A Collapse of the Zionist Consensus Within American Jews: What Is Emerging Now.

Two years have passed since that deadly assault of 7 October 2023, an event that profoundly impacted global Jewish populations unlike anything else since the creation of the Jewish state.

For Jews it was shocking. For the state of Israel, the situation represented a significant embarrassment. The entire Zionist endeavor was founded on the presumption which held that Israel would prevent things like this occurring in the future.

A response was inevitable. Yet the chosen course that Israel implemented – the comprehensive devastation of the Gaza Strip, the killing and maiming of many thousands of civilians – represented a decision. This particular approach made more difficult the perspective of many Jewish Americans grappled with the October 7th events that triggered it, and presently makes difficult their observance of the anniversary. In what way can people grieve and remember a tragedy targeting their community during devastation being inflicted upon another people in your name?

The Challenge of Mourning

The challenge of mourning exists because of the fact that there is no consensus as to the implications of these developments. Actually, within US Jewish circles, the last two years have experienced the collapse of a decades-long consensus on Zionism itself.

The early development of pro-Israel unity within US Jewish communities dates back to a 1915 essay written by a legal scholar subsequently appointed Supreme Court judge Louis D. Brandeis named “Jewish Issues; How to Solve it”. However, the agreement truly solidified following the 1967 conflict in 1967. Before then, American Jewry housed a fragile but stable coexistence among different factions holding different opinions regarding the requirement for Israel – Zionists, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Background Information

This parallel existence persisted through the mid-twentieth century, in remnants of leftist Jewish organizations, in the non-Zionist US Jewish group, within the critical religious group and other organizations. Regarding Chancellor Finkelstein, the leader of the theological institution, Zionism had greater religious significance than political, and he did not permit singing Israel's anthem, Hatikvah, during seminary ceremonies during that period. Furthermore, support for Israel the central focus within modern Orthodox Judaism prior to the 1967 conflict. Jewish identitarian alternatives coexisted.

Yet after Israel overcame neighboring countries in that war during that period, occupying territories including Palestinian territories, Gaza, Golan Heights and Jerusalem's eastern sector, US Jewish perspective on the country changed dramatically. The triumphant outcome, combined with enduring anxieties about another genocide, led to an increasing conviction in the country’s essential significance for Jewish communities, and generated admiration in its resilience. Discourse about the remarkable nature of the success and the reclaiming of land provided Zionism a religious, almost redemptive, meaning. In that triumphant era, a significant portion of existing hesitation toward Israel disappeared. In that decade, Writer Podhoretz declared: “Everyone supports Zionism today.”

The Unity and Restrictions

The Zionist consensus left out the ultra-Orthodox – who generally maintained a Jewish state should only emerge by a traditional rendering of the Messiah – yet included Reform, Conservative Judaism, contemporary Orthodox and nearly all secular Jews. The common interpretation of the unified position, what became known as progressive Zionism, was established on the idea in Israel as a democratic and democratic – while majority-Jewish – state. Countless Jewish Americans considered the occupation of Arab, Syria's and Egyptian lands following the war as temporary, thinking that an agreement was imminent that would guarantee Jewish population majority in pre-1967 Israel and regional acceptance of Israel.

Multiple generations of US Jews were raised with Zionism an essential component of their identity as Jews. The nation became a central part within religious instruction. Israeli national day turned into a celebration. Blue and white banners decorated religious institutions. Youth programs were permeated with Hebrew music and learning of modern Hebrew, with Israeli guests educating US young people Israeli culture. Visits to Israel increased and reached new heights via educational trips during that year, when a free trip to the nation became available to US Jewish youth. Israel permeated almost the entirety of the American Jewish experience.

Changing Dynamics

Ironically, in these decades post-1967, American Jewry developed expertise regarding denominational coexistence. Acceptance and dialogue across various Jewish groups grew.

Except when it came to Zionism and Israel – that’s where tolerance reached its limit. You could be a conservative supporter or a liberal advocate, yet backing Israel as a Jewish state remained unquestioned, and criticizing that perspective placed you outside the consensus – an “Un-Jew”, as one publication labeled it in a piece that year.

However currently, during of the ruin of Gaza, food shortages, dead and orphaned children and frustration over the denial of many fellow Jews who decline to acknowledge their responsibility, that unity has broken down. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer