Avi, we all say prayers for the land of Israel and the coming of Moshiach. That has nothing to do with the current, secular state. It’s not a political thing. One shouldn’t pray for an entity run by anti-Semitic Arabs and self-loathing, liberal, atheist Jews. You can say it’s saved many lives, but so has America. It’s a state that lets Arab extremism flourish and suppresses Jewish free speech. It detains Kahane’s children without reason, and let’s Holocaust denying Arabs roam free and even serve in the Knesset. Israel has become a slave to international opinion and political correctness so much so that it bares greater resemblance to an Islamic state at this point than a Jewish state. If it stopped committing these actions that I consider anti-Jewish, would my opinion change? Absolutely. That’s where I do differ from the hardliner anti-Zionists here. I will be totally willing to change when Israel changes.
As for the borderline worship, I think you know what I mean. I’m not making a blanket accusation against all Zionists, but surely you’ve noticed the people who attach religious significance to people like Herzl, Ben Gurion, and Ben Yehudah who hated Judaism. I heard a tour guide in Israel refer to Herzl as “moshiach” one time. Herzl supported legally banning circumcision. We know these people exist. I’m not saying they represent mainstream religious Zionism, but they exist.
As for the second part of the question, I assume you meant to say “what about?” And yes, in that case it really depends on how far the “borderline worship” goes. Obviously there are con-artists in any religion. Nevertheless, I can better empathize with those who are drawn in to a religious figure rather than those who are religiously drawn to atheists like Herzl.