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Two years have passed since the horrific attack of the events of October 7th, which shook world Jewry like no other occurrence following the establishment of Israel as a nation.

Among Jewish people the event proved profoundly disturbing. For the state of Israel, the situation represented deeply humiliating. The whole Zionist project was founded on the presumption that Israel would ensure against things like this repeating.

Military action was inevitable. But the response Israel pursued – the widespread destruction of the Gaza Strip, the killing and maiming of many thousands of civilians – constituted a specific policy. This particular approach created complexity in the way numerous Jewish Americans understood the attack that precipitated the response, and currently challenges their remembrance of the day. How can someone honor and reflect on an atrocity targeting their community in the midst of devastation experienced by a different population connected to their community?

The Difficulty of Remembrance

The difficulty of mourning lies in the reality that little unity prevails about the implications of these developments. In fact, for the American Jewish community, the last two years have experienced the collapse of a half-century-old agreement regarding Zionism.

The beginnings of Zionist agreement across American Jewish populations extends as far back as writings from 1915 by the lawyer subsequently appointed Supreme Court judge Justice Brandeis called “The Jewish Question; How to Solve it”. However, the agreement truly solidified after the six-day war in 1967. Before then, US Jewish communities contained a delicate yet functioning parallel existence across various segments which maintained a range of views regarding the need of a Jewish state – Zionists, neutral parties and anti-Zionists.

Previous Developments

That coexistence persisted during the mid-twentieth century, within remaining elements of socialist Jewish movements, through the non-aligned Jewish communal organization, in the anti-Zionist religious group and other organizations. Regarding Chancellor Finkelstein, the leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary, pro-Israel ideology was more spiritual rather than political, and he did not permit performance of the Israeli national anthem, the Israeli national anthem, during seminary ceremonies during that period. Nor were Zionist ideology the main element for contemporary Orthodox communities before the 1967 conflict. Alternative Jewish perspectives remained present.

However following Israel routed its neighbors in the six-day war in 1967, occupying territories comprising the West Bank, Gaza Strip, the Golan and Jerusalem's eastern sector, US Jewish relationship to the country changed dramatically. Israel’s victory, along with longstanding fears regarding repeated persecution, led to a growing belief in the country’s essential significance within Jewish identity, and generated admiration regarding its endurance. Language concerning the “miraculous” quality of the victory and the “liberation” of territory assigned Zionism a theological, almost redemptive, meaning. During that enthusiastic period, a significant portion of previous uncertainty regarding Zionism dissipated. In that decade, Commentary magazine editor Norman Podhoretz declared: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Unity and Its Boundaries

The pro-Israel agreement did not include the ultra-Orthodox – who generally maintained Israel should only emerge through traditional interpretation of the messiah – but united Reform, Conservative Judaism, Modern Orthodox and most secular Jews. The predominant version of the consensus, later termed progressive Zionism, was established on the conviction about the nation as a liberal and liberal – while majority-Jewish – state. Many American Jews considered the occupation of Palestinian, Syrian and Egyptian lands after 1967 as not permanent, assuming that an agreement was forthcoming that would maintain a Jewish majority in Israel proper and neighbor recognition of the nation.

Multiple generations of US Jews were thus brought up with support for Israel a fundamental aspect of their identity as Jews. The nation became an important element of Jewish education. Israeli national day became a Jewish holiday. Blue and white banners adorned religious institutions. Summer camps integrated with national melodies and the study of contemporary Hebrew, with Israelis visiting and teaching US young people Israeli customs. Trips to the nation grew and peaked via educational trips in 1999, when a free trip to Israel was provided to Jewish young adults. Israel permeated nearly every aspect of Jewish American identity.

Evolving Situation

Ironically, in these decades post-1967, US Jewish communities became adept at religious pluralism. Open-mindedness and discussion between Jewish denominations expanded.

Yet concerning Zionism and Israel – that represented diversity reached its limit. Individuals might align with a conservative supporter or a liberal advocate, but support for Israel as a Jewish homeland remained unquestioned, and challenging that narrative placed you outside the consensus – a non-conformist, as Tablet magazine termed it in writing recently.

However currently, amid of the destruction within Gaza, starvation, young victims and frustration regarding the refusal by numerous Jewish individuals who refuse to recognize their responsibility, that unity has collapsed. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer