This clip of Haviv Rettig Gur, who is one of this era’s most compelling voices about Israel and Zionism, went viral just a few weeks ago. I share it here because, though I’m not nearly as articulate as Haviv is, I agree with him. Completely.
Still, life richly lived is also about encountering people and ideas that trouble us. Israel from the Inside does that regularly, as a matter of principle. Today, even as Israel is at war fighting for its very future—and because the subject echoes some of the themes of Purim, such as loyalty, danger, Diaspora and the like—we are devoting a post to discussing young American Jews who are opposed to Israel’s very existence.
It’s not an easy topic. But given the number of young American Jews who are anti-Zionists, it matters—which is precisely why we’re engaging it.
Three years ago, when Abi Dauber Sterne and Robbie Gringras published For the Sake of Argument, I invited Abi to join me on our podcast to learn more about their book and how she and Robbie hoped they could teach people to have civil conversations (or even arguments) about Israel.
A few weeks ago, Abi shared with me research that she and Robbie had recently done on young American anti-Zionists. You might ask, “Is that a large enough group to merit study?” In fact, it is. According to a recent JFNA study, only 35% of young American Jews age 18-34 define themselves as “Zionist,” while 32% define themselves as either “anti-Zionist” or “non-Zionist.”
That latter number is bound to increase in the years to come.
Abi and Robbie spent time trying to understand what led these people to have the views that they hold. I found their research both fascinating and heartbreaking. It also raises profound policy questions for the American Jewish establishment. Should these people be pushed to the margins of American Jewish life and ignored? Should American Jewish institutions reach out to them and make space for them “in the tent”?
Lest there be any doubt, Abi and Robbie are both deeply committed Zionists. Abi moved to Israel from the United States, while Robbie made aliyah from the UK. Their own commitments aside, however, they managed to paint a portrait of these anti-Zionists that was deeply human and compelling.
I invited Abi to share with us what they’d learned and the policy questions that emerge from their work. After you’ve heard her, you can decide whether and how this growing part of the North American Jewish community is worth engaging. Any decision we make will be fraught with risk, which is why the subject is so important and so urgent.
To read more about Abi’s and Robbie’s research, click here.
Abi Dauber Sterne is co-director and co-author of For the Sake of Argument, an initiative that harnesses the energy of healthy arguments to create educational engagement. Abi has worked in the United States and Israel as an educational leader for more than 20 years, including serving as Limmud NY’s founding director, VP for Jewish Education at Hillel International, and Director of the Jewish Agency for Israel's Makom, among other roles.
Abi was a Senior Schusterman Fellow, holds an MA from the University of Pennsylvania, and rabbinical ordination from The Beit Midrash for Israeli Rabbis run by The Shalom Hartman Institute and HaMidrasha at Oranim.
She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and four children. Her family dinner table is always a raucous mixture of laughter and disagreement.
The link at the top of this posting will take free subscribers to an excerpted portion of today’s conversation.
For paid subscribers, the link at the top will take you to the full conversation; below, paid subscribers will also find a transcript for those who prefer to read, as always.
