The inextricable link between the Jewish people and Israel has been the essence of the Zionist vision since Abraham settled in Canaan, through the time when the Jewish people crossed the desert and entered the Land of Israel, throughout centuries of dispersion and exile, through the development of political and national ideology to the establishment and maintenance of the modern state of Israel.

King David (c. 1004 – 965 BCE) united the twelve Israelite tribes into one kingdom, and established Jerusalem as the capital. Jerusalem has been central to the Jewish people since that time, and our desire to return to Jerusalem has been constant over two millennia.

Jewish ritual and liturgy reinforces the strong bond between the land and the people – in our daily prayers, in each of our life cycle events as well as on festivals, the longing of the Jewish people for Zion is expressed.

Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people.