Netanyahu: The antisemitism that drove Herzl to found Zionism still exists
“The forces that drove Herzl to create the magnificent enterprise of the Zionist movement still exist even after 130 years,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday at the annual state memorial service on…
Assessment
Netanyahu used the annual memorial for Theodor Herzl to frame contemporary antisemitism as a continuation of the forces that originally motivated Zionist state-building. His remarks link past persecution to current Israeli policy, arguing that a sovereign Jewish state remains the necessary response. The speech reinforces a longstanding government position that external hostility validates the project of Jewish self-defense and national self-determination.