🔗 Share this article The Collapse of a Zionist Agreement Within American Jewish Community: What's Taking Shape Today. Two years have passed since that deadly assault of 7 October 2023, an event that profoundly impacted world Jewry more than any event since the founding of the state of Israel. Within Jewish communities it was deeply traumatic. For the Israeli government, the situation represented a profound disgrace. The whole Zionist movement was founded on the assumption that the nation would prevent things like this occurring in the future. Military action seemed necessary. Yet the chosen course that Israel implemented – the obliteration of Gaza, the killing and maiming of many thousands non-combatants – constituted a specific policy. And this choice created complexity in the way numerous US Jewish community members grappled with the October 7th events that precipitated the response, and presently makes difficult the community's commemoration of the anniversary. How does one honor and reflect on an atrocity targeting their community during devastation being inflicted upon other individuals in your name? The Difficulty of Mourning The challenge in grieving stems from the circumstance where there is no consensus regarding what any of this means. Indeed, among Jewish Americans, this two-year period have seen the disintegration of a half-century-old agreement on Zionism itself. The origins of Zionist agreement among American Jewry can be traced to writings from 1915 authored by an attorney subsequently appointed supreme court justice Louis D. Brandeis named “The Jewish Question; How to Solve it”. However, the agreement really takes hold following the Six-Day War that year. Before then, Jewish Americans maintained a delicate yet functioning coexistence between groups that had a range of views regarding the necessity of a Jewish state – Zionists, non-Zionists and opponents. Previous Developments That coexistence continued during the post-war decades, through surviving aspects of Jewish socialism, in the non-Zionist US Jewish group, in the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism and comparable entities. Regarding Chancellor Finkelstein, the head of the Jewish Theological Seminary, pro-Israel ideology was more spiritual rather than political, and he forbade performance of Israel's anthem, Hatikvah, at religious school events in the early 1960s. Nor were Zionism and pro-Israelism the main element of Modern Orthodoxy until after the 1967 conflict. Jewish identitarian alternatives existed alongside. But after Israel defeated neighboring countries in that war during that period, occupying territories comprising the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, the American Jewish perspective on the country underwent significant transformation. Israel’s victory, coupled with longstanding fears about another genocide, produced a growing belief regarding Israel's vital role within Jewish identity, and created pride for its strength. Discourse about the remarkable nature of the outcome and the “liberation” of territory provided the Zionist project a spiritual, almost redemptive, importance. In that triumphant era, considerable the remaining ambivalence toward Israel dissipated. During the seventies, Writer Norman Podhoretz famously proclaimed: “Zionism unites us all.” The Consensus and Restrictions The unified position did not include the ultra-Orthodox – who typically thought a nation should only be ushered in by a traditional rendering of redemption – yet included Reform, Conservative, contemporary Orthodox and nearly all secular Jews. The most popular form of the unified position, what became known as left-leaning Zionism, was based on the conviction regarding Israel as a progressive and democratic – though Jewish-centered – country. Countless Jewish Americans saw the control of Palestinian, Syrian and Egyptian lands after 1967 as provisional, thinking that an agreement was forthcoming that would maintain Jewish population majority within Israel's original borders and neighbor recognition of Israel. Several cohorts of US Jews grew up with support for Israel an essential component of their identity as Jews. Israel became an important element of Jewish education. Israeli national day evolved into a religious observance. Israeli flags adorned many temples. Youth programs integrated with Hebrew music and education of the language, with Israelis visiting instructing US young people Israeli customs. Visits to Israel increased and reached new heights with Birthright Israel during that year, when a free trip to the nation was offered to young American Jews. Israel permeated nearly every aspect of US Jewish life. Shifting Landscape Interestingly, in these decades following the war, US Jewish communities grew skilled in religious diversity. Acceptance and communication across various Jewish groups expanded. Except when it came to the Israeli situation – that represented tolerance ended. You could be a conservative supporter or a liberal advocate, yet backing Israel as a Jewish homeland remained unquestioned, and criticizing that narrative placed you outside mainstream views – a non-conformist, as Tablet magazine labeled it in a piece in 2021. However currently, during of the devastation of Gaza, food shortages, young victims and anger about the rejection of many fellow Jews who refuse to recognize their responsibility, that agreement has disintegrated. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer