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Marking two years after that deadly assault of the events of October 7th, an event that profoundly impacted world Jewry like no other occurrence following the founding of the Jewish state.

Among Jewish people the event proved profoundly disturbing. For Israel as a nation, it was a profound disgrace. The whole Zionist project was founded on the presumption that Israel would prevent similar tragedies occurring in the future.

A response seemed necessary. However, the particular response undertaken by Israel – the obliteration of the Gaza Strip, the deaths and injuries of numerous of civilians – constituted a specific policy. This particular approach complicated how many American Jews understood the October 7th events that triggered it, and it now complicates the community's observance of the day. How can someone grieve and remember an atrocity against your people during devastation done to another people connected to their community?

The Difficulty of Mourning

The challenge surrounding remembrance stems from the fact that no agreement exists as to the implications of these developments. Actually, among Jewish Americans, this two-year period have experienced the breakdown of a fifty-year unity on Zionism itself.

The origins of pro-Israel unity across American Jewish populations dates back to an early twentieth-century publication written by a legal scholar subsequently appointed high court jurist Justice Brandeis called “Jewish Issues; How to Solve it”. Yet the unity truly solidified subsequent to the Six-Day War that year. Before then, Jewish Americans housed a fragile but stable coexistence across various segments that had different opinions about the requirement for Israel – Zionists, neutral parties and opponents.

Historical Context

That coexistence persisted throughout the post-war decades, in remnants of socialist Jewish movements, in the non-Zionist American Jewish Committee, within the critical Jewish organization and other organizations. For Louis Finkelstein, the leader of the theological institution, pro-Israel ideology had greater religious significance instead of governmental, and he did not permit the singing of Israel's anthem, Hatikvah, at religious school events in those years. Nor were Zionist ideology the main element of Modern Orthodoxy until after the six-day war. Alternative Jewish perspectives remained present.

Yet after Israel defeated neighboring countries during the 1967 conflict in 1967, taking control of areas including Palestinian territories, Gaza, Golan Heights and Jerusalem's eastern sector, US Jewish perspective on the country underwent significant transformation. The military success, coupled with persistent concerns of a “second Holocaust”, led to a developing perspective regarding Israel's vital role within Jewish identity, and a source of pride regarding its endurance. Rhetoric regarding the extraordinary aspect of the outcome and the “liberation” of land provided the Zionist project a religious, almost redemptive, significance. In that triumphant era, a significant portion of existing hesitation toward Israel vanished. In that decade, Commentary magazine editor Norman Podhoretz stated: “Everyone supports Zionism today.”

The Unity and Its Limits

The pro-Israel agreement did not include Haredi Jews – who largely believed Israel should only emerge by a traditional rendering of the Messiah – however joined Reform Judaism, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and nearly all secular Jews. The predominant version of this agreement, what became known as left-leaning Zionism, was founded on the conviction in Israel as a democratic and free – albeit ethnocentric – nation. Countless Jewish Americans considered the occupation of Arab, Syrian and Egyptian lands post-1967 as temporary, thinking that an agreement was forthcoming that would guarantee a Jewish majority within Israel's original borders and neighbor recognition of Israel.

Two generations of US Jews grew up with pro-Israel ideology a core part of their Jewish identity. Israel became an important element in Jewish learning. Israel’s Independence Day became a Jewish holiday. Israeli flags adorned most synagogues. Youth programs were permeated with Hebrew music and education of contemporary Hebrew, with visitors from Israel instructing American teenagers Israeli customs. Trips to the nation expanded and peaked via educational trips by 1999, when a free trip to Israel was provided to Jewish young adults. The nation influenced virtually all areas of the American Jewish experience.

Evolving Situation

Paradoxically, throughout these years after 1967, US Jewish communities became adept at religious pluralism. Tolerance and dialogue between Jewish denominations increased.

Yet concerning Zionism and Israel – that’s where tolerance found its boundary. Individuals might align with a conservative supporter or a progressive supporter, however endorsement of the nation as a majority-Jewish country was a given, and criticizing that perspective placed you outside mainstream views – an “Un-Jew”, as Tablet magazine termed it in writing in 2021.

Yet presently, during of the destruction of Gaza, famine, young victims and frustration about the rejection within Jewish communities who refuse to recognize their complicity, that unity has disintegrated. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer