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Two years have passed since the mass murder of October 7, 2023, an event that shook global Jewish populations unlike anything else following the establishment of the state of Israel.

For Jews it was shocking. For the state of Israel, it was a significant embarrassment. The whole Zionist project had been established on the assumption which held that the Jewish state would ensure against things like this from ever happening again.

A response appeared unavoidable. But the response Israel pursued – the widespread destruction of Gaza, the deaths and injuries of many thousands ordinary people – represented a decision. And this choice complicated how many American Jews grappled with the attack that set it in motion, and currently challenges their remembrance of that date. In what way can people honor and reflect on a horrific event against your people in the midst of devastation being inflicted upon another people in your name?

The Difficulty of Remembrance

The difficulty surrounding remembrance lies in the circumstance where little unity prevails regarding the significance of these events. Indeed, among Jewish Americans, this two-year period have witnessed the disintegration of a half-century-old consensus regarding Zionism.

The beginnings of Zionist agreement within US Jewish communities extends as far back as a 1915 essay authored by an attorney who would later become Supreme Court judge Louis D. Brandeis called “The Jewish Problem; Addressing the Challenge”. Yet the unity truly solidified subsequent to the six-day war that year. Previously, American Jewry housed a fragile but stable coexistence across various segments holding a range of views about the necessity for Israel – Zionists, non-Zionists and opponents.

Previous Developments

Such cohabitation persisted through the post-war decades, in remnants of leftist Jewish organizations, within the neutral American Jewish Committee, among the opposing religious group and comparable entities. In the view of Louis Finkelstein, the leader at JTS, Zionism was more spiritual rather than political, and he prohibited singing Israel's anthem, Hatikvah, at religious school events in the early 1960s. Furthermore, Zionism and pro-Israelism the centerpiece of Modern Orthodoxy prior to the six-day war. Different Jewish identity models coexisted.

Yet after Israel overcame its neighbors in that war that year, seizing land such as the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and Jerusalem's eastern sector, the American Jewish relationship to the nation evolved considerably. Israel’s victory, combined with longstanding fears regarding repeated persecution, led to a developing perspective about the nation's critical importance within Jewish identity, and generated admiration for its strength. Language regarding the “miraculous” nature of the success and the freeing of territory gave the Zionist project a theological, potentially salvific, significance. In that triumphant era, a significant portion of previous uncertainty about Zionism vanished. In that decade, Publication editor the commentator stated: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Consensus and Its Boundaries

The unified position did not include strictly Orthodox communities – who typically thought a nation should only be ushered in through traditional interpretation of redemption – yet included Reform, Conservative Judaism, Modern Orthodox and the majority of secular Jews. The common interpretation of this agreement, what became known as left-leaning Zionism, was established on the idea in Israel as a progressive and democratic – while majority-Jewish – nation. Countless Jewish Americans saw the administration of Arab, Syrian and Egyptian lands following the war as provisional, believing that a solution would soon emerge that would ensure a Jewish majority in Israel proper and regional acceptance of Israel.

Multiple generations of Jewish Americans were thus brought up with Zionism a core part of their Jewish identity. The state transformed into a central part within religious instruction. Yom Ha'atzmaut evolved into a religious observance. Israeli flags adorned most synagogues. Youth programs became infused with Israeli songs and the study of the language, with visitors from Israel educating American youth national traditions. Travel to Israel grew and achieved record numbers with Birthright Israel by 1999, providing no-cost visits to the nation was offered to Jewish young adults. Israel permeated nearly every aspect of US Jewish life.

Shifting Landscape

Paradoxically, in these decades after 1967, American Jewry became adept at religious pluralism. Open-mindedness and discussion among different Jewish movements expanded.

Except when it came to Zionism and Israel – that represented diversity reached its limit. One could identify as a right-leaning advocate or a liberal advocate, however endorsement of the nation as a Jewish state was a given, and challenging that narrative positioned you outside mainstream views – an “Un-Jew”, as one publication termed it in an essay in 2021.

But now, during of the devastation in Gaza, food shortages, young victims and anger over the denial of many fellow Jews who refuse to recognize their involvement, that agreement has disintegrated. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer