{"id":305069,"date":"2026-02-22T23:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/305069\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T23:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:11:11","slug":"i-asked-my-jewish-readers-if-theyre-zionists-heres-what-they-told-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/305069\/","title":{"rendered":"I asked my Jewish readers if they\u2019re Zionists. Here\u2019s what they told me."},"content":{"rendered":"

(JTA) \u2014 The recent survey conducted by the Jewish Federations of North America on American Jews\u2019 attitudes toward Israel and Zionism<\/a> has sparked more than its share of debate. Headlines highlighted the declining number of self-identified Zionists and the ambivalence among younger Jews toward Israel, as well as the persistence among a large majority of Jews who consider their attachment to Israel integral to their Jewish identities.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

I also wrote a piece on an intriguing finding: Only about a third of those surveyed over the age of 75 identified as \u201cZionists.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\n <\/p>\n

As always, numbers can tell only part of the story.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Curious about the narrative side of the issue, I turned to readers of JTA\u2019s weekly Ideas newsletter<\/a> and asked two questions from the JFNA survey: Do you believe Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state? and Do you identify as a Zionist? And I added a third: If one but not the other, why not both? That was my way of asking, why would a supporter of Israel resist using the term \u201cZionist\u201d?<\/p>\n

The responses, over 60 in all, arrived quickly. Nearly all came from older American Jewish readers (60 and up) but even within this group there was disagreement about what Zionism means, and ambivalence about the political direction Israel has taken in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Across the spectrum, a pattern emerged, reflected in the JFNA study: Many older Jews affirm their support for Israel as a Jewish state and homeland but hesitate to embrace the label \u201cZionist.\u201d They offered a variety of reasons, from believing it suggests an intention to move to Israel that they don\u2019t share, to the conviction that it has come to mean too many things \u2014 to Zionists and anti-Zionists alike \u2014 and as a result is no longer useful. (\u201cI\u00a0 think the state of Israel certainly has as much right to exist as any other state [and] I\u2019d prefer to see it be a democracy,\u201d as a reader from Philadelphia put it. However, \u201cI don\u2019t identify myself in any way with the term \u2018Zionist\u2019 because it\u2019s become such a flame word, and people seldom bother to clarify what someone means.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Others embrace the term \u201cZionist\u201d as a badge of honor, continuity and even defiance. Their various answers suggested \u201cZionism\u201d can mean many things, from a religious conviction to an expression of peoplehood to a political program that hasn\u2019t lost its relevance.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I am a Zionist!\u201d wrote Jeanne Korsh, who didn\u2019t share her age. \u201cAfter much probing and questioning, Ancestry.com admitted that 100% of my DNA is at least partially HEBREW from ancient Israel. Israel is the origin of us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I am a Zionist and I do believe Israel has a right to exist,\u201d wrote a reader from New Jersey. \u201cI am 68 years old and the daughter of 2 Holocaust survivors from Poland (both deceased). My parents were ardent Zionists.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I am a Zionist and d**ned proud of it,\u201d wrote Nomi. \u201cI am also an Israeli and live in the eternal capital of the Jewish people: Jerusalem. I do not need to justify the existence of a Jewish state in our ancestral homeland or apologize for it. Any Jew who does, regardless of their age, needs a serious reality check.\u201d<\/p>\n

Living in Israel, however, is no guarantee that a reader calls herself a Zionist. \u201cI do not identify as a Zionist. I am an Israeli,\u201d wrote Anita Steiner, 82, who has lived in Israel since 1975. \u201cMy children served honorably in the IDF. We are proud of our country, but horrified by this government\u2019s treatment of Palestinians and Arab Israelis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Ward, 75, who lives in England, supports Israel as a Jewish, democratic state but distinguishes that from self-identifying as a Zionist, explaining that he has never emigrated to Israel nor served in its military. \u201cI am a dedicated supporter of Israel \u2014 which does not make me a Zionist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Several correspondents wrestled with the term \u201cZionism\u201d itself, reflecting how it has been redefined in large part by Israel\u2019s harshest critics.<\/p>\n

Daniel J. Julius wrote that \u201cI can identify as a very strong supporter of Israel as a Jewish state without calling myself a Zionist because the term does not seem applicable to me at this time.\u201d He added that the term \u201cZionism\u201d is \u201ceither dated to the late 1800\u2019s or weaponized by the left and of course the Muslim groups that were and remain extremely hostile to Israel.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lee Pronin of New York said Israel\u2019s critics use \u201cZionist\u201d to describe supporters of \u201ca white, colonial occupier apartheid nation.\u201d But he remains a Zionist according to one of its historic definitions: \u201cthe right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their ancestral homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the responses, one theme emerged clearly: Support for Israel does not necessarily equal support for the government in power. Multiple respondents, including Rabbi Jack Nusan Porter, argued that Zionism can coexist with criticism of Israeli policy. \u201cCritiquing Israeli politics is not anti-Zionism,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAll Zionists believe in a democratic Jewish state with tolerance and civil rights for all.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Miriam Eisenstein, also in her late 80s, calls herself a Zionist despite the fact that she \u201cdeplores\u201d almost everything the Israeli government does today.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One group of responses expressed Zionism as conditional \u2014 that is, their commitment to Zionism was tied to a vision of Israel as a democratic state. Neal Ross Attinson, 63, a Hebrew school teacher in California, wrote, \u201cIf Zionism means supporting a Jewish state as a refuge and a light unto the nations \u2014 yes. If it means picking fights with defenseless civilians \u2014 no. I fully support Israel\u2019s existence but not its current government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Gerson cautioned against uncritical attachment to any political definition: \u201cIf Zionism has come to mean a biblical claim to the lands of Judea and Samaria, I fully reject it\u2026 Israel would not face the conundrum of being both Jewish and democratic if a Palestinian state could come into being.\u201d <\/p>\n

For a reader from Charlotte, North Carolina, such concerns have led to profound disillusionment. \u201cI was raised with the usual trope about Israel that every Jewish kid of my generation grew up with,\u201d she wrote. \u201cHowever, after several trips over many years there and much research several years prior to Oct. 7, I concluded Israel is not a democratic state, that every sign of apartheid is evident since its founding in 1948\u2026. I never considered myself either a Zionist or anti-Zionist. I used to believe in the existence of the State of Israel, now [I\u2019m] not so sure based on the behavior and beliefs of its government.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

By contrast, several respondents separated politics from history, saying the latter affirmed Israel\u2019s claim on the land and Jewish solidarity apart from the perceived failings of any of its governments. \u201cOf course I am a Zionist,\u201d wrote Jack Zohar, 87, who described himself as \u201cAmerican born and raised, and with dual citizenship following 15 years living in Israel.\u201d \u201cAfter 4,000 years of Hebrew\/Jewish living in our land, why would I not support our right to be there, and for Israel to be our nation? No contest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Susan, in her 70s, described her Zionism as a safeguard: \u201cThe world has taught me historically\u2026that Jews are never really going to be fully integrated into any society in the diaspora. A Jewish state has to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others shared this view of Israel as a refuge for the world\u2019s Jews, or what the Harvard scholar Derek Penslar calls \u201ccataclysmic Zionism.\u201d Doris, 86, cited the Evian Conference, the 1938 gathering of world leaders that failed to offer refuge to Jews under Nazi rule. \u201cHistory has taught me that, inevitably, there will be a rise of antisemitism, vicious enough for me to have to leave my comfortable U.S. home,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWhere will I go? History has shown that the only nation that will receive me is Israel. So, you bet I\u2019m a Zionist!\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, there were those who said more Jews would embrace the \u201cZionist\u201d label if they had a better understanding of what it meant. \u201cFor many years I did not identify as a Zionist,\u201d wrote Lee B. Kass, in his late 70s. \u201cBut after educational classes with my rabbi, I now understand it as meaning supporting Israel as an independent state, thus providing the only place in the world where a Jew can feel welcome.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kathy Grosz, 72, also noted the importance of education: \u201cI am fearful that many in my age group are NOT educated enough about our peoplehood\u2026. And as for these younger ones, they truly have not been educated. Or if they are, then they need to learn the difference between having a country that exists, and being critical of that land\u2019s government.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the end, Zionism may mean many things to these readers, but for most Israel\u2019s existence remains central to their identity as Jews. Whether as a refuge, a historical homeland or a democratic Jewish state, the country evokes deep emotions that can\u2019t always be defined by a simple label.<\/p>\n

A longtime pulpit rabbi and a \u201clover of the idea of and the existence of the State of Israel\u201d questioned the usefulness of the JFNA survey itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think asking people if they are Zionist is not a frame of reference that we have used over the last 50 years,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe Jewish people have contributed to Israel, visited Israel, invested in Israel, sent their children to tour Israel [and] are for the most part proud of Israel but [I am] not sure that the average American Jew who cares about Israel speaks of themselves as \u2018Zionist.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media. PJC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(JTA) \u2014 The recent survey conducted by the Jewish Federations of North America on American Jews\u2019 attitudes toward…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-305069","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}