Whither Zionism?

The controversial recent Israeli elections have placed the direction of Israel, both ideologically and politically, very much in the news. “Zionism” has become a flashpoint in the war of words about the nature of the Jewish State, and an examination of the history and changing meaning of Zionism is in order. Zionism was conceived in the late 19th century as the national liberation movement of the Jewish People. During the 20th century the Zionist movement achieved its outrageously unlikely dream of establishing the State of Israel as an independent Jewish nation in the Land of Israel, the Jewish ancestral homeland. But what does it mean to be a Zionist now in the early 21st century?