Was the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 based off of Secular or Religious Reasons?

The truth is that the area known under British rule as British Mandate Palestine was a swampy, desolate land full of Arab Nomads and small Jewish communities (within the Religious areas of Sefad, Jerusalem, Tiberias, and Hebron). There was no interests or wants for any independent states prior to the late 1800s. As a result of mass persecution and oppression in Eastern Europe, the Zionist movement emerged by Theodore Herzl. He was a SECULAR Jew, and saw the affects of the Dreyfuss Affair, and wanted to do something about it. He upstarted the ideology that there should be a Jewish State and with a collective of people, the land of old, or the current British Mandate Palestine, served as a perfect location to return from the Jewish Diaspora. Due to this group, known as the Zionist Congress (in Europe), there began mass immigration from various parts of Russia and Eastern Europe. These settlers, known as the pioneers, worked the land and helped to establish a working and agricultural community. All of these people identified with religion as their ethnicity, but as far as having solely religious reasons...I would argue that they were after the same thing the Pilgrims were after--simply freedom. At the time, this land under British rule remained one of the last pieces of land on the face of the earth that remained relatively untouched and therefore became the focus of many power-driven nations who were interested in colonization. Britain supported the acquisition of this land by the Jews because they saw it as an additional source of income and of great strategic position in the Middle East. In opposition to popular belief that Israel was established solely as a result of the Holocaust, talk of establishment was acknowledged in the Balfour Declaration in 1917. Over the years that followed with increased persecution and the rise of Jewish persecution in WW2, masses of people arrived in the borders of British Mandate Palestine. While once at ease, the Arab population's interests in the areas additionally changed. At the time, the early 1920s, came the rise of Arab Nationalism--the want to spread the Arab cause to the entire region and this increased tensions in this area of the world. In Nov. 1947, there was the famous UN Partition Plan, British Mandate Palestine was split to create both a Jewish and Arab state side by side. The Jewish side accepted, but the Arab population didn't agree as they wished to solely have the area Arab. Therefore, the land was up for grabs for either who wanted, as the UN Partition Plan fell through. Surrounding Arab lands believed that the Jewish population would be easily killed, and worked together in 1948 to fight against the small Jewish militias. To the world's surprise, the Jewish population effectively won the battle, and therefore had control of the land (similar to what every other colonizing nation has done in the past--see USA), then they established their government and their military officially. Surely there are plenty more areas of critique of the situation of course, but in terms of the means in which Israel became a country--it is purely the same means as the majority of colonizing nations of the past. Sadly, our world has a high track-record of war for control/land acquisition and therefore Israel's actions should not be so highly critiqued, this situation is one of common historical land acquisitions. To answer your question fully, I believe that the way in which the country was established comes from very secular and democratic means--the same way that most newly-colonized nations have come into existence. Israel today is what some call an ethnocracy...that means that it has the structure of a democracy, but has influence of ethnicity, that being the Jewish Religion (its an ethnicity as it has a full culture and language). The country presents a wide range of secular elements--open rights for women, homosexuals, and of course arab (who can be in the government); the majority of the people are completely secular, but the holidays for example are Jewish holidays. Since the Israeli government has a parliamentary system...it gives way for the religious political organizations to have greater powers, and therefore current Israel is a bit more religious in different ways as the current government is right wing. In the next election it is entirely possible that it could be completely different.

Secular, Had it been Religious they would not have called it Israil but Julia.

It was supernatural. The 1948 rebirth of Israel was predicted thousands of years before that in the Bible. God said He would scatter the Jews worldwide and that where ever they went they would be hated. This was a judgment because of their idolatry and disobedience. God said He would bring them back and the nation would be reborn in one day. That's what happened in 1948. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIS6cHowt3s

Secular and cultural. By strict religious standards, Israel shouldn't have been re-established until the coming of the Messiah.

Guilt.