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It has been the horrific attack of the events of October 7th, which shook Jewish communities worldwide unlike anything else since the founding of the state of Israel.

For Jews it was shocking. For Israel as a nation, it was deeply humiliating. The entire Zionist movement rested on the presumption that the nation would ensure against such atrocities from ever happening again.

A response was inevitable. However, the particular response undertaken by Israel – the widespread destruction of Gaza, the casualties of numerous non-combatants – represented a decision. And this choice complicated the way numerous US Jewish community members processed the October 7th events that set it in motion, and presently makes difficult the community's commemoration of the anniversary. How does one grieve and remember a horrific event targeting their community while simultaneously an atrocity experienced by a different population attributed to their identity?

The Complexity of Mourning

The difficulty in grieving lies in the reality that no agreement exists about what any of this means. Indeed, for the American Jewish community, the recent twenty-four months have witnessed the disintegration of a fifty-year agreement on Zionism itself.

The origins of Zionist agreement within US Jewish communities can be traced to a 1915 essay by the lawyer subsequently appointed supreme court justice Justice Brandeis named “Jewish Issues; How to Solve it”. Yet the unity really takes hold following the 1967 conflict during 1967. Before then, American Jewry contained a fragile but stable parallel existence across various segments which maintained different opinions about the requirement of a Jewish state – Zionists, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Historical Context

That coexistence continued during the mid-twentieth century, through surviving aspects of socialist Jewish movements, through the non-aligned US Jewish group, in the anti-Zionist religious group and other organizations. In the view of Louis Finkelstein, the leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Zionism was primarily theological instead of governmental, and he forbade performance of Israel's anthem, the Israeli national anthem, at religious school events in the early 1960s. Furthermore, Zionism and pro-Israelism the centerpiece within modern Orthodox Judaism before the 1967 conflict. Alternative Jewish perspectives remained present.

Yet after Israel overcame neighboring countries in the six-day war in 1967, taking control of areas such as the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, the American Jewish perspective on the nation underwent significant transformation. Israel’s victory, along with longstanding fears about another genocide, produced a growing belief about the nation's critical importance within Jewish identity, and a source of pride for its strength. Discourse about the “miraculous” nature of the victory and the freeing of areas provided Zionism a spiritual, almost redemptive, importance. During that enthusiastic period, considerable the remaining ambivalence about Zionism disappeared. In the early 1970s, Publication editor Podhoretz famously proclaimed: “We are all Zionists now.”

The Agreement and Restrictions

The unified position left out the ultra-Orthodox – who largely believed Israel should only be established through traditional interpretation of the Messiah – yet included Reform, Conservative, contemporary Orthodox and the majority of secular Jews. The predominant version of the unified position, what became known as left-leaning Zionism, was based on the conviction regarding Israel as a democratic and free – though Jewish-centered – nation. Countless Jewish Americans saw the occupation of local, Syria's and Egyptian lands post-1967 as temporary, believing that a solution was forthcoming that would maintain a Jewish majority in pre-1967 Israel and Middle Eastern approval of the nation.

Several cohorts of Jewish Americans were thus brought up with Zionism an essential component of their Jewish identity. Israel became a key component of Jewish education. Israeli national day turned into a celebration. Israeli flags were displayed in religious institutions. Seasonal activities integrated with Hebrew music and learning of modern Hebrew, with Israeli guests instructing American teenagers Israeli customs. Visits to Israel increased and peaked with Birthright Israel in 1999, when a free trip to the country became available to Jewish young adults. The nation influenced nearly every aspect of US Jewish life.

Shifting Landscape

Ironically, during this period post-1967, Jewish Americans grew skilled in religious diversity. Tolerance and communication across various Jewish groups expanded.

However regarding Zionism and Israel – there existed tolerance ended. Individuals might align with a conservative supporter or a liberal advocate, but support for Israel as a majority-Jewish country was assumed, and challenging that perspective categorized you outside mainstream views – outside the community, as a Jewish periodical labeled it in an essay that year.

However currently, during of the destruction in Gaza, famine, young victims and anger regarding the refusal within Jewish communities who avoid admitting their involvement, that agreement has disintegrated. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer