Impetus for the creation of Israel

"the fundamental impetus for the creation of an independent Jewish state was the Holocaust". This is a popular misconception that needs to be challenged.

The "creation" of the Jewish state occurred during the period 1880-1939 as a result of mainly non-religious Jewish emigration from Eastern Europe. During that period, the Jewish settlement in Palestine (the Yishuv) expanded and grew in size and sophistication until it was capable of becoming a Jewish state. In the period 1939-1945, when the Holocaust occurred, the status of the Yishuv remained more or less static.

Between 1945-48, very few of those who survived the Holocaust in Europe actually arrived in Palestine, mainly due to the British, and even fewer participated in the fighting that developed into the War of Independence. Only once the state was proclaimed in 1948 did significant European Jewish immigration resume.

So the concept that the Holocaust was the "fundamental impetus for the creation of the Jewish state" of Israel is a misconception that maybe satisfies the Christian guilt complex. In fact, the Holocaust finally made it clear to all concerned that there was no viable place for Jews in Europe.

Those Jews that left Europe for Palestine in the period 1880-1939 were the ones that built and fought for the creation of the Jewish state; those that survived the Holocaust, having made the unfortunate mistake of remaining in Europe, were their beneficiaries.