#Why? Because he's purposefully taking the quote out of context to push his antisemitic rhetoric while using “as a Jew” to defend his action

[a-very-tired-jew]

I've seen this particular quote trotted out by antisemites time and time again as a kind of "gotcha" against Zionism. "The anti-Semites will become our most dependable friends, the anti-Semitic countries our allies." This is from Theodor Herzl's diary, which can be found on page 84. However, if you've been around the internet in any context for the past few decades then you would likely realize that a singular quote out of context is not as damning as someone wants you to think. In fact, this is actually a fallacious argument (quoting out of context) that lawyers will get warnings from judges about in their own arguments. You could also categorize it as a lie of omission as well.

Why?

Well let's look at the entire diary entry this particular quote is from.

In context this quote is about using antisemites that are respected in their community to assuage the fears that Jews leaving would not negatively impact the community and country. It pretty much talks about making sure the antisemitic conspiracy that Jews were puppet masters controlling these goyim to liquidate their assets did not also arise.

In short, the entry is about understanding how antisemitism and antisemites act and acting within that frame so as to not cause a negative response and thereby allow the Jews to leave in a peaceful manner.

Why?

Because Jews often enriched a country's economy and people benefited from our presence. There are multiple instances in history of Jews being expelled for antisemitic reasons by a monarch and then being invited back by a subsequent monarch after their economy essentially crashed from kicking us out because the jobs they relegated us too were essential and beneficial. But in every scenario Jews were seen as lesser but beneficial. They wanted us there, but wanted us gone. When we left and returned we were harmed in almost every instance and were accompanied by a host of conspiracies about us. Understanding that behavior and pattern and using it is what Herzl is detailing in this section.

But that's the thing with antisemites. They latch onto a singular sentence out of context and use that to further their narrative about "evil Zionist Jews". All the while they handwave away their own antisemitic rhetoric and bigotry and the actions of the violent antisemites they support in the name of "fighting evil Zionists".