Der Judenstaat

Der Judenstaat (German, literally "The Jews' State", commonly rendered as "The Jewish State") is a pamphlet written by Theodor Herzl and published in February 1896 in Leipzig and Vienna by M. Breitenstein's Verlags-Buchhandlung. It is subtitled with "Versuch einer modernen Lösung der Judenfrage", "Proposal of a modern solution for the Jewish question", and originally called "Address to the Rothschilds", referring to the Rothschild family banking dynasty, because Herzl planned to deliver it as a speech to the Rothschild family. Baron Edmond de Rothschild rejected Herzl's plan feeling that it threatened Jews in the Diaspora. He also thought it would put his own settlements at risk.

It is considered one of the most important texts of early Zionism. As expressed in this book, Herzl envisioned the founding of a future independent Jewish state during the 20th century. He argued that the best way to avoid antisemitism in Europe was to create this independent Jewish state. The book was used to encourage Jews from all across Europe to purchase land in Palestine. In Der Judenstaat, Herzl noted the possibility of a Jewish state in Argentina.