At the first ever Herzl Conference in Jerusalem, organized by the World Zionist Movement and the Herzl Center, former Democrat U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman said that while there was “Divine involvement” in the establishment of the State of Israel, "we also know it would not have happened without the initiative and leadership of men and women here on Earth who, like Herzl, stepped out of the passive crowd to act to change history."

Lieberman continued: "That is after all the paradigmatic relationship between God and man in Judaism, going back to Abraham the faithful iconoclast who destroyed his father’s idols and proselytized for faith to one God, the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer.

"The paradigm is also there movingly at the Red Sea when the children if Israel are trapped between the water and Pharaoh’s oncoming army. The people panic, and Moses prays to God for a miracle, but God says this is not the time for prayer. It is now time for human action. Hold up your staff, He directs Moses. And then Nachshon of the Tribe of Judah, in a supreme act of faith, courage, and commitment to what we today call Jewish continuity, walked into the Red Sea. Then, and only then, did the water separate to allow the Israelites to walk through. The rest, as they say, is history.

"Theodore Herzl was the Nachshon of our time, and he was followed by other Nachshons, other heroes like Weitzman, Jabotinsky, Ben Gurion, Begin, Meir, and so many others and Christian Nahshons like Balfour, Churchill and Truman, right up to this day, who have enabled, sustained, and strengthened the miracle of modern Israel."