Zionist Entity

“Zionist entity” is a derogatory term for Israel designed to deny Israel’s legitimacy. The term emerged by the 1960s, used by Arab leaders in the Middle East who needed to refer to Israel but did not want to acknowledge its existence as a nation. Instead, they referred to Israel using language such as “the Zionist entity existing in Palestine.” Opponents of Israel continue to use the term today. In May 2025, after a gunman killed two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, D.C., Masar Badil—a transnational anti-Israel organization with ties to the terror-affiliated group Samidoun—responded by saying that the attack was “a natural consequence of the Zionist entity’s crimes in the Gaza Strip.” 

The term “Zionist entity” has spread to opponents and detractors of Israel more broadly, including within the United States. Usage of the term in the United States began as early as 1970. Today, it is primarily used by far left and anti-Israel groups and individuals, such as Students for Justice in Palestine, Within Our Lifetime, Palestinian Youth Movement, and PAL-Awda. Abroad, the term has also frequently been used by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other regime officials, as well as by the former leader of the terrorist group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.