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Marking two years after the mass murder of the events of October 7th, which deeply affected Jewish communities worldwide unlike anything else since the establishment of Israel as a nation.

Among Jewish people it was shocking. For the state of Israel, it was a profound disgrace. The whole Zionist project rested on the assumption which held that Israel could stop things like this from ever happening again.

Military action seemed necessary. Yet the chosen course Israel pursued – the comprehensive devastation of the Gaza Strip, the killing and maiming of many thousands of civilians – was a choice. And this choice made more difficult the perspective of many Jewish Americans understood the October 7th events that precipitated the response, and presently makes difficult their observance of the anniversary. How does one grieve and remember a tragedy targeting their community in the midst of an atrocity being inflicted upon another people in your name?

The Complexity of Remembrance

The complexity surrounding remembrance lies in the circumstance where little unity prevails regarding the significance of these events. Indeed, for the American Jewish community, the last two years have seen the collapse of a decades-long unity on Zionism itself.

The origins of Zionist agreement across American Jewish populations dates back to an early twentieth-century publication by the lawyer subsequently appointed high court jurist Louis Brandeis titled “The Jewish Problem; Finding Solutions”. But the consensus truly solidified following the six-day war that year. Earlier, American Jewry maintained a vulnerable but enduring coexistence among different factions which maintained diverse perspectives about the requirement for a Jewish nation – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Historical Context

Such cohabitation persisted during the mid-twentieth century, within remaining elements of Jewish socialism, through the non-aligned American Jewish Committee, within the critical religious group and other organizations. For Louis Finkelstein, the head at JTS, the Zionist movement was primarily theological than political, and he did not permit the singing of the Israeli national anthem, the national song, during seminary ceremonies in the early 1960s. Nor were Zionism and pro-Israelism the main element within modern Orthodox Judaism before that war. Alternative Jewish perspectives coexisted.

But after Israel routed adjacent nations in that war in 1967, occupying territories comprising Palestinian territories, Gaza Strip, the Golan and East Jerusalem, US Jewish relationship to Israel underwent significant transformation. The military success, along with enduring anxieties about another genocide, led to an increasing conviction regarding Israel's vital role for Jewish communities, and generated admiration in its resilience. Rhetoric regarding the “miraculous” nature of the outcome and the reclaiming of areas gave the movement a spiritual, almost redemptive, importance. During that enthusiastic period, considerable previous uncertainty regarding Zionism disappeared. In the early 1970s, Writer the commentator stated: “We are all Zionists now.”

The Agreement and Its Boundaries

The pro-Israel agreement left out the ultra-Orthodox – who typically thought a nation should only be ushered in via conventional understanding of the Messiah – but united Reform Judaism, Conservative, contemporary Orthodox and nearly all secular Jews. The predominant version of the unified position, what became known as liberal Zionism, was founded on the idea about the nation as a democratic and free – albeit ethnocentric – nation. Many American Jews considered the administration of Palestinian, Syrian and Egypt's territories post-1967 as temporary, believing that a resolution was forthcoming that would maintain Jewish demographic dominance within Israel's original borders and Middle Eastern approval of the state.

Two generations of American Jews grew up with Zionism a fundamental aspect of their religious identity. The state transformed into an important element within religious instruction. Israel’s Independence Day turned into a celebration. Blue and white banners decorated many temples. Seasonal activities became infused with national melodies and the study of modern Hebrew, with visitors from Israel instructing American youth national traditions. Visits to Israel increased and peaked through Birthright programs during that year, offering complimentary travel to Israel was offered to US Jewish youth. The state affected nearly every aspect of Jewish American identity.

Shifting Landscape

Interestingly, throughout these years following the war, American Jewry developed expertise in religious diversity. Open-mindedness and communication between Jewish denominations expanded.

Yet concerning support for Israel – there existed tolerance ended. You could be a rightwing Zionist or a liberal advocate, however endorsement of the nation as a Jewish state remained unquestioned, and challenging that perspective placed you outside the consensus – an “Un-Jew”, as a Jewish periodical labeled it in a piece that year.

But now, amid of the devastation within Gaza, food shortages, young victims and anger about the rejection by numerous Jewish individuals who decline to acknowledge their involvement, that consensus has disintegrated. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer