Challenging the myths about anti-Zionist Jews

Imagine a Shabbat dinners in Caulfield or Dover Heights. The parent, in their 50s, is an ardent Zionist who donates regularly to the JNF, attends Zionist Federation events, and was deeply moved by the recent visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The child, in their 20s, a graduate of a Jewish day school, has been protesting that same visit, arguing that Israel’s president should be arrested for inciting a genocide in Gaza.

The shadow of these differences hangs over many Jewish families, across the Diaspora.

In the increasingly fractured landscape of contemporary Jewish life, few subjects trigger as visceral a reaction as the rising tide of anti-Zionism among young Jews. For many in the mainstream community, this shift is viewed with a mixture of bewilderment, betrayal, and deep-seated alarm.

Seeking to move beyond the high-decibel rhetoric of social media and op-ed pages, Robbie Gringras and Abi Dauber Sterne of the organization For the Sake of Argument embarked on an ambitious qualitative research project. Their report, The Journeys and Destinations of Young Jewish Anti-Zionists, offers a sobering yet necessary look at the internal schisms threatening communal coherence.

While specifically focused on the schism happening in the US, based on interviews with 30 self-described anti-Zionist Jews, the report contains many insights that may be relevant for Australian Jewish families struggling with this question.