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Relations between the Jewish diaspora and the majority Muslim societies in Libya and Tunisia underwent a dramatic shift during World War II. The majority of Jews, aware of the recent conflict, joined the Zionist movement. The Arabs and the Jews took two separate paths, each of them reinforcing their national identity.There were several reasons why the Jews distanced themselves from Muslim society. In addition to the political atmosphere, there was the everyday experience of living alongside the Arabs and the violent incidents between Jews and Arabs, which intensified beginning in 1945, especially in Libya. The modern-day Arab interpretation of these events focuses on Zionism as a way to explain the split between the majority Muslim population and the minority Jewish population. In reality, Zionism only came into play after 1945. The suggestion that Zionism was responsible for this divorce is biased and encourages the idealization of the Jewish diaspora’s situation. In fact, while the Jews were economically and socially integrated into Arab society, this in no way ensured their political survival on a level playing field in an independent Arab nation. That is the reason for the split.