The idea of Zionism is as old as the Jewish diaspora. Ever since the Romans drove the Jews out of their land, there had been that Jewish dream of returning to their ancestral home, and some actually made it again and again, managed to establish themselves even in Jerusalem when it became possible, only to be driven out again and again, sometimes by Christian crusaders, sometimes by Arabs.
The modern incarnation of Zionism is basically just a Jewish answer to all those nationalisms that spread all over Europe in the late 18th and 19th century. After my grandparents' generation tried to murder all the Jews and managed to kill six million of them, many survivors just wouldn't stay anywhere in Europe anymore, so Zionism became their beacon of hope, and that led to the founding of Israel.
You can't really separate what is happening now from what happened in the past. It all boils down to ancient religious conflicts that turn violent again and again and again, and to the fact that no empire could ever leave the Jordan valley alone since it is such an important oasis in the desert. As long as that river runs and as long as any people believe in that old desert god, there will never be lasting peace. In fact, forget about the old alpha male in the sky, the violence began long before there even were any Hebrews. The oldest real wars between real states with real armies (as opposed to tribal warriors) happened around ancient cities like Jericho, you can still find armouries filled with stone age weapons there. The so-called Holy Land is where organised warfare was invented many thousands of years ago, and it hasn't seen any lasting peace ever since. However, we can expect it all to end within less than a hundred years because the climate catastrophe will turn the Jordan river into a dusty valley, and the whole land will become too hot to sustain human life. Nobody will be living there for the next few tens of thousands of years.