Zionist secularism was a European cultural identity by definition

Evidence

These statements are interesting ones coming from consciously secular and even atheist figures. It illustrates a central element of the Zionist attitude: Mizrahi “secularism” seemed threatening because it was Arab secularism and reflected a different model of secularization and modernization. The notion of the “secular” in Zionist discourse was thus a cultural identity, European by definition. The “secular” and the “orientalist” are completely identical. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 663

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels the lex-op-pia / modesty essay theme of ostensible universalism masking class and cultural hierarchy. — connects to: The religious core is inseparable from Zionism but separable from Israeli Jewish nationalism — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 564; Zionism rose on Holocaust sympathy to become a leading Western ideology — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures, 144; Secularism itself functions to exclude Palestinians in Israel — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 322 (+3 more)
• DEFINE: Defines ‘secular’ in Zionist discourse as a European identity marker rather than a neutral lack of religiosity.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 663