The Hebrew edition of Achakeh Lo (p. 224) describes a tactic by which the today’s Jewish media makes Jews into Zionists, without making a single argument about the subject itself (the question of whether Zionism violates the oaths of exile).
There are many non-Jews who oppose Zionism for their own reasons: their support for Palestinian rights. Terrorists in the Middle East carry out attacks against Jews, and there are countries that support the terrorists. In the Western world, the BDS movement and the like accuse the State of Israel of violating human rights. Religious Jewish newspapers constantly portray these groups as wicked anti-Semites, leaving the readers with the unspoken assumption that the State of Israel must be good. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
But if you think a little, you will realize that they ignore the main question. As a analogy, say a Jew and a non-Jew are fighting over a piece of pork. Jewish bystanders watch the fight and argue that the Jew is in the right, that the non-Jew is a vicious anti-Semite trying to steal from the Jew, and that the other non-Jews who support that non-Jew are also anti-Semites. Does it then follow that the Jew is allowed to eat the pork? Of course not – the “Yoreh Deah” question has nothing to do with the “Choshen Mishpat” question. But if this is not made clear, someone following the news may get the impression that the Jew may indeed eat the pork, and not only that, it may be a mitzvah to do so, in order to demonstrate for all that it belongs to him. The piece of pork is too big for one Jew to eat, so all the Jews of the town gather around and eat it with him to show solidarity with their comrade, not leaving any over for the non-Jew to take. A Jew from another town happens to witness this ridiculous scene and asks innocently, “Wait a minute, I thought pork wasn’t kosher!” All the Jews shout down this Jew, calling him a traitor and a supporter of the anti-Semites…
So too here, the question of whether Zionism violates the Three Oaths has nothing to do with the question of human rights. It’s the media writers who are deliberately confusing the issue, portraying anyone opposed to Zionism as a supporter of terror.
Not only do they create confusion for Jews, but they actually increase the danger to Jews from terrorism. The Palestinians don’t know what Judaism says, or if Judaism advocates Zionism (the conquest of their land). They see the State of Israel, they are angry over what they lost, and they oppose their conquerors. And since the conquerors are Jews, call their state “Israel” and make their case from the Bible, the Palestinians begin to suspect all Jews. Now, when the Jewish media calls them anti-Semites, it only makes their suspicion stronger, and they begin to hate Jews all over the world. Rachamana Litzlan.
Now, it could be that some anti-Zionism is secretly motivated by anti-Semitism. We can’t see into the depths of anyone’s mind. But it’s clear that not all of it is.
When someone hates a Jew because of his race, that is anti-Semitism. When someone hates what that Jew believes in, even if that belief is a real part of Judaism, it is not anti-Semitism. All the more so with Zionism, which (we argue) is not a part of Judaism.
With accusations of anti-Semitism, the Jewish media jumps to conclusions. Often there are other explanations. For example, they ask: There are killings and human rights violations going on all over the globe, so why do protestors focus on Israel? For example, why doesn’t anybody protest when Russia bombs Ukraine, but when Israel bombs Gaza they do? And Russia is worse because not only are they the side that kills civilians, they are the side who started the conflict, whereas in Israel’s case, Hamas started it by deliberately killing hundreds of Israeli civilians. Yet all the protests seem to be against Israel. Must be they are anti-Semites.
But there are other explanations. Protesting Russia would not be saying anything new. All Americans and even the Russians who are here (and one suspects many Russians in Russia too) are against the war. But the State of Israel is widely supported by Americans, including most American politicians. Israel is America’s ally. That’s the real reason they protest.
Another example:
Zohran Mamdani, a candidate for mayor of New York City, has been critical of the State of Israel. Recently, when asked if he believes Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, he replied, “I believe Israel has a right to exist and it has a right to exist also with equal rights for all.” Jewish Insider published this under the headline: “Unsaid but understood: Mamdani declines to support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.”
To a hard-core Zionist, Mamdani’s words are the equivalent of saying Israel should be taken over by Hamas. That is how far we have come. Suggesting that a country, an ally of the US, should have equal rights for all is heresy in the Zionist religion, which believes that Jews can only be safe in an exclusively Jewish-run state.
Jews have to believe that there is an alternative. If Hashem forbade a state, He must have known what He was doing. It is possible for Jews and Arabs to once again live in peace, just as they have already done throughout the Middle East for centuries.
On this note, let’s remember the work of Sarah Milgrim, the young woman tragically murdered this week in front of the Capital Jewish Museum together with her fiancé-to-be, Yaron Lischinsky. The event they were attending was dedicated to humanitarian service — young Jewish professionals gathering under the theme “Turning Pain Into Purpose,” discussing interfaith collaboration and working to counter the rising tide of “us versus them” narratives. The event spotlighted efforts to respond to humanitarian crises in the Middle East and North Africa — including in Gaza.
Milgrim herself during college took a yearlong volunteer position in Israel as an intern at Tech2Peace, an organization that promotes dialogue and peace initiatives in the tech industry in Israel.
Her co-workers said that she embraced the organization’s mission, where Israelis and Palestinians come together to discuss tech but also to talk about the conflict. After her year of volunteering, she returned to write her master’s project about the program and the people who participate in it.
“She was very young, very curious to learn about the conflict and look for solutions,” said Tech2Peace CEO Esti Rozenfeld. “That was her spirit. She came here to promote peace, to promote the effort in this beloved land for dialogue, for partnership, for commitment.”
Let’s hope that voices like hers are heard more, and those painting everyone who disagrees with them as anti-Semites are heard less.
I Will Await Him 
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