The Collapse of the Pro-Israel Agreement Among American Jewish Community: What's Taking Shape Now.
Two years have passed since that horrific attack of the events of October 7th, an event that profoundly impacted world Jewry more than any event since the creation of the Jewish state.
For Jews the event proved shocking. For the Israeli government, it was a profound disgrace. The entire Zionist movement rested on the belief which held that the nation would ensure against similar tragedies repeating.
A response was inevitable. Yet the chosen course that Israel implemented – the comprehensive devastation of Gaza, the killing and maiming of many thousands non-combatants – represented a decision. This particular approach complicated the way numerous Jewish Americans processed the attack that precipitated the response, and currently challenges their remembrance of that date. How does one mourn and commemorate a horrific event affecting their nation during devastation being inflicted upon a different population connected to their community?
The Difficulty of Grieving
The difficulty of mourning lies in the reality that little unity prevails regarding the implications of these developments. Actually, among Jewish Americans, the last two years have seen the collapse of a decades-long consensus about the Zionist movement.
The beginnings of Zionist agreement among American Jewry can be traced to a 1915 essay authored by an attorney and then future supreme court justice Louis Brandeis titled “The Jewish Question; How to Solve it”. However, the agreement truly solidified after the six-day war in 1967. Before then, US Jewish communities maintained a fragile but stable cohabitation between groups that had different opinions regarding the requirement for a Jewish nation – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.
Historical Context
This parallel existence endured during the mid-twentieth century, within remaining elements of socialist Jewish movements, in the non-Zionist American Jewish Committee, in the anti-Zionist Jewish organization and similar institutions. For Louis Finkelstein, the leader at JTS, Zionism had greater religious significance than political, and he did not permit the singing of Israel's anthem, Hatikvah, at JTS ordinations during that period. Furthermore, support for Israel the main element within modern Orthodox Judaism before the six-day war. Alternative Jewish perspectives existed alongside.
But after Israel routed its neighbors in that war during that period, taking control of areas such as the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, the American Jewish relationship to the country underwent significant transformation. The triumphant outcome, combined with longstanding fears of a “second Holocaust”, resulted in an increasing conviction about the nation's critical importance within Jewish identity, and created pride regarding its endurance. Rhetoric about the extraordinary nature of the outcome and the reclaiming of land provided the movement a theological, even messianic, meaning. In that triumphant era, much of previous uncertainty about Zionism disappeared. In the early 1970s, Publication editor Norman Podhoretz declared: “Zionism unites us all.”
The Unity and Restrictions
The Zionist consensus excluded the ultra-Orthodox – who largely believed Israel should only emerge through traditional interpretation of the messiah – yet included Reform, Conservative Judaism, contemporary Orthodox and nearly all non-affiliated Jews. The common interpretation of this agreement, what became known as left-leaning Zionism, was founded on a belief regarding Israel as a progressive and democratic – though Jewish-centered – state. Numerous US Jews considered the administration of Arab, Syrian and Egyptian lands post-1967 as provisional, thinking that a resolution was forthcoming that would ensure Jewish population majority in pre-1967 Israel and regional acceptance of the nation.
Multiple generations of American Jews grew up with pro-Israel ideology a fundamental aspect of their Jewish identity. The state transformed into a central part within religious instruction. Yom Ha'atzmaut turned into a celebration. Israeli flags adorned religious institutions. Youth programs were permeated with national melodies and education of the language, with Israelis visiting and teaching American teenagers Israeli culture. Travel to Israel increased and peaked via educational trips during that year, offering complimentary travel to the nation was offered to young American Jews. The nation influenced virtually all areas of US Jewish life.
Changing Dynamics
Interestingly, in these decades after 1967, US Jewish communities grew skilled regarding denominational coexistence. Open-mindedness and discussion between Jewish denominations expanded.
However regarding support for Israel – there existed diversity found its boundary. One could identify as a conservative supporter or a progressive supporter, yet backing Israel as a Jewish homeland was a given, and criticizing that position categorized you beyond accepted boundaries – outside the community, as a Jewish periodical described it in writing in 2021.
Yet presently, during of the devastation within Gaza, starvation, young victims and outrage regarding the refusal within Jewish communities who decline to acknowledge their complicity, that agreement has collapsed. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer
