The Origins of the Israeli Attitudes towards the Relation Between Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism

ABSTRACT: This article traces the historical emergence of the Israeli perception that anti-Zionism constitutes a form of antisemitism. While much of the scholarly literature attributes this shift to the post 1967 era, when Israeli society became more traditional, Jewish-centered, and inclined to interpret criticism through a sense of isolation and siege, this study argues that the change began earlier. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, it shows that the identification of anti-Zionism with antisemitism first took shape in the early 1950s, following the antisemitic and anti-Zionist campaigns in the Soviet bloc, rather than as a product of internal ideological transformation within Israel. By examining Israeli press discourse, political speeches, and public debates from the 1930s to the 1970s, the article demonstrates that Israeli understandings of antisemitism evolved not in isolation but through direct engagement with global events. The findings challenge the prevailing assumption that the conflation between antisemitism and anti-Zionism was rooted mainly in domestic developments, revealing instead how external threats and international antisemitic trends profoundly shaped Israeli attitudes.