Zionism is support for a (1) Jewish (2) State in (3) Palestine.
The conjunction of these three tenets is the necessary and sufficient descriptor of Zionism. It is important to understand what Zionism is, and not let the ideology be laundered behind convenient euphemisms.
For instance, a euphemism can be: “Zionism is support for the idea that Israel exists”. This a self-referential and therefore incomplete statement. It states, but fails to characterize, the object of support. Exists as what? In the following sections, I argue for the irreducible description of Zionism and all its flavors.
Necessity
These 3 tenets are necessary to uniquely define Zionism. Removing any single one makes Zionism fungible with support for another movement / philosophy / idea.
Remove Jewish character. A Nation in Palestine. Overlaps with Palestinian nationalism. Or simply Israeli / Palestinian patriotism for the respective polity in Palestine.
Remove sovereign character. A Jewish representation/diaspora/settlement in Palestine. Jews have lived in Palestine for millennia.
Remove Palestinian character. A Jewish Nation elsewhere. This overlaps with Jewish Territorialism.
Sufficiency
These 3 tenets are sufficient to encapsulate Zionism. They adequately describe the common denominator of dominant flavors of Zionist thought. Various strains for Zionism may advocate for additional things. However, these 3 tenets remain constant.
Political Zionism. A Jewish state in Palestine as a secular nationalist endeavor.
Religious Zionism. A Jewish state in Palestine as fulfillment of divine promise.
Labor Zionism. A Jewish state in Palestine based on collective Jewish labor (kibbutzim).
Revisionist Zionism. A Jewish state in Palestine controlling all Biblically mentioned territory.
Cultural Zionism. A Jewish state in Palestine formed as an eventuality of a culturally cohesive diaspora, renewed in a Jewish identity, gradually immigrating to Palestine.
Diaspora Zionism. A Jewish state in Palestine that is supported by diaspora maintaining their native national identities.
Christian Zionism. A Jewish state in Palestine because of dispensationalist views of Jews.