The Jewish Federation isn’t evolving on Israel. So it’s losing young Jews like me
The Federations’ unconditional support of Israel’s war on Gaza does not represent the majority of American Jews
People attend the Israel Solidarity Rally organized by the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Miami Beach, Florida, Oct. 10, 2023. Photo by Marco Bello/AFP via Getty images
I’m a Jewish Israeli American teenager and North Carolina resident, and I was delighted to see that the North Carolina Democratic party recently approved new platform resolutions that called for an arms embargo against Israel, a ceasefire, and the release of the hostages. Very few people and organizations have managed to articulate my views of both Oct. 7 and the subsequent genocide as well as my state party’s resolutions did. Unfortunately, it seems that my perspective is not very welcome at my local Jewish Federation.
I was particularly gratified by how balanced the resolutions were. They directly condemned the deliberate killing of innocent civilians by both parties and called for the end of the war. The resolutions also condemned antisemitism and Islamophobia, condemned Hamas and the Oct. 7 terrorist attack and decried both Hamas and Israel’s human rights violations. They advocated for basic human rights, dignity and peace for all Israelis and Palestinians.
Yet somehow, this language advocating for peace was objectionable to the Jewish Federation. The CEOs of the Jewish Federations of Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte and Greensboro released a statement attacking the resolutions. Their biggest objection was to the resolutions’ use of the terms “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing,” which they specifically singled out as “radical and inflammatory.” They argued that the resolutions ignored Oct. 7 and undermined Israel’s right to self-defense. They even went so far as to accuse the Democratic Party of devaluing the “safety, identity, and lived experiences” of Jewish Americans.
I strongly disagree with the Jewish Federations and believe the statement they released was deeply harmful and inaccurate. While the federations may still be a hub of Jewish institutional power and influence, their perspectives on Israel and Gaza and continuing unconditional support of Israel’s actions do not represent many American Jews.
This statement is not an isolated incident, but an example of the ongoing silencing of the perspectives of an increasing number of American Jews by Jewish Federations across the country and Jewish institutions and youth groups more broadly.
I am just about as Jewish as you can get. I was born in Israel and lived in Jerusalem until I was 4, when my family moved to Greensboro, North Carolina. I did not visit Israel for most of my childhood, but I still felt an extremely strong connection to my home country. Growing up, I ate Israeli food, listened to Israeli music and watched Israeli shows. I attended Jewish day school, I volunteer with my local synagogue and know most Jewish services by heart. In 2023, I traveled back to Israel on a school trip led by the Jewish National Fund. I genuinely loved getting to see my home city and country for the first time that I could vividly remember.
However, my connection to my country of birth has almost completely eroded following almost two years of non-stop war and aggression in Gaza. I am enraged and heartbroken that Jewish Institutions will not recognize or acknowledge that pain.
Like most Jews and Israelis, my gut reaction after Oct. 7 was to stand strong with Israel. I was horrified by the atrocities Hamas committed that day. I wanted to wave the flag of my birth country more strongly, to support Israel’s right to defend its civilians and demand the hostages be freed.
However, after months of seeing satellite images of the complete devastation of Gaza and reading testimonials from doctors and journalists describing the humanitarian crisis, my perspective has shifted. I couldn’t help changing my mind when I saw hostage families being beaten by police in the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for calling for a ceasefire, or when I read statements from Israeli leaders making it clear that their goals were to destroy the entire population of Gaza. I do not hold Israel to a different standard than any other country, no matter my love and connection to it. It is precisely my Jewish values that have pushed me to speak out so strongly against Israel’s unjustifiable actions in Gaza.
I believe two wrongs do not make a right. What Hamas did was immoral. And the genocidal war of aggression that Israel has waged on the people of Gaza is also immoral. I am horrified and ashamed to see tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians killed, including the deliberate targeting of aid seekers at distribution sites. If I, as an Israeli-born teenager, can acknowledge the atrocities committed by Israel and that multiple things can be true at the same time, why can’t Jewish institutions?
For those reasons, along with the sheer brutality and immorality of the war, more and more American Jews oppose Israel’s government and their war on the people of Gaza. Unfortunately, those who dare to express opposition are being isolated and alienated from their Federations, synagogues and youth groups. All of these institutions explicitly and implicitly manufacture total support for the Israeli government and its actions.
The North Carolina Federations’ statement not only blatantly misrepresents the state Democratic party’s resolutions by falsely implying that they are apologists for Hamas, but also misleadingly implies they speak for all or most Jewish North Carolinians. A November 2024 J Street poll of Jewish Americans found 61% support an arms embargo against Israel. As of June 2024, according to a poll conducted by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 30% of Jewish Americans believe that Israel is committing genocide, a number that has undoubtedly risen since then.
The Federation leaders are completely right to be concerned about the extreme rise in antisemitism since Oct. 7. I have had multiple personal run-ins with antisemitism since Oct. 7. Someone close to me experienced identity-based discrimination in a local progressive organization we are both a part of because they are Israeli-American and worked as a journalist in Israel. I have repeatedly been subjected to antisemitic comments online, and was once told that I should join the Israel Defense Force after I condemned the killing of innocent civilians on Oct. 7, implying that being Israeli and opposing the killing of innocent Israeli civilians meant that I somehow enjoyed killing Palestinian civilians.
Many Jews in America have had similar experiences, and I have no doubt that Jewish Federation and Jewish institutional leaders care deeply about fighting antisemitism and keeping their Jewish communities safe. However, statements like the North Carolina Federation heads made do not keep us safe.
When a local Jewish Federation, synagogue or youth movement chapter releases statements claiming that they stand fully with Israel in the conflict, they are isolating and ignoring those of us who offer critiques of Israel’s actions and policies. If these actions continue, millions of American Jews across the country will be pushed out of Jewish institutions, excluded from Jewish spaces and have their Jewishness questioned over their stance against Israel’s actions in Gaza. This is, unfortunately, already happening.
The reality is that in 2025, most American Jews do not stand unconditionally with Israel anymore. If Jewish federations and other institutions want to be the inclusive spaces for all Jews that they claim to be, then they must adapt to this reality.
If groups such as the Jewish Federations cannot reflect American Jewish opinion in 2025 or acknowledge the isolation from Israel that more and more American Jews feel, then millions of Jewish Americans with perspectives such as mine will be erased from the institutions designed to make us feel most at home.
