"it goes back to the Zionism of the late 19th century" Which, in itself, was a reaction to other developments. Zionists argued that Jews needed their own homel

"it goes back to the Zionism of the late 19th century" Which, in itself, was a reaction to other developments. Zionists argued that Jews needed their own homeland in order to be safe from pogroms and potential extermination at the hands of European nationalists; the Zionist idea, obscure and fringe at first, only gained traction with the increase of anti-Semitic attitudes after the Great War. To a big degree, current existence of Israel is a strange echo of the vicious nationalisms of pre-WWII Europe.