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Marking two years after that horrific attack of the events of October 7th, an event that deeply affected world Jewry more than any event since the creation of Israel as a nation.

For Jews the event proved shocking. For the state of Israel, the situation represented a profound disgrace. The whole Zionist movement rested on the belief that the Jewish state could stop such atrocities from ever happening again.

A response appeared unavoidable. Yet the chosen course Israel pursued – the obliteration of the Gaza Strip, the killing and maiming of many thousands ordinary people – represented a decision. This particular approach made more difficult the perspective of many Jewish Americans processed the initial assault that precipitated the response, and currently challenges the community's remembrance of that date. How can someone mourn and commemorate an atrocity against your people during devastation experienced by another people attributed to their identity?

The Difficulty of Mourning

The challenge of mourning lies in the reality that there is no consensus as to the significance of these events. Actually, within US Jewish circles, the last two years have seen the disintegration of a fifty-year unity regarding Zionism.

The early development of Zionist agreement within US Jewish communities extends as far back as writings from 1915 written by a legal scholar and then future supreme court justice Louis D. Brandeis titled “The Jewish Problem; How to Solve it”. Yet the unity really takes hold after the six-day war that year. Earlier, Jewish Americans maintained a delicate yet functioning parallel existence between groups which maintained a range of views concerning the requirement for Israel – Zionists, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Previous Developments

That coexistence persisted throughout the 1950s and 60s, in remnants of Jewish socialism, through the non-aligned US Jewish group, in the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism and comparable entities. For Louis Finkelstein, the head at JTS, pro-Israel ideology was more spiritual instead of governmental, and he forbade the singing of Hatikvah, the national song, at religious school events in the early 1960s. Furthermore, Zionism and pro-Israelism the main element for contemporary Orthodox communities before the six-day war. Different Jewish identity models remained present.

However following Israel defeated neighboring countries during the 1967 conflict during that period, occupying territories such as the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, US Jewish connection with the country changed dramatically. The triumphant outcome, combined with enduring anxieties about another genocide, resulted in a growing belief regarding Israel's vital role within Jewish identity, and generated admiration in its resilience. Language regarding the remarkable nature of the victory and the freeing of territory gave the Zionist project a theological, even messianic, meaning. During that enthusiastic period, considerable existing hesitation toward Israel vanished. In the early 1970s, Writer Podhoretz famously proclaimed: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Agreement and Its Boundaries

The unified position did not include the ultra-Orthodox – who generally maintained a Jewish state should only emerge via conventional understanding of redemption – yet included Reform Judaism, Conservative, contemporary Orthodox and most non-affiliated Jews. The predominant version of the unified position, identified as left-leaning Zionism, was based on the idea regarding Israel as a liberal and free – albeit ethnocentric – country. Numerous US Jews considered the occupation of Palestinian, Syrian and Egyptian lands after 1967 as not permanent, thinking that a solution was forthcoming that would guarantee Jewish population majority in Israel proper and neighbor recognition of the state.

Multiple generations of American Jews grew up with support for Israel an essential component of their Jewish identity. Israel became a central part within religious instruction. Israel’s Independence Day evolved into a religious observance. Blue and white banners decorated religious institutions. Youth programs were permeated with Israeli songs and education of modern Hebrew, with Israelis visiting educating American youth national traditions. Trips to the nation expanded and achieved record numbers through Birthright programs by 1999, providing no-cost visits to the nation became available to young American Jews. Israel permeated almost the entirety of Jewish American identity.

Shifting Landscape

Ironically, throughout these years following the war, American Jewry developed expertise regarding denominational coexistence. Acceptance and communication among different Jewish movements expanded.

However regarding support for Israel – there existed pluralism ended. One could identify as a right-leaning advocate or a leftwing Zionist, however endorsement of the nation as a Jewish state remained unquestioned, and challenging that narrative categorized you beyond accepted boundaries – an “Un-Jew”, as Tablet magazine termed it in a piece recently.

But now, amid of the destruction of Gaza, starvation, dead and orphaned children and frustration over the denial of many fellow Jews who avoid admitting their responsibility, that agreement has broken down. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer