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It has been the deadly assault of October 7, 2023, an event that shook global Jewish populations unlike anything else since the establishment of the state of Israel.

For Jews it was profoundly disturbing. For the Israeli government, it was a significant embarrassment. The entire Zionist movement had been established on the belief which held that the Jewish state would prevent such atrocities repeating.

Military action seemed necessary. However, the particular response that Israel implemented – the widespread destruction of the Gaza Strip, the casualties of numerous of civilians – constituted a specific policy. This particular approach created complexity in the perspective of many Jewish Americans grappled with the attack that precipitated the response, and presently makes difficult the community's remembrance of the day. How can someone mourn and commemorate a horrific event targeting their community during devastation experienced by other individuals in your name?

The Difficulty of Grieving

The difficulty of mourning lies in the fact that there is no consensus regarding the implications of these developments. Actually, for the American Jewish community, the recent twenty-four months have seen the disintegration of a fifty-year unity regarding Zionism.

The early development of a Zionist consensus across American Jewish populations can be traced to a 1915 essay authored by an attorney and then future Supreme Court judge Justice Brandeis named “Jewish Issues; How to Solve it”. Yet the unity became firmly established after the 1967 conflict during 1967. Earlier, US Jewish communities housed a vulnerable but enduring coexistence among different factions that had a range of views concerning the necessity for a Jewish nation – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Background Information

This parallel existence persisted through the mid-twentieth century, in remnants of Jewish socialism, within the neutral US Jewish group, within the critical Jewish organization and comparable entities. Regarding Chancellor Finkelstein, the head at JTS, pro-Israel ideology had greater religious significance instead of governmental, and he forbade the singing of the Israeli national anthem, the national song, during seminary ceremonies in those years. Furthermore, Zionist ideology the centerpiece of Modern Orthodoxy until after the six-day war. Different Jewish identity models coexisted.

Yet after Israel overcame neighboring countries in that war that year, occupying territories such as Palestinian territories, Gaza, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, US Jewish perspective on Israel changed dramatically. The military success, coupled with longstanding fears of a “second Holocaust”, led to a developing perspective about the nation's vital role to the Jewish people, and created pride regarding its endurance. Discourse regarding the remarkable aspect of the victory and the reclaiming of territory provided the Zionist project a spiritual, even messianic, significance. During that enthusiastic period, much of the remaining ambivalence regarding Zionism disappeared. During the seventies, Writer Norman Podhoretz famously proclaimed: “We are all Zionists now.”

The Consensus and Its Boundaries

The unified position excluded the ultra-Orthodox – who generally maintained a nation should only be established through traditional interpretation of the Messiah – but united Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, Modern Orthodox and nearly all unaffiliated individuals. The predominant version of this agreement, identified as liberal Zionism, was based on the idea regarding Israel as a progressive and liberal – albeit ethnocentric – country. Many American Jews viewed the control of Palestinian, Syrian and Egypt's territories after 1967 as not permanent, assuming that an agreement was forthcoming that would guarantee Jewish population majority within Israel's original borders and Middle Eastern approval of the state.

Multiple generations of Jewish Americans grew up with support for Israel a fundamental aspect of their religious identity. The state transformed into an important element in Jewish learning. Israel’s Independence Day became a Jewish holiday. National symbols adorned religious institutions. Seasonal activities were permeated with Hebrew music and learning of the language, with Israeli guests educating US young people national traditions. Trips to the nation grew and peaked with Birthright Israel during that year, offering complimentary travel to the nation became available to Jewish young adults. Israel permeated virtually all areas of Jewish American identity.

Shifting Landscape

Paradoxically, throughout these years following the war, US Jewish communities developed expertise in religious diversity. Tolerance and discussion across various Jewish groups expanded.

Yet concerning Zionism and Israel – that represented tolerance found its boundary. You could be a conservative supporter or a liberal advocate, however endorsement of the nation as a majority-Jewish country was a given, and questioning that narrative categorized you outside mainstream views – an “Un-Jew”, as Tablet magazine labeled it in writing in 2021.

Yet presently, during of the destruction of Gaza, starvation, young victims and anger about the rejection of many fellow Jews who decline to acknowledge their responsibility, that agreement has collapsed. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer