An argument is sometimes made that the term “Zionism” no longer means much. In this reading, Zionism was a 19th- and 20th-century project to regain a secure and recognized Jewish homeland. It succeeded in 1948. Those who approve of the project have gotten on with it; those who don’t approve need to get over it. End of story. But leaving aside the fact that this homeland is neither universally recognized nor truly secure, this view of Zionism sells its true meaning short.

The Declaration of Independence promises that Israel will be “based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel.” To our great pride and satisfaction, the state is indeed guided by those precepts, or at least aspires to be, though it is still far from conducting itself as envisaged by the Prophets. The Declaration’s drafters themselves made selective use of the prophetic vision, to great rhetorical effect.

Zionism's greatest success is its simplest one: for the first time in history, in Israel, the Jewish people can powerfully protect themselves.  Not only can they find protection here, as Ukrainian and Russians Jews recently have, but they also find solace from the resurgence of antisemitism in Europe and America.

A Jewish state does not mean a halachic state. That is not relevant so long as all Jews in Israel do not choose to lead a life of Torah and of mitzvah observance. On the other hand, a democratic state does not mean a state founded on progressive values in their radical sense.

A combination of leadership and education would have the power to ease anxieties and engender the desired historic consensus and peace at home: the State of Israel – the nation-state of the Jewish people and the state of all its citizens.

The Jewish people’s “identity card” is the vision of establishing, in Eretz Israel, a great and blessed people that adheres to the values of faith, righteousness, and justice, and that brings blessing to all families of the earth. In order for us to realize this great vision, God gave us the Torah, so that by its guidance and mitzvot we may engage in bettering the world.

The bridge between Israel and the Diaspora needs to be continually strengthened and deepened. We must not underestimate the importance of Israel as a leader in the pursuit and implementation of the highest standards of Jewish values and as an inspiration to the entire Jewish world to follow suit.

When we speak of Israel as a “Jewish state,” we must remember that it also has to be a liberal democracy, if only in order to provide the appropriate protections to its resident Arab minority.

What is meant by the State of Israel’s Jewish identity? Some view the Jewish state as a vehicle for an independent sovereign Jewish existence, one that preserves its own Jewish identity and the Jews themselves. Others, however, see the Jewish state as a medium for the establishment of a different, just, egalitarian, revolutionary society, for which Jewish historical experience can provide useful lessons and a source of inspiration. Both of these approaches – the conservative approach that wants to stave off risk, and the revolutionary approach that wants to fulfill potential – are rooted in the State of Israel’s founding document: the Declaration of Independence