A Dissolution of the Pro-Israel Consensus Among US Jews: What's Emerging Now.

Marking two years after the deadly assault of the events of October 7th, an event that deeply affected global Jewish populations unlike anything else since the creation of Israel as a nation.

Within Jewish communities the event proved deeply traumatic. For the Israeli government, it was a profound disgrace. The entire Zionist movement was founded on the assumption which held that the Jewish state would prevent similar tragedies repeating.

Some form of retaliation was inevitable. Yet the chosen course Israel pursued – the obliteration of the Gaza Strip, the killing and maiming of tens of thousands non-combatants – constituted a specific policy. This particular approach created complexity in how many American Jews grappled with the attack that triggered it, and it now complicates their observance of that date. How can someone honor and reflect on an atrocity against your people during an atrocity experienced by a different population in your name?

The Difficulty of Remembrance

The challenge of mourning stems from the reality that there is no consensus as to the implications of these developments. Actually, within US Jewish circles, this two-year period have witnessed the disintegration of a decades-long agreement on Zionism itself.

The beginnings of a Zionist consensus among American Jewry dates back to an early twentieth-century publication written by a legal scholar and then future high court jurist Louis D. Brandeis titled “The Jewish Question; Addressing the Challenge”. Yet the unity truly solidified following the Six-Day War in 1967. Earlier, American Jewry contained a fragile but stable parallel existence between groups that had diverse perspectives concerning the need for Israel – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and opponents.

Historical Context

This parallel existence endured through the 1950s and 60s, within remaining elements of socialist Jewish movements, through the non-aligned American Jewish Committee, in the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism and other organizations. In the view of Louis Finkelstein, the head at JTS, pro-Israel ideology had greater religious significance rather than political, and he did not permit the singing of Hatikvah, Hatikvah, at JTS ordinations during that period. Additionally, Zionist ideology the main element within modern Orthodox Judaism prior to the 1967 conflict. Jewish identitarian alternatives existed alongside.

Yet after Israel routed adjacent nations during the 1967 conflict that year, taking control of areas comprising Palestinian territories, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, US Jewish perspective on the nation evolved considerably. The military success, coupled with persistent concerns regarding repeated persecution, led to an increasing conviction about the nation's essential significance to the Jewish people, and created pride in its resilience. Discourse about the extraordinary quality of the victory and the freeing of land provided the Zionist project a theological, even messianic, meaning. During that enthusiastic period, considerable previous uncertainty regarding Zionism dissipated. In the early 1970s, Publication editor Podhoretz declared: “Everyone supports Zionism today.”

The Consensus and Restrictions

The pro-Israel agreement left out Haredi Jews – who typically thought Israel should only be established via conventional understanding of the messiah – but united Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, contemporary Orthodox and the majority of unaffiliated individuals. The common interpretation of this agreement, what became known as progressive Zionism, was based on a belief regarding Israel as a democratic and free – though Jewish-centered – state. Numerous US Jews viewed the administration of Arab, Syria's and Egypt's territories following the war as not permanent, believing that a resolution was forthcoming that would ensure Jewish demographic dominance in pre-1967 Israel and regional acceptance of the state.

Two generations of US Jews were thus brought up with pro-Israel ideology a fundamental aspect of their identity as Jews. The nation became an important element within religious instruction. Israel’s Independence Day evolved into a religious observance. Blue and white banners decorated many temples. Youth programs became infused with Israeli songs and education of contemporary Hebrew, with Israeli guests and teaching American youth Israeli customs. Travel to Israel expanded and peaked with Birthright Israel by 1999, when a free trip to Israel was offered to young American Jews. The state affected nearly every aspect of Jewish American identity.

Changing Dynamics

Ironically, throughout these years following the war, American Jewry became adept at religious pluralism. Acceptance and discussion between Jewish denominations grew.

However regarding the Israeli situation – that represented tolerance ended. One could identify as a rightwing Zionist or a progressive supporter, but support for Israel as a majority-Jewish country was a given, and challenging that narrative placed you outside the consensus – a non-conformist, as one publication described it in writing in 2021.

However currently, under the weight of the ruin of Gaza, famine, child casualties and outrage regarding the refusal by numerous Jewish individuals who avoid admitting their involvement, that consensus has broken down. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer