I think that part of the problem that comes up when discussing the creation of Israel, is that many people see it as a deus ex machina number—the world reached down and said “Here, Jews, we’re really sorry you got slaughtered, here’s a country.”

This is certainly the version most of my college lefty friends got.

The fact is, Israel was established in a place with a Jewish community on the ground, and when they got a share of the land, they fought like hell to keep it. No other nation in such a situation is asked to keep justifying why they should have it, certainly no other nation in the Middle East, where title to governments tends to be sort of—iffy.