The PER came into being as a result of dissensions within the Jewish community. These followed the Jewish emancipation decrees of the early 1920s, and were aggravated by cultural and political differences between the regions of Greater Romania. Filderman's Union of Native Jews (as the UER was known before 1923) believed that a separate Jewish party was unnecessary, as it would isolate the Jews politically after they had struggled for decades to win Romanian citizenship. The Union stated that specific demands could be obtained more easily by participating in Romanian parties and collaborating with the Romanian government. As Filderman argued, the "specific interests" of the Jews "are not in disagreement with the general interests of the Romanian state". According to historian Henry Eaton, its stance was "politically cooperative" toward Romanian parties, seeking to "deflect the charge that Jews in Romania represented a separate and alien nation". More generally, the UER stood for a platform of Jewish assimilation: it was "rather supportive of integration", or even "moderate Romanianization". However, the UER was not fundamentally adverse to Zionism, with Filderman himself noting: "a Romanian Jew cannot oppose the creation of a Jewish national state".