It was also defined in its declaration of independence as a "Jewish state", a term that also appeared in the United Nations Partition Plan for British Palestine in 1947.
In pre-modern times, the religious laws of Judaism defined a number of prerogatives for a Halakhic state.
In order to avoid alienating the Ottoman Sultan, there was no explicit reference to a Jewish state by the Zionist Organization that he founded.
[3] The 1942 Biltmore Program of the Zionist Organization explicitly proposed "that Palestine be established as a Jewish Commonwealth".
George W. Bush used the term in his speeches and in an exchange of letters with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon in 2004.
[8] On 19 July 2018, with a vote of 62 to 55 (2 abstained), the Knesset adopted a new Basic Law that defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.
[14] The Gavison-Medan Covenant is a proposal to reform the status quo in order to reinforce the state's Jewish character while reducing religious coercion.
The principle was given legal effect in the Law of Return, which was passed by the Knesset on 5 July 1950, and stated: "Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh.
This debate reflects a historical divide within Zionism and among the Jewish citizens of Israel, which has large secular and traditional/Orthodox minorities as well as a majority which lies somewhere in between.
Secular Zionism, the historically dominant stream, is rooted in a concept of the Jews as a people that have a right to self-determination.
Another reason sometimes submitted for such establishment was to have a state where Jews would not be afraid of antisemitic attacks and live in peace.
To date, Israel has steered a course between secularism and Jewish identity, usually depending on who controls the Israeli High Court of Justice.
On 19 November 2008, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni addressed the United Jewish Communities General Assembly in Jerusalem.
[25] To many Arab and Muslim leaders, following the popular usage in their communities, even referring to Israel by its proper name has political and cultural implications, resulting in use of circumlocutions such as "the Zionist entity".