With the ideas, knowledge, and facilities that humanity possesses on this 31st day of December, 1902, it could save itself. No philosopher's stone, no dirigible airship is needed. Everything needful for the making of a better world exists already. And do you know, man, who could show the way? You! You Jews! Just because you're so badly off. You've nothing to lose. You could make the experimental land for humanity. Over yonder, where we were, you could create a new commonwealth. On that ancient soil, Old-New Land!
Theodore Herzl, Old New Land
And within our Homeland, justice shall be the supreme ruler, the ruler over all rulers. There must be no tyranny. The Ministers and officials must be the servants of the nation and not their masters. There must be no exploitation. There must be no man within our country—be he citizen or foreigner—compelled to go hungry, to want for a roof over his head or to lack elementary education. ‘Remember you were strangers in the land of Egypt’—this supreme rule must continually light our way in our relations with the strangers within our gates. ‘Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue’ will be the guiding principle in our relations amongst ourselves.
Menachem Begin, 6th of Iyar 1948
This right is the natural right of the Jewish people, to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own Sovereign state.
Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel
"Within Zionism, I perceive the aspiration for normalization of relations between nation states. Normalization means mutual recognition, as well as the recognition of international regulations that obligate states. Zionism does not articulate itself through adding dunams of land, one by one, but in the reinforcement of our reciprocal recognition by other states, the reinforcement of Israel's political standing among the United Nations – and this is what we should aspire to. Anything that disturbs this reciprocity impairs Zionism."
Interview with Israeli playwright and author, Joshua Sobol
In my opinion, Zionism is finished. There is no need for it. Everyone is already in Zion and Zion is open. No-one is preventing Jews who wish to come here from doing so, and those who were impelled to come are already here. There is a homeland, but it has changed.
Interview with S. Yizhar, Israeli author.