Yossi Klein Halevi: War’s toll on Jewish community
Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, described Israel as fighting a 'three-front war'.
The Zionist Federation of Australia hosted a frank discussion on Sunday evening about the psychological toll of the ongoing war, with ZFA president Jeremy Leibler and Israeli author Yossi Klein Halevi sharing their struggles with recent images from Gaza.
Speaking at the event titled “Yossi Klein Halevi: Live from Israel”, both leaders expressed deep exhaustion from defending Israel while grappling with disturbing footage of starvation in Gaza.
“I am feeling rather exhausted at the moment,” Leibler said, citing the “never ending barrage of text messages and tweets and media requests” and the “never ending stream of demonisation of Jews”.
“I don’t want anyone to be offended by this, but I’m equally exhausted at hearing many well-meaning and ideologically aligned parts of the Jewish community engage in black and white, simplistic narratives that are devoid of capacity for nuance or empathy or complexity.”
Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, described Israel as fighting a “three-front war” – military battles across seven fronts, a war for Israel’s legitimacy, and a domestic crisis over the country’s democratic character.
“The pictures coming out of Gaza broke me and I think that the Jewish people should be broken by those pictures,” Klein Halevi said, while acknowledging that “all of the arguments that we offer in defence of policy are true” regarding Hamas stealing UN food aid.
Both speakers struggled with balancing empathy for civilian suffering with defending Israel’s actions.
Leibler expressed frustration that “our enemies have robbed us of either the ability or desire to grapple with” disturbing images.
Klein Halevi drew parallels to Israel’s response after the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre, when 400,000 Israelis demanded accountability.
“Not a single government minister, let alone the Prime Minister, has said what you said. I find it really, really painful to look at these images,” he told Leibler.
The discussion touched on concerns about Jewish anti-Zionists in the Diaspora and ultra-nationalist, anti-democratic elements in Israel potentially creating unbridgeable divides within the Jewish people.
Klein Halevi praised the Australian Jewish community, calling it “really one of my favourite Jewish communities” and commending its “integrity and dignity” in supporting Israel.
The conversation concluded with both speakers advocating for “multi-dimensional Jews” capable of “holding more than one truth at a given moment” while maintaining unconditional support for Israel’s defence.
The event was followed by a Jewish youth panel discussion about community resilience.