[04091948]

While the holocaust did give the Israeli project one last political boost, I think the creation of Israel was not because of it but despite it. The tragic loss of millions of potential citizens had a significant impact on the demographic feasibility of the country. Ben-Gurion himself says: "For many of us, anti-Semitic feeling had little to do with our dedication [to Zionism]. I personally never suffered anti-Semitic persecution. Płońsk was remarkably free of it ... Nevertheless, and I think this very significant, it was Płońsk that sent the highest proportion of Jews to Eretz Israel from any town in Poland of comparable size."

I mean the Balfour declaration was in 1917. Herzl's "a land without a people for a people without a land" only makes sense if you read it through the eyes of a colonial European.

in reaction to the united nations partition plan ben-Gurion says: "The total population of the Jewish State at the time of its establishment will be about one million, including almost 40% non-Jews. Such a [population] composition does not provide a stable basis for a Jewish State. This [demographic] fact must be viewed in all its clarity and acuteness. With such a [population] composition, there cannot even be absolute certainty that control will remain in the hands of the Jewish majority... There can be no stable and strong Jewish state so long as it has a Jewish majority of only 60%"

a democratic and Jewish Israel was and still is impossible without the expulsion (ethnic cleansing*) of a major part of its Arab population. (regardless of the incompetence of the Arab leaders and their stupid war)

I would argue that this is not really unexpected from a country built on Deir Yassine, king David's bombing and the assassination of a UN negotiator. Acts committed by the Irgun, which was the political predecessor of Israel's right-wing Herut (or "Freedom") party, which led to today's Likud the current ruling party.

[04091948]

to clarify the asterisk near ethnic cleansing is because this is a highly debated topic and there is no consensus whether it happened. Expulsion, on the other hand, is undeniable.

for the first Ben-Gurion's quote check: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ben-Gurion#Childhood_and...

for the second one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_...

Deir Yassine was in 1948 much closer than the holocaust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_Yassin_massacre

King David Hotel bombing (1946) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing

The UN negotiator I'm speaking of is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folke_Bernadotte