On the Yahrzeit of the October 7 massacre, the Zionist Enterprise department of the World Zionist Organization, in partnership with Atchalta, held a leadership conference in Jerusalem focusing on the impact of the past year's events on the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora, on Jewish identity, and on the opportunity to connect with unaffiliated Jews. Below are the remarks delivered by Atchalta’s founder at the conference.
October 7 shook all the anchors of our existence in Israel and the Diaspora. While Israel's very existence is under physical military attack, Jews in the Diaspora are experiencing the highest wave of antisemitism since World War II. Jews feel vulnerable, and perhaps more than anything, what disturbs Jews is the lack of understanding, sensitivity, and empathy from mainstream non-Jews regarding what they are going through.
In the superficial discourse of good versus evil and oppressors versus oppressed, Israel is often categorized as absolute evil and on the wrong side of history. As a result, for example, Western campus arenas have been conquered by radical elements, and it is they who receive protection in the name of freedom of expression. Labor unions submit to external and internal pressures and make anti-Israel decisions and statements, without any attempt to engage in dialogue with Jewish members. Many Jews feel a real betrayal by their governments, which impose arms embargoes on Israel while it fights for its life.
Faced with a new breed of pro-Hamas antisemitism, Jewish leadership has so far stood confused and bewildered. Jews, especially mainstream liberal Jews, feel cognitive dissonance within the basic identity triangle: one vertex of the triangle refers to their beliefs and values; a second vertex refers to their integration into social and professional frameworks in their countries; and a third vertex refers to the discourse surrounding Jews and Israel. Something doesn't add up between the vertices of this triangle since October 7.
However, after October 7, trends that present a great opportunity for the Jewish world have also strengthened. The Jewish people express enormous support and solidarity with Israel at rates we haven't seen in years, and there are many Jews who discover that they care, and they didn't even know it. Even Jews who are very critical of Israel recognize that there is a double standard in the discourse on Israel. The automatic support of supposed human rights advocates for Hamas has caused many Jews to recognize that the discourse of the radical left in the West fails to capture their unique identity and experience, and it diminishes them.
The responses to the October 7 massacre and the wave of antisemitism have led to a feeling among many Jews that one cannot really escape the framework of Jewish identity, and this in itself has led to a renewed increased engagement with Jewish identity and journeys of self-discovery, both at the community level and at the individual level. October 7 has led to a rare sense of unity, translated into joint activities across religious streams and political camps, at rates not seen for decades.
The elephant in the room is the far Jewish left, whether progressive Jews in North America or radical socialists in Europe, who had distanced themselves greatly from Israel even before October 7. The Reut Institute once described the distancing of the Western left from Israel as a transition from Kibbutz to Kibbush (occupation). That is, if the left saw Israel until the 70s and 80s through the prism of the kibbutz - as a progressive democratic socialist society and a model for emulation and even admiration - then criticism of Israel led many of them to understand Israel solely through the prism of the conflict.
And I add that the process of distancing of many in the Jewish left can be described as moving to another stage, from Kibbush to Yeush (despair) - that is, a perception that Israel does not reflect Jewish liberal values, and therefore is not essential to Jewish identity, and that meaningful Jewish life in the Diaspora does not require a connection to the Jewish state: A “post-Israel” Jewish world. After October 7, and perhaps this is just wishful thinking, an opportunity has been created to shape a relationship based on renewed emotional connection. If you will: we went through a process from Kibbutz to Kibbush, then continued from Kibbush to Yeiush, and now, perhaps, from Yeush to Rigush (emotions/excitement).
But the emotions are only a catalyst for a healthier connection between Jews and Israel and the desire to strengthen Jewish identity, but it is not a clear and distinct ideological identity framework. The existing identity frameworks today - many of which are based on the conception of Judaism as a religion - may prove too narrow to be effective among broad, diverse audiences. The need to develop updated parallel and complementary frameworks with broad inclusive anchors that appeal to politically and socially diverse Jewish populations is a necessity. In this context especially, a richer development of frameworks that relate to Judaism as a culture and a people is essential.
The October 7 massacre has brought us to a unique crossroads in Jewish history. We face an opportunity to reshape a coherent, consolidated, and rich Jewish identity. This is a window of opportunity that will not be open forever, and in fact, it may no longer be as wide open as it was about a year ago. Still, this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
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