Though the land of Israel has been physically redeemed, and the Jewish people have returned to the place of their origin, there is an element of Zion crying in pain, mourning in its solitude. To many Jews, the Zionist drive to acquire the land and establish a Jewish state seemed the fulfillment of the Biblical promise to our forefathers. Hence, the antipathy to the many rabbinic leaders who refused to embrace the Zionist dream. But the rabbis understood that the land of Israel has always been more than mere geography. The Avos did not beseech G-d for valuable real estate, but rather, they recognized that every 'Makom' in the Torah hints at a deeper essence.
Physical entities are surface expressions of spiritual substance.
The acquisition of Eretz Yisrael marks the delineation of a rootedness to faith, planting the eternal nation Israel in the vineyard of G-d. Rather than Israel being the place where heaven kisses earth, where physical life mirrors its spiritual connections, the land becomes defined by the strength of its soldiers and the export quality of its fruit. Rather than synthesis between the physical and spiritual realms, the land has been divorced from Zion itself, the point from which Torah goes forth to the world. Those who stand in the way of its realization have no faith in the unstoppable Divine processs. He fails to realize that instead of elevating man to a world of holiness, he has reduced holiness to earthly dimensions.