Liberal American Jews and Israel: An Inflection Point

Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza has pushed liberal American Jews to a breaking point. The progressive condemnations of Israel have made some Jews on the left feel abandoned and betrayed by their ideological allies, while actions and rhetoric from Israel’s government—the most right-wing in its history—have made others question whether their values are compatible with supporting a Jewish state that seems headed in an increasingly illiberal direction.

Leading American Jewish thinkers on Israel Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Peter Beinart, journalist and political commentator, and Michael Koplow, Chief Policy Officer at the Israel Policy Forum– will offer differing perspectives on how some American Jews have been reevaluating their identities as liberals and their relationships to Israel in a conversation moderated by Senior Rabbi Aaron Potek, Executive Director of Jewish Life at Sixth & I.