Herzl and Jabotinsky's answer to history: Jewish survival depends on Jewish power - opinion

Theodor Herzl and Ze'ev Jabotinsky understood a fundamental truth: Jewish survival cannot depend on the goodwill of others, a message that resonates anew in the wake of the October 7th attacks. These Zionist leaders recognized that emancipation had not solved the "Jewish question" and that vulnerability could not be countered by pity or sympathy. Herzl saw that Jewish dignity required instruments of power, diplomacy, law, land, and sovereignty. Jabotinsky, in turn, understood that moral innocence offered no protection against those determined to destroy.

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Jewish survival cannot depend on the goodwill of others.

For decades, many in the Jewish world believed that Diaspora security was stable, elite acceptance was permanent, and antisemitism could be managed. Holocaust memory was thought to restrain civilized societies, and Israel's strength was expected to command respect. However, the events of October 7th shattered these illusions. In major Jewish population centers, Jews now gauge their visibility and weigh the cost of speaking out. Synagogues require guards, Israeli restaurants become targets, and Zionism is used as a slur.

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Herzl looked at Europe and saw that emancipation had not solved the Jewish question; it had only dressed it in better clothes.

Governments that once emphasized Jewish safety now advocate for Palestinian statehood, even as the trauma of massacre, hostages, and ongoing war remains central to the Jewish experience. This shift represents not just rising antisemitism but a reversal of Jewish leverage. Herzl would have recognized this pattern, and Jabotinsky would have seen it even faster. Their legacy is not about predicting every detail but about understanding the enduring pattern of vulnerability and the necessity of self-determination and strength.

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Jabotinsky looked at Jewish vulnerability and understood that pity was not protection, sympathy was not security, and moral innocence would not stop those determined to destroy us.