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Marking two years after that mass murder of October 7, 2023, which deeply affected global Jewish populations unlike anything else since the creation of the state of Israel.

Within Jewish communities it was profoundly disturbing. For Israel as a nation, the situation represented a significant embarrassment. The entire Zionist project was founded on the assumption which held that the nation would prevent things like this from ever happening again.

Military action was inevitable. But the response that Israel implemented – the comprehensive devastation of Gaza, the deaths and injuries of many thousands ordinary people – was a choice. This particular approach complicated how many Jewish Americans processed the October 7th events that triggered it, and currently challenges the community's observance of the day. How can someone mourn and commemorate a tragedy against your people in the midst of a catastrophe done to a different population connected to their community?

The Difficulty of Grieving

The complexity surrounding remembrance stems from the reality that little unity prevails about what any of this means. In fact, within US Jewish circles, the last two years have witnessed the breakdown of a fifty-year agreement regarding Zionism.

The early development of Zionist agreement among American Jewry can be traced to a 1915 essay by the lawyer subsequently appointed supreme court justice Louis D. Brandeis called “The Jewish Problem; Finding Solutions”. Yet the unity became firmly established after the Six-Day War in 1967. Previously, American Jewry housed a vulnerable but enduring cohabitation across various segments holding diverse perspectives concerning the requirement of a Jewish state – pro-Israel advocates, neutral parties and anti-Zionists.

Previous Developments

Such cohabitation continued through the 1950s and 60s, through surviving aspects of socialist Jewish movements, in the non-Zionist American Jewish Committee, in the anti-Zionist religious group and similar institutions. For Louis Finkelstein, the head at JTS, the Zionist movement was primarily theological than political, and he forbade singing Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem, during seminary ceremonies in the early 1960s. Furthermore, support for Israel the central focus within modern Orthodox Judaism prior to the 1967 conflict. Jewish identitarian alternatives remained present.

Yet after Israel defeated its neighbors during the 1967 conflict that year, occupying territories such as the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Jerusalem's eastern sector, US Jewish relationship to the nation underwent significant transformation. The military success, coupled with persistent concerns about another genocide, led to a developing perspective about the nation's vital role to the Jewish people, and generated admiration for its strength. Language regarding the “miraculous” nature of the outcome and the “liberation” of land assigned Zionism a spiritual, even messianic, significance. In that triumphant era, much of previous uncertainty about Zionism disappeared. During the seventies, Writer Podhoretz declared: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Unity and Its Boundaries

The pro-Israel agreement excluded the ultra-Orthodox – who largely believed a Jewish state should only be ushered in through traditional interpretation of the messiah – yet included Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, contemporary Orthodox and nearly all secular Jews. The predominant version of this agreement, what became known as progressive Zionism, was based on a belief about the nation as a democratic and free – while majority-Jewish – nation. Many American Jews viewed the control of Arab, Syria's and Egypt's territories after 1967 as temporary, thinking that a resolution would soon emerge that would maintain Jewish demographic dominance in Israel proper and Middle Eastern approval of Israel.

Multiple generations of Jewish Americans were raised with pro-Israel ideology a core part of their identity as Jews. Israel became a key component of Jewish education. Israel’s Independence Day turned into a celebration. Blue and white banners decorated most synagogues. Summer camps integrated with national melodies and education of contemporary Hebrew, with Israelis visiting educating US young people Israeli culture. Trips to the nation grew and peaked through Birthright programs during that year, when a free trip to the country was offered to young American Jews. The state affected nearly every aspect of Jewish American identity.

Evolving Situation

Ironically, throughout these years post-1967, Jewish Americans became adept regarding denominational coexistence. Tolerance and communication between Jewish denominations increased.

However regarding Zionism and Israel – that represented tolerance found its boundary. One could identify as a rightwing Zionist or a progressive supporter, but support for Israel as a majority-Jewish country was assumed, and questioning that position categorized you outside the consensus – a non-conformist, as a Jewish periodical described it in an essay in 2021.

However currently, amid of the destruction within Gaza, famine, child casualties and outrage about the rejection of many fellow Jews who decline to acknowledge their responsibility, that consensus has collapsed. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer