The New Zionist Movement

What We Stand For

The New Zionist Movement envisions a democratic, pluralistic State of Israel existing in peace alongside an independent State of Palestine. Central to this vision is the “Zionist Recognition of the Nakba,” an acknowledgment that the establishment of Israel in 1948 resulted in the displacement and suffering of 750,000 Palestinians, most of whom bore no responsibility for violence against the Jews. We believe this recognition is essential for reconciliation and peace.

Recognizing the injustice of the Nakba does not imply sole responsibility for the century-long conflict, nor does it absolve Arab and Palestinian leaders of their culpability in our dispute.

The fundamental purpose of the “Zionist Recognition of the Nakba” is to empower moderates on both sides of the conflict, while diminishing extremists who reject compromise.

The Dual Reality of 1948

After two millennia of dispersion and persecution, and the catastrophic shadow of the Holocaust, the establishment of the Jewish State in 1948 represented the ultimate expression of the right to self-determination in the Jewish ancestral homeland. In the years that have transpired, Israel’s unparalleled achievements in state-building have been a testament to the perseverance of a people who refused to disappear and aspired to flourish.

At the same time, the Jewish rebirth in Israel was inextricably linked to a profound tragedy for the Palestinian people. The expulsion, dispossession, and trauma of 1948, and the unwillingness of Israel and world Jewry to acknowledge this historical reality has created a festering wound. Without honestly addressing this wound, peace will remain elusive.

Rejecting False Myths

For decades, false mythology claimed that Palestinians left their homes at the behest of Arab leaders who promised that they could “…return in a few days and pillage the defeated Jews.” Modern scholarship and the opening of Israeli archives have thoroughly debunked these allegations. Israel’s own founding generation, including David Ben-Gurion, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon Peres, conceded in oral and written testimonies that the expulsion of Arab populations was intentional and strategic, carried out to ensure Jewish plurality in the fledgling state. Expulsions often involved violence, massacres of unarmed civilians, and plunder of abandoned property.

Shared Responsibility and Reciprocity

The New Zionist Movement adheres to the core Jewish teaching that there can be no reconciliation and peace between enemies without honest acknowledgment of harm.

A reconciliation grounded in truth requires reciprocity. While Israelis must confront the moral weight of the Nakba, Palestinians and the wider Arab world must also reckon with its own detrimental historical choices – particularly the Arab rejection of the 1947 UN Partition Plan that sought to create a a Jewish State adjacent to the State of Palestine.

The decision by Arab leaders to choose war over compromise set in motion a tragedy that not only displaced approximately 750,000 Arab residents of Palestine but also led to the end of Jewish life in much of the Middle East when approximately 800,000 Jews were expelled or forced to flee from Arab countries.

For Palestinian and Arab societies, acknowledging these events is an act of historical maturity. It affirms that the conflict’s tragedy is not one-sided and that moral responsibility is shared. The fact that today Israel maintains diplomatic relations with a number of Arab Muslim countries demonstrates that peace is possible between former enemies.

Is Peace Between Israelis and Palestinians Possible?

In the wake of the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, that witnessed the brutal murder of 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of 250 others, and following the killing by the IDF of over 70,000 Palestinians, it is fair to ask whether peace is ever possible.

Certainly, in the years immediately following Israel’s creation, peace with the Arabs seemed impossible, as expressed by the 1967 Khartoum Resolution of the Three No’s: “No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, and no negotiations with Israel.”

In subsequent years, however, Israel has established diplomatic relations with Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994), and, most recently, has strengthened ties with UAE, Bahrain and Morocco (The Abraham Accords, 2020). Others Arab nations have expressed a desire for normalization, contingent on a just settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.