Marty Levine
August 13, 2026
I am trying very hard to understand the Israel that many of my fellow Jews defend so vehemently. From my perspective, they are fighting for an Israel that does not exist yet has become central to their understanding of what it means to be a Jew.
Often, otherwise “liberal” voices support Israel as a concept without having to address its reality. Here’s Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of New York City’s Park Avenue Synagogue stating in a sermon he gave as Israel critic and soon to be Mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani was rising in pre-election polls:
Zionism, Israel, Jewish self-determination—these are not political preferences or partisan talking points. They are constituent building blocks and inseparable strands of my Jewish identity. To accept me as a Jew but to ask me to check my concern for the people and state of Israel at the door is a nonsensical proposition and an offensive one, no different than asking me to reject God, Torah, mitzvot, or other pillars of my faith, Zionism, the political movement that militated for its creation, with Judaism placed beyond reproach.
Judaism has always centered a return to the land of Israel for its scattered people. Two weeks from now our weekly reading of Torah (Bible) will include these words:
Even if you are dispersed in the uttermost parts of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather and fetch you. The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your ancestors possessed, and you shall possess it; and God will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors. (Deuteronomy 30:3–5)
If you believe that the State of Israel is the fulfillment of this biblical promise, game over. Then the reality of the State of Israel is irrelevant and above challenge; It is God’s will. I then can understand those who see Israel as a Jewish state in which all non-Jews must accept a second-class status that gives them different and lesser rights. I understand that this provides a rationale to those who see all Muslims as enemies and practitioners of a religion that aims to destroy Jews. I understand those who see Israel in this light will reject the peoplehood of Palestinians and see them all as dangerous terrorists.
For them, Israel is a righteous nation, beset by enemies, and they are accepting it as a democracy for Jews alone. If that is the price for a Jewish state, they are willing to pay that price.
But that was not the understanding of the founders of the Zionist movement. They were responding to the political reality of Jews as a scattered, powerless, and often brutalized minority living in a Christian world. As Donniel Hartman described it in a recent essay:
Zionism was founded on the belief that human beings are not only empowered but obligated to shape their own destiny. Zionists aspired to create a new Jew who was free from the shackles… Zionists tasked themselves with creating a Jew of muscle and power, one who embraces and masters nature, the land, and most significantly, his or her individual and national destiny…The charge of Zionism to the Jewish people was not to wait, but to act.
Finding a place for Jews to live as Jews safely was Zionism’s goal. The founders saw the land of Israel as the Jewish Homeland. But Zionism saw state-building as a human, political task. This task was made so much more urgent by the horrid reality of the Holocaust; the founding of Israel in 1948 fulfilled that political dream; it allowed for the vision of Donniel Hartman to come to flower.
So, when you defend Israel, what are you defending?
So, when voices like the Jewish Democratic Council of America issue this challenge to the winner of the Michigan Senatorial primary, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed,
While El-Sayed has refused to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and repeatedly espoused sharp critiques of AIPAC and Israel, which he called “bloodthirsty” earlier this week, the issue top of mind for most Jewish voters isn’t just Israel. It’s also rising antisemitism.
which kind of Zionists are they? Are they speaking as believers that modern Israel is the work of God and we have reached the messianic times? Or are they speaking from Hartman’s perspective that Israel is an expression of Israel (Jewish) power?
Standing with Israel because it is an expression of God’s will is a statement of faith and, as such, is beyond the scope of any political discussion. The God of my bible is not concerned about brutality in the service of his will.
- You shall destroy all the peoples that the ETERNAL…delivers to you, showing no pity. (Deuteronomy 7:17)
- The ETERNAL…will also send a plague against them, until those who are left in hiding perish before you (Deuteronomy 7:20)
- Their kings will be delivered into your hand, and you shall obliterate their name from under the heavens; no one shall stand up to you, until you have wiped them out. (Deuteronomy 7:24)
Jewish defenders of Israel need to be clear. Is this the Judaism they are following?
This is not the Judaism of Tikkun Olam (Repair the World). This is not the Judaism that believes that all humans are created in God’s image. This is not the Judaism that so many in my Jewish Community claim to be a part of.
But if they are not, how do they ignore the brutality of Israel? How do they not hear the cries of the Palestinian People? How do they not see that Israel as a Jewish State requires compromising the principle that all men and women are equal?
I think they can do this only by creating an alternate reality in which another Israel can exist. That fantasy Israel fulfills the words of its Proclamation of Independence that the real Israel has never lived up to.
The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and national identity was formed. Here they achieved independence and created a culture of national and universal significance.
…The state of Israel will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on precepts of liberty, justice and peace taught by the Hebrew prophets; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of shrines and holy places of all religions…
But for all the years since 1947, that fantasy Israel has not existed. The real Israel expelled 750,000 Palestinian residents of the land to guarantee a Jewish majority population. The real Israel denied full rights to its Palestinian residents for its first 20 years. The real Israel allowed Jews the right of return and denied it to Palestinians who had been expelled. The real Israel rejected the existence of a Palestinian claim to a homeland on the same land. The real Israel invested its resources in improving the life of its Jewish citizens and disinvested in their Palestinian neighbors. The real Israel encroached and settled on lands belonging to Palestinians. The real Israel flexed its strength, brutally in keeping Palestinians in their place. It passed laws to establish a rule of law where Jews were better than others.
It became a nation described by human rights advocates as an Apartheid state. It became the state that stands accused of committing genocide and crimes against humanity.
The fantasy remains that Israel did none of these things. It only defended itself against its enemies, inside and out. It only used its military might reluctantly in self-defense. It was the only democratic state in a sea of dictatorships. It was a beacon of human rights. It stood as the defender of the Jewish people.
If there is any problem in modern Israel, it is that of bad leaders. It is the result of a few bad apples who just need to be voted out of office. And when that is done, fantasy Israel will again shine brightly, and all of the accusations of evil deeds will melt away.
I once thought this was so, just as I once thought our nation’s problems of racism had been relegated to history. Fantasies are warm and fuzzy. Reality stings. But real progress comes only when we face reality.
So, when you defend Israel’s right to exist, which Israel are you defending? The Real Israel or Fantasy Israel?
