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Marking two years after the horrific attack of the events of October 7th, an event that shook world Jewry like no other occurrence since the founding of the state of Israel.

Within Jewish communities the event proved profoundly disturbing. For the Israeli government, it was a significant embarrassment. The entire Zionist project was founded on the assumption which held that Israel could stop similar tragedies occurring in the future.

A response was inevitable. Yet the chosen course undertaken by Israel – the comprehensive devastation of Gaza, the casualties of tens of thousands ordinary people – constituted a specific policy. And this choice made more difficult the way numerous American Jews processed the October 7th events that precipitated the response, and currently challenges the community's commemoration of that date. How can someone honor and reflect on a tragedy against your people in the midst of devastation being inflicted upon other individuals attributed to their identity?

The Complexity of Remembrance

The complexity in grieving lies in the fact that little unity prevails as to the implications of these developments. Actually, for the American Jewish community, the last two years have witnessed the disintegration of a fifty-year consensus on Zionism itself.

The origins of pro-Israel unity among American Jewry can be traced to writings from 1915 by the lawyer who would later become high court jurist Louis D. Brandeis titled “The Jewish Question; Finding Solutions”. However, the agreement became firmly established after the 1967 conflict in 1967. Before then, US Jewish communities maintained a fragile but stable parallel existence among different factions that had diverse perspectives concerning the requirement for Israel – pro-Israel advocates, neutral parties and opponents.

Previous Developments

Such cohabitation persisted throughout the mid-twentieth century, in remnants of socialist Jewish movements, in the non-Zionist US Jewish group, in the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism and other organizations. For Louis Finkelstein, the leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary, pro-Israel ideology was more spiritual instead of governmental, and he forbade performance of the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, at religious school events during that period. Nor were support for Israel the centerpiece within modern Orthodox Judaism until after the six-day war. Alternative Jewish perspectives existed alongside.

However following Israel overcame neighboring countries during the 1967 conflict in 1967, occupying territories such as the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, US Jewish relationship to Israel changed dramatically. Israel’s victory, coupled with enduring anxieties of a “second Holocaust”, resulted in a growing belief regarding Israel's critical importance to the Jewish people, and a source of pride for its strength. Language concerning the remarkable aspect of the success and the freeing of territory gave Zionism a spiritual, potentially salvific, meaning. During that enthusiastic period, a significant portion of the remaining ambivalence toward Israel disappeared. In that decade, Writer Norman Podhoretz declared: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Unity and Its Limits

The pro-Israel agreement did not include the ultra-Orthodox – who typically thought Israel should only be established by a traditional rendering of redemption – yet included Reform, Conservative Judaism, Modern Orthodox and nearly all unaffiliated individuals. The predominant version of this agreement, identified as progressive Zionism, was established on a belief in Israel as a liberal and liberal – albeit ethnocentric – nation. Numerous US Jews saw the administration of local, Syria's and Egypt's territories after 1967 as provisional, assuming that a resolution would soon emerge that would ensure Jewish demographic dominance in Israel proper and regional acceptance of the state.

Two generations of American Jews were thus brought up with support for Israel a fundamental aspect of their Jewish identity. The state transformed into a key component in Jewish learning. Yom Ha'atzmaut evolved into a religious observance. National symbols were displayed in most synagogues. Youth programs became infused with Israeli songs and education of the language, with Israelis visiting and teaching US young people national traditions. Travel to Israel increased and reached new heights through Birthright programs in 1999, offering complimentary travel to the country became available to Jewish young adults. The state affected nearly every aspect of Jewish American identity.

Evolving Situation

Interestingly, throughout these years following the war, US Jewish communities became adept in religious diversity. Acceptance and dialogue between Jewish denominations grew.

Yet concerning Zionism and Israel – there existed pluralism found its boundary. You could be a right-leaning advocate or a liberal advocate, however endorsement of the nation as a Jewish homeland was a given, and criticizing that position placed you outside the consensus – an “Un-Jew”, as a Jewish periodical described it in writing recently.

But now, amid of the devastation within Gaza, starvation, child casualties and frustration about the rejection by numerous Jewish individuals who avoid admitting their complicity, that unity has disintegrated. The liberal Zionist “center” {has lost|no longer