Jewish state

Redirect to: Homeland for the Jewish people

The " Jewish state " is a controversial political term used to describe Israel . Modern Israel came into existence on 14 May 1948 as the homeland for the Jewish people . It was also defined as a "Jewish state." The meaning of the term "Jewish state" is a debate that is in progress on the nature and character of Israel. The related term " Jewish and democratic state " is also a point of contention. Since its establishment, Israel has passed many laws which reflect on the Jewish identification and values of the vast majority of its citizens. However, the secular versus religious debate in Israel in particular has focused debate on the Jewish nature of the state. Another aspect of the debate is the status of minorities in Israel, most notably the Israeli Arab population. In pre-modern times, the religious laws of Judaism defined a number of prerogatives for a Halachic state . However, when Theodor Herzl who in 1896 wrote Der Judenstaat ( The Jewish State ) giving birth to the modern Zionist movement, he did not intend to include any kind of religious law, but instead imagined a non-religious state populated by Jewish people . There was no reference to a Jewish state by the Zionist Organisation that he founded. The phrase "national home" was intentionally used instead of "state." The "Jewish State" was never part of the Zionist movement. The 1942 Biltmore Program of the Zionist Organization explicitly called "that Palestine be established as a Jewish Commonwealth." In 1946, the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry , also known as the Grady-Morrison Committee , noted that the demand for a Jewish State went beyond the obligations of either the Balfour Declaration or the Mandate, and had been expressly disowned by the Chairman of the Jewish Agency as recently as 1932. The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine , which brought the British mandate to an end in 1948, referred to a "Jewish state" and an "Arab state." The term "Jewish state" has been in common usage in the media since the establishment of Israel, and the term was used interchangeably with Israel. Bush used the term in his speeches and in an exchange of letters with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2004. Obama has also used the phrase, for instance in a speech in September 2010 to the U.N. The Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made Palestinian recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state" a precondition in the peace negotiations, as has the government of his successor Benjamin Netanyahu . However, Palestinians regard a "Jewish state" as a trap, a new demand that did not come up during years of negotiations in the 1990s or in peace treaties reached with Egypt and Jordan. The Palestine Liberation Organization recognized the State of Israel as part of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Palestinians regard acceptance of the demand as giving up the right of return. Reading Maimonides' philosophy in 19th Century Germany the guide to religious reform . Maimonides' Messiah is a mortal, worldly kind whose task it is to build a sovereign Jewish state Stein, Leonard (1961). Washington Post, 2 October 2010: Defining 'Jewish state': For many, term has different meanings

In world politics, Jewish state is a characterization of the nation state of Israel as a sovereign homeland of Jewish people. Modern Israel came into existence on 14 May 1948 as the homeland for the Jewish people . It was also defined in its declaration of independence as a "Jewish state," a term that appeared in the United Nations partition decision of 1947 as well. The related term " Jewish and democratic state " dates from 1992 legislation by the Israeli Knesset . Since its establishment, Israel has passed many laws which reflect on the Jewish identity and values of the majority (about 75% in 2016) of its citizens. However, the secular versus religious debate in Israel in particular has focused debate on the Jewish nature of the state. Another aspect of the debate is the status of minorities in Israel, most notably the Israeli Arab population. In pre-modern times, the religious laws of Judaism defined a number of prerogatives for a Halachic state . However, when Theodor Herzl who in 1896 wrote Der Judenstaat ( The Jewish State ) giving birth to the modern Zionist movement, he envisioned a state based on European models, which included religious institutions under the aegis of the state. In order to avoid alienating the Ottoman Sultan, there was no explicit reference to a Jewish state by the Zionist Organisation that he founded. The phrase "national home" was intentionally used instead of "state." The 1942 Biltmore Program of the Zionist Organization explicitly proposed "that Palestine be established as a Jewish Commonwealth." In 1946, the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry , also known as the Grady-Morrison Committee , noted that the demand for a Jewish State went beyond the obligations of either the Balfour Declaration or the Mandate, and had been expressly disowned by the Chairman of the Jewish Agency as recently as 1932. The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine , which brought the British mandate to an end in 1948, referred to a "Jewish state" and an "Arab state." The term Jewish state has been in common usage in the media since the establishment of Israel, and the term was used interchangeably with Israel . Bush used the term in his speeches and in an exchange of letters with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2004. Barack Obama has also used the phrase, for instance in a speech in September 2010 to the U.N. The Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made Palestinian recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state" a precondition in the peace negotiations, as has the government of his successor Benjamin Netanyahu . However, Palestinians regard a "Jewish state" as a trap, a new demand that did not come up during years of negotiations in the 1990s or in peace treaties reached with Egypt and Jordan. The Palestine Liberation Organization recognized the State of Israel as part of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Palestinians regard acceptance of the demand as giving up the right of return. Reading Maimonides' philosophy in 19th Century Germany the guide to religious reform . Maimonides' Messiah is a mortal, worldly kind whose task it is to build a sovereign Jewish state Stein, Leonard (1961). Washington Post, 2 October 2010: Defining 'Jewish state': For many, term has different meanings

Political term used to describe the nation-state of Israel For other uses, see Jewish state (disambiguation) . In world politics, Jewish state is a characterization of Israel as the nation-state and sovereign homeland for the Jewish people .