the entrepreneurial and professional classes who were the first victims of Nazi boycotts and exclusion. And today it is Israel, the most powerful symbol of Jewish national resurgence in two millennia. (...) The evidence of a Jewish civilization going back more than two millennia is overwhelmingly borne out in the archaeology of the region. The heritage of the Jews in Palestine is documented in the records of the peoples who prevailed against them, and not least in the annals of Muslim chroniclers. It is engraved in Rome's Arch of Titus depicting the captive Hebrews being brought to Rome after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. (...) Genocide is an attempt to exterminate a people, not to alter their behavior. The Israelis – who employed a third of the Palestinian population, armed the Palestinian Authority and offered Yasser Arafat a state consisting of 95 percent of the West Bank – were hardly practicing genocide. Israel, however, is now sustaining a war for its own existence. A nation defending its citizens against terrorist bombings, mortar assaults, sniper attacks, and a military and diplomatic onslaught by an array of Arab foes is practicing survival, not genocide."

– Jack T. Schwartz, American mathematician. 1930 – 2009 AD ​ 

Aish: An Old Story: Anti-Semitism, Past and Present.

“Jerusalem holds a special place in Jewish history. Since King David, Jerusalem has been at the center of Jewish traditions and the very core of Jewish faith. The very city itself, not just the sites of religious significance, is considered hallowed by those of the Jewish faith. This issue has personal significance to me as well, as members of my own family live and worship in Jerusalem."

– Arlen Specter, American Senator (Dem) from Pennsylvania. 1930 - 2012 AD​ 

COMMEMORATING THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REUNIFICATION OF JERUSALEM; June 11, 1997 - Senate (Vol. 143, No. 81).

“Zionism really is the Jewish people's response to racism, the expression of its quest for equality, its answer to the intolerable suffering of centuries of persecution, ghettoization, pogroms, and extermination. But Zionism is also the essence of Judaism. Rooted in the rich heritage of Jewish moral thought, Zionism is the very antithesis of racism. It was from Jerusalem that the passion for justice, the idea that men are inherently born free and equal, was preached by the prophets. (…) Just as Zionism cannot be severed from Judaism, anti-Zionism cannot be divorced from anti-Semitism. Just as anti-Semitism discriminates against the individual Jew, anti-Zionism slaps a yellow star on the collective breast of the Jewish people.”

– Yoram Aridor, Israeli Finance and Communications Minister. 1933 AD 

"Most of all I cherish those of my fellow Jews who settled in and who maintain the State of Israel, which I consider the highest manifestation of the human spirit in modern times. Jews always tried to take full responsibility for their actions in every human sphere, but not until we reclaimed responsibility for our political life could we provide a haven for Jews in danger. The more Hebrew I learn to speak and read, the longer and more often I am in Israel, the more  friends and relatives I acquire in the country, the greater my debt to its defenders. The achievements of Israel depend entirely on the patience of its defenders, for it is the only democracy in the world that has had to fight for its life from inception to the present. Not since the Romans crushed the second Jewish commonwealth have Jewish soldiers been able to protect the Jewish polity from its enemies. It goes unappreciated that these defenders of Israel are also the front line of defense for the democratic world."

– Ruth R. Wisse, American professor and publicist. 1936 AD 

Pearl, R. & Pearl, J. (2011): I Am Jewish. Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl.

“The ‘neighborhood bully’ been driven out of every land, he's wandered the earth an exiled man. Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn, he's always on trial for just being born. (…) He got no allies to really speak of. What he gets he must pay for, he don't get it out of love. He buys obsolete weapons and he won't be denied. But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side. (…) Every empire that's enslaved him is gone: Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon. He's made a garden of paradise in the desert sand. In bed with nobody, under no one's command. (…) Now his holiest books have been trampled upon. No contract he signed was worth what it was written on. He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth, took sickness and disease and he turned it into health. (…) What has he done to wear so many scars? Does he change the course of rivers? Does he pollute the moon and stars? ‘Neighborhood bully’, standing on the hill. Running out the clock, time standing still.”

– Robert Zimmermann / Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriter from Minnesota. 1941 AD 

Dylan, B. (1983): Neighborhood Bully. Album: Infidels.

“For nearly two millennia, the Jewish people in the Diaspora prayed every day that they could return to the promised land. For almost 1,900 years, the State of Israel was thus carried in the hearts of millions of these Jewish exiles, and even more millions of Christians who prayed some of those same prayers for Zion's restoration, particularly here in America. (...) Americans and Israelis alike are the children of freedom. We are both devoted to our democratic ideals, our culture of economic opportunity, and our political pluralism. These are the principles we cherish and the principles that define not just who we are but who we aspire to be.”

– Joe Lieberman, American Attorney General of Connecticut (Dem). 1942 AD 

60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF ISRAEL; Congressional Record. May 08, 2008 - Senate (Vol. 154, No. 76).

“Jews constitute 25% of Nobel Prize winners and 5% of Nobel Prize winners in medicine. I can tell you today that Israel is among the leaders in various scientific areas and is ahead of most European countries. (…) The Jewish people always knew how to extricate itself from crisis, and how to overcome terminal statistics. We left Egypt and slavery and went to Israel; after the Second Temple was destroyed we created the Mishna and the Talmud; after the expulsion from Spain came Maimonides; from the crematoriums in the Holocaust, we created the state of Israel.”

​– Moshe Kaveh, Uzbek-Israeli President of Bar-Ilan University. 1943 AD

“I have enough of knocking at History’s doors and waiting until I’m told: ‘Enter’. I enter and I yell! I am at home on earth and on earth I have my land: she was promised to me, she will be mine! What is Zionism? It’s reduced to a simple sentence: ‘Next year in Jerusalem’. No, it’s not a slogan of the Club Med. It's written in the Bible. (...) And this prayer became a roar, a roar that is over 2000 years old, and the fathers of Columbus, Kafka, Proust, Chagall, Marx, Einstein, and even Mr. Kissinger, repeated this sentence, this roar, at least once a year, on Passover. Then, is Zionism equal to racism? Don’t make me laugh! Is 'Douce France, cher pays de mon enfance' a racist anthem? Zionism is the name of a struggle for freedom!”

– Herbert Pagani, Libyan-Italian singer. 1944 – 1988 AD 

Marton, P. (2011): HERBERT PAGANI – PLAIDOYER POUR UNE/MA TERRE 1975 FOR A LAND/MY LAND – LE CRI EXISTENTIEL JUIF/THE JEWISH EXISTENTIAL CRY?. Nov 14, 2011.

"Israel can share vital know-how, such as with combating the regional lack of water, with development aid, in medicine and in the field of hightech and IT. Let’s remember all the achievements that Israel, despite the difficult security situation, has realized ever since its independence. Hardly a day goes by without some Israeli scientist or economist or researcher contributing to the world. The spirit of tikkun olam has made Israel a leading power in the fields of medicine, enbankment protection, renewable energies, research and development. In the future, too, we shall make our contribution as a member of the global community.”

– Yoram Ben-Zeev, Israeli Ambassador in Germany. 1944 AD​ 

Grußwort des Botschafters Yoram Ben-Zeev zum 63. Yom Ha’atzmaut und anlässlich der bundesweiten ILI-Tage 6. Mai 2011. [Translated by C. Nooij].

“Sixty years after the establishment of Israel, the barren land has grown into a prosperous state. Swamps were reclaimed and deserts made way for a blossoming, modern state. Israel has absorbed (and integrated) millions of Jewish immigrants, speaking more than 80 different languages from more than 100 countries. The State of Israel is a mature, vibrant democracy located in a region where dictatorships have the upper hand. Israel has an innovative world-class economy and is situated at the intersection of technical advances. During her 60 year independence Israel has received more Nobel prices than all Arab states combined. And this was achieved despite wars and continuous threats to security. Israel is a firm rock in the often plagued Mid-East, where people have trouble coping up with modern times, globalization and democracy.”

– Harry Kney-Tal, Romanian-Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands. 1944 AD 

[Translated by C. Nooij].

"History and religion are up for grabs here. That makes this country so special and unique. (...) My love for the Holy Land does not depend on who is or isn't at power here. I support Israel unconditionally. (...) This land is surrounded by gigantic enemies and muslim fundamentalists. Israel is constantly busy guaranteeing its security. I admire Israel, because it has achieved so much in the fields of science, technology and culture, while it faces enemies such as Hezbollah, Iran, and Hamas. (...) As a Jew I have now returned after a wandering of two thousand years. I feel safe here because my interests are guaranteed here in this country." 

– Willy Lindwer, Dutch documentary filmmaker. 1946 AD

[Translated by C. Nooij]. 

“Israel wants to exist as a Jewish state and to live in peace. Israel also recognizes the right of Palestinians to have their own state and to live in peace. The problem, however, is that most Palestinians and many other Muslims and Arabs do no recognize the right of the Jewish state of Israel to exist. (…) Israel gave land for the promise of peace with Egypt, and it has always been willing to do the same thing with the Palestinians. All the Palestinians ever had to do is recognize Israel as a Jewish state and promise to live in peace with it.”

– Dennis Prager, American radio host and author. 1948 AD 

Prager, D.: THE MIDDLE EAST PROBLEM. In: Youtube. 28 apr 2014.

“On May 14, 1948, Israel declared independence, providing a new safe haven for Holocaust survivors and for Diaspora Jews before and since the Holocaust, who experienced a millennium of anti-Semitism. In its 62 years of nationhood, Israel exemplifies freedom, opportunity, and democratic values. Its unfettered elections, transparent press, and vital economy distinguish it as a leader in the Middle East. It is our closest ally in the region.”

– Allyson Schwartz née Young, American Representative (Dem) from Pennsylvania. 1948 AD 

HONORING ISRAELI INDEPENDENCE DAY; Congressional Record Vol. 156, No. 57 (House - April 21, 2010).

“Considering Israel's extraordinary history, each birthday is a cause for celebration – and admiration. It's quite a story – and it drives Israel's foes bonkers. Try as they might, they haven't managed to sap Israel's will to survive, nor its capacity to thrive. How can it be that this tiny nation, the size of New Jersey or Wales, could defend itself through thick and thin against determined, well-funded, and numerous adversaries? How can it be that this small sliver of land, one percent the size of Saudi Arabia and bereft of any natural resources until recent offshore discoveries of natural gas, could catapult itself into the top tier of advanced nations? And how can it be that the flag of democracy could be planted in Israel in 1948 and celebrated in this lone oasis to the present day, while surrounded by (…) a prevailing culture of despotism, emergency rule, torture, cronyism, and corruption?”

– David Harris, American political activist. 1949 AD 

Harris, D. (2011): Happy Birthday, Israel!. In: Huffpost. May 8, 2011, 07:06 PM EDT.

“The creation of an independent Israeli State was truly one of the most significant events of the 20th century. Following the horrific events of the Holocaust, the founding of the State of Israel symbolized a recognition of the right and the need of the Jewish people to have a homeland – a place of sanctuary and security after the senseless annihilation of 6 million Jews. (...) Israel is also of enormous importance to our country. Israel is America's strongest and most reliable ally in the Middle East. In a region that has been plagued by instability but is of enormous strategic significance, Israel is a stable democracy and a stalwart ally.”

– Ron Wyden, American Senator (Dem) from Oregon. 1949 AD 

60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF ISRAEL; Congressional Record Vol. 154, No. 76 (Senate - May 8, 2008).