The Basel Program

The First Zionist Congress took place in Basel (Basle), Switzerland, August 29–31, 1897. Organized by the founding figure of political Zionism Theodor Herzl, the congress, in which some two hundred delegates from seventeen countries took part, consolidated separate Zionist groups and gave them a common political agenda. The delegates formulated a statement of goals and principles, known as the Basel Program, which became the platform of the Zionist Organization founded at the congress. The First Zionist Congress also elected Herzl president of the Zionist Organization, adopted “Hatikvah” as the organization’s anthem (later adopted by the State of Israel as its national anthem), and began practical discussions of how to realize Zionist goals.