Why People Want to Destroy Israel

For as long as Israel has existed, people have wanted to destroy it. Most of Israel’s historical military enemies explicitly said they wanted to destroy Israel. Take as proof statements from Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran. And then there’s the modern anti-Zionist movement, with their campaign to economically strangle Israel unless it effectively ends its Jewish majority. They proudly chant their goal: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free”. Free of any Jewish-majority state, that is.

Why do so many people want to destroy Israel? Imperial ambitions and religious extremism are a large part, but I think there’s another motivation at play.

People want to destroy Israel because its existence is an inspiration for human rights. Israel is the story of genocide survivors gaining their rights to live in safety and dignity. And, Israel is the story of an exiled people returning to their rightful homeland, fulfilling a hope of 2,000 years. Those things make Israel’s very existence one of the greatest triumphs of human rights in history. And that great triumph inspires others to pursue human rights in their own way.

But human rights get in the way of what anti-Zionists want. If the anti-Zionists are repressive leaders, they don’t want people protesting their human rights abuses. Think of the many dictators that have wanted Israel gone. Or, if the anti-Zionists want extreme theft-like taxes on the rich, they don’t want people opposing them for violating the rights of rich people. Think of the extreme-left movements hostile to Israel. With either group of anti-Zionists, the idea of rights gets in the way of what they want. So, they hate that Israel’s existence inspires people to support human rights.

Destroying Israel would destroy that inspiration. That would help repressive leaders and extreme-left movements violate others’ rights.

They can also ruin the inspiration by convincing people Israel’s existence has caused at least as much bad as good. They say Israel might protect the Jews from genocide, but it commits genocide against the Palestinians. Israel restored the Jews to their land but kicked the Palestinians out of theirs. Since Israel’s existence has caused at least as much bad as good, it’s not really an inspiration on human rights.

I believe this explains what motivates many anti-Zionists, and I hope it will help us better combat the anti-Zionist movement.