"One of the chief tasks of any dialogue with the Gentile world is to prove that the distinction between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism is not a distinction at all"

Abba Eban’s statement challenges the commonly held notion that anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are distinct and separate phenomena. He asserts that the division between the two is artificial and often used to obscure or minimize hostility toward Jews by framing it as mere opposition to the political project of Zionism or to the state of Israel. By insisting that there is "not a distinction at all", Eban is highlighting the way in which criticisms or hostilities aimed at Zionism frequently mask deeper prejudices against Jewish people themselves.

The implication is that dialogue with the broader, non-Jewish, or "Gentile" world must confront this conflation directly. Many individuals and groups claim that they only object to Israeli government policies or to the ideology of Zionism, not to Jews as a whole. However, Eban suggests that in practice, anti-Zionist rhetoric often slips into anti-Semitic tropes, stereotypes, and animosities. Opposition to Israel's existence can easily morph into opposition to Jewish self-determination or Jewish presence, thereby reviving age-old patterns of discrimination and exclusion.

By underscoring this lack of distinction, Eban warns against the rhetorical safety net that anti-Zionism provides for anti-Semitism. He sees it as a disingenuous cover that allows old prejudices to re-emerge under the guise of political critique. The task, therefore, is to make clear to the world that constant delegitimization of Israel, attacks on its right to exist, or essentializing its people’s actions are inseparable from animosity towards Jews as a group. Eban’s view calls for intellectual honesty and moral clarity in public discourse, refusing to allow semantic nuances to obscure substantive injustices or to permit historic bigotry to take on newly acceptable forms. Through this, he seeks a more genuine and discerning public conversation about Jewish identity, statehood, and prejudice.