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It has been the mass murder of 7 October 2023, an event that deeply affected global Jewish populations unlike anything else following the establishment of the state of Israel.

Among Jewish people it was profoundly disturbing. For Israel as a nation, it was deeply humiliating. The entire Zionist project was founded on the presumption which held that the Jewish state could stop things like this repeating.

A response appeared unavoidable. But the response undertaken by Israel – the obliteration of Gaza, the deaths and injuries of many thousands non-combatants – was a choice. And this choice created complexity in how many American Jews processed the attack that precipitated the response, and it now complicates the community's commemoration of the anniversary. How does one grieve and remember a horrific event targeting their community while simultaneously an atrocity being inflicted upon another people in your name?

The Complexity of Grieving

The challenge surrounding remembrance exists because of the reality that there is no consensus about the significance of these events. Indeed, within US Jewish circles, this two-year period have seen the breakdown of a decades-long unity about the Zionist movement.

The early development of Zionist agreement across American Jewish populations extends as far back as writings from 1915 authored by an attorney and then future supreme court justice Justice Brandeis called “Jewish Issues; Finding Solutions”. But the consensus really takes hold subsequent to the Six-Day War in 1967. Previously, American Jewry maintained a delicate yet functioning parallel existence between groups which maintained different opinions concerning the requirement of a Jewish state – pro-Israel advocates, neutral parties and opponents.

Previous Developments

That coexistence persisted through the post-war decades, within remaining elements of leftist Jewish organizations, within the neutral Jewish communal organization, within the critical Jewish organization and other organizations. For Louis Finkelstein, the head at JTS, the Zionist movement had greater religious significance instead of governmental, and he prohibited performance of the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, during seminary ceremonies during that period. Furthermore, Zionist ideology the main element for contemporary Orthodox communities before the 1967 conflict. Alternative Jewish perspectives remained present.

Yet after Israel routed its neighbors in the six-day war in 1967, seizing land including Palestinian territories, Gaza Strip, the Golan and Jerusalem's eastern sector, the American Jewish perspective on the country evolved considerably. Israel’s victory, along with longstanding fears regarding repeated persecution, produced a developing perspective in the country’s vital role for Jewish communities, and generated admiration for its strength. Discourse about the remarkable aspect of the victory and the freeing of territory gave Zionism a spiritual, potentially salvific, importance. In those heady years, considerable previous uncertainty toward Israel dissipated. During the seventies, Publication editor the commentator famously proclaimed: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Agreement and Restrictions

The pro-Israel agreement left out the ultra-Orthodox – who largely believed Israel should only be established through traditional interpretation of the Messiah – yet included Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, contemporary Orthodox and nearly all unaffiliated individuals. The predominant version of this agreement, what became known as progressive Zionism, was established on the conviction regarding Israel as a progressive and free – albeit ethnocentric – state. Numerous US Jews considered the administration of Palestinian, Syria's and Egypt's territories after 1967 as temporary, assuming that a resolution would soon emerge that would maintain a Jewish majority in Israel proper and Middle Eastern approval of Israel.

Multiple generations of US Jews were thus brought up with pro-Israel ideology a core part of their Jewish identity. The state transformed into a central part of Jewish education. Israeli national day turned into a celebration. Israeli flags were displayed in many temples. Youth programs integrated with national melodies and learning of contemporary Hebrew, with visitors from Israel and teaching US young people Israeli culture. Trips to the nation expanded and reached new heights via educational trips in 1999, when a free trip to the nation became available to young American Jews. The state affected almost the entirety of Jewish American identity.

Changing Dynamics

Ironically, during this period after 1967, American Jewry became adept in religious diversity. Open-mindedness and communication between Jewish denominations increased.

Except when it came to Zionism and Israel – there existed tolerance found its boundary. You could be a conservative supporter or a leftwing Zionist, but support for Israel as a Jewish state was assumed, and criticizing that perspective categorized you outside the consensus – outside the community, as Tablet magazine labeled it in writing in 2021.

However currently, under the weight of the devastation within Gaza, food shortages, dead and orphaned children and outrage over the denial by numerous Jewish individuals who decline to acknowledge their responsibility, that unity has broken down. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer