On Peter Beinart and the purpose of Zionism:

1. The mainstream of Zionist thought and leadership wanted to solve the Jewish suffering in the world through political power. Only the power to secure the rights of the Jews could put an end to the Jewish predicament. The power--

to set the rules through legislation, and the power to secure these rules with an army, were the remedy to the "Jewish problem".

2. Theodor Herzl called his book "The Jewish State", not the "Jewish Home". What is the meaning of a home, if someone else can kick you out of it?--

3. Some Jewish thinkers thought that the Arab resistance to this idea makes it either impossible or immoral to pursue political power. Such were Ahad Haam and Yehuda Leib Magnes. They were always a tiny minority, sometimes numbered in dozens only.

4. There was another group--

that was reluctant to use the term "Jewish State" or pursue it too quickly, and that is the leaders of the Jewish community, such as Ben Gurion until the 1930s.

5. The biggest political argument between Ben Gurion and Zhabotinsky was that the latter wanted already in the--

1920s to announce Zionism's intention to establish a state. That was when the Jews were about 10% of the population, without an army, dependent on the changing moods in Whitehall and in the British authorities. Ben Gurion wanted to be cautious. He thought that announcing too--

soon Zionism's final aim would be disastrous. The Jews were too weak, lacked an army, and would only anger the Arabs and the Brits. Ben Gurion very smartly avoided public proclamations, while being very honest in his personal writings and in various speeches.

6. So the reason--

that Ben Gurion didn't speak outright about a Jewish State until late in the 1930s was tactical. It's not that he didn't want a state. He thought that talking about it too soon would make it impossible. Instead, he thought that bringing more Jews, establishing more Kibbutzim--

and creating stronger institutions were more important than public proclamations. Creating a Jewish state for him was a matter of deeds more than words. History proved him right.