Doubling down’ on our Zionism

For the first time since October 7, 2023, Israelis will celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut with everyone that was taken in Hamas’s onslaught now back home.

But at the same time as I write this, Israel is also 10 days into an existential war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The stakes could not be higher. The leaders of Tehran’s despotic regime have made no secret of their desire to annihilate the world’s only Jewish state.

Of course, there is no way to tell at this point, how events will have played out by the time you read this. But we hope and pray for the safety of our friends and family in Israel, we salute the valiant heroics of Israel’s soldiers, and we take inspiration from the strength of its people.

Just think of what Israel has had to endure in its 78 years. Endless attacks and wars in which its enemies have sought its complete destruction. The first and second intifadas, and then the horrors and barbarism of the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, the largest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust.

And yet in defiance of all of this, Israel the nation has thrived. Today it is a multi-ethnic society of more than 10 million people, living in cosmopolitan cities that sprung up from the desert. It is a sole beacon of democracy in a region of autocracies. It gives back to the world with its hi-tech industry and advanced medical research.

Israel is not perfect; nor is any nation. We can argue – and we do – about policy, its leadership and about its future. But that does not diminish our love and admiration for that ancient land and its people.

As Diaspora Jews with an inextricable connection to Israel, we are so proud of that tiny nation that we hold so tightly in our hearts.

And yet, as we have found out, that pride has its cost. Since October 7, while Israel was fighting its war, we in the Diaspora and especially in Australia have been fighting our own.

We have been fighting not just against misinformation and vile propaganda about Israel, but for our own legitimacy and acceptance as Zionist Jews.

We can all agree that legitimate criticism of any nation is a healthy part of democratic debate. But we also know that that is not what has happened.

We have been doxxed, our institutions have been vandalised, our synagogues rammed and firebombed, our businesses have been review-bombed or chased out of their neighbourhoods, our children have been abused on public transport, and our young adults have been harassed and othered on campus.

The wave of hate culminated, as we know, with the murder of 15 people, killed for the crime of celebrating a Jewish festival, at Bondi Beach on December 14 last year.

And sadly what should have been a watershed moment for Australia has, for many of our fellow countrypeople, turned into a missed opportunity. They paused to grieve with us for the briefest of moments before launching back into their campaigns of hateful delegitimisation.

Because if many of these people truly shared our grief, they would have understood the meaning of Israel’s President Isaac Herzog travelling to be with us in our darkest hour. But all they saw was an opportunity for more division, more hatred, more calls of “globalise the intifada”, despite the Chanukah massacre being that phrase lived in action.

And in the midst of it all, societal institutions too have failed us. Arts organisations such as Adelaide Writers Week declared without shame that not just our sense of inclusion, but our very sense of safety, did not matter.

In the halls of power, some elected officials are repeating the lies of Hamas and Iran in order to delegitimise Israel and marginalise us. Some are even trying to cynically politicise the Royal Commission and sideline the very reason it was called in the first place, being the problem of antisemitism and how it led to the Bondi attack.

What commentator Brendan O’Neill told me in an interview in early February this year is sadly accurate. Far from undergoing some much-needed soul searching, antizionists have instead “doubled down” since the Bondi Beach massacre.

Our answer then, must be to double down on our Zionism.

That can mean different things to different people. For some, it is getting involved or volunteering in Zionist charities and organisations. It could simply be a vow to attend more of their events. It could be making a donation. Others may decide to involve themselves in advocacy.

Members of the community who own businesses might look into how relationships with Israeli startups might enhance their products or operations.

Parents may decide to send their children to a youth movement if they do not attend one.

It could even mean travelling to Israel, either as a tourist, on an organised mission, or to volunteer. It could be learning Hebrew.

Or one could even express their Zionism simply by connecting more to their Judaism; for after all, they are inseparable from one another.

There are many more ways I have not listed here. But have no doubt, that must be our answer. Our people – Am Yisrael – have survived millennia by staring down our opponents. And we are still here, still thriving, still spreading light.

For all but the last 78 years, we did it while scattered and without a homeland. Imagine what we can do now that we have one.

So let us hold it close and defend it proudly. With Israel standing strong, we will continue to thrive — here, there and everywhere Jews call home.