The Jewish civil war over Israel - UnHerd

The Jewish civil war over Israel - UnHerd While Jews often seem clannish to outsiders, the reality is somewhat different: we have always suffered from a divisive streak of self-destructiveness. As far back as the levelling of the Temple and the expulsion from the homeland, Jewish unity has been undermined by both class divisions and theological disagreements. Two thousand years later, though General Titus’s legions may be forgotten, fissures and infighting remain. Since October 7, there has been a very real upsurge in antisemitism in Europe and America. Some members of my own synagogue openly discuss whether they should attend services, or events such as menorah lightings; others are considering buying guns. But despite this shared threat, the response of the Jewish community to events in Israel has been far from homogenous. This is, to some extent, nothing new. Extreme Orthodox Jews have long been a feature of pro-Palestine marches, maintaining that only God can sanction the return of the Jewish state. The equally extreme Black Hebrew Israelites, who maintain they are “the real Jews”, are also avowedly anti-Zionist.