The hatred of the Jewish people, either by individuals, groups, or states, and one of the major factors motivating modern Zionism. The founder of political Zionism, Theodor Herzl, was drawn to the notion of independent Jewish statehood by the discriminatory treatment of a Jewish French army officer, Alfred Dreyfus. Herzl and other political Zionists — especially those from eastern Europe who had experienced pogroms and other forms of state-sponsored anti-Semitism—came to the conclusion that the only solution to the centuries-old Jewish Question confronting European society was for the Jews to have a state of their own.
Historical Dictionary of Israel. Bernard Reich David H. Goldberg. Edited by Jon Woronoff..