Zionism's future?

[SeattleUte]

When I was a toddler and a child my mother (I was the oldest so got the best of her parenting) nourished my little spongy and growing brain with exciting tales of the Israelites, God's chosen people, and their miraculous conquest of Canaan, defeats of the Phillistines and other invaders with God's awesome intervention, etc. Ultimately the winding, fantastic journey she took me on passed through scenes of upspeakable tragedy, the Jews finally liquidated and scatterted by world powers such as the Assyrians and Romans, in the end even as the Jews failed to recognize their Messiah who appeared right under their noses, and Nazi concentration concentration camps. But finally came the miracle of the Jewish re-conquest of Canaan in the "latter days," the six-day war, and the worldwide phenomenon of Jews "gathering" in Israel. And she showed me those Isaiah passages that seemed to prophesy this very thing happening! (Yes, this was a lot for a little guy to process and she has expressed some regret about it. But I disagree.)

Anyhow, this formative experience has always ingrained in me a deeply felt support for the state of Israel. I have even been sympathetic to the idea of "Zionism," which, it has seemed to me may be a necessary element for Israel's survival. But as I have grown more mature I have taken a more nuanced view. The current Iraq war is part of this, since we are there, and regrettably so, partly for Israel's security. I think it's impossible for anyone sensitive to the miracle of republican governemnt and our great pluralist culture not to feel ambivalence toward Zionism. On one hand, Israel is the only democratic regime in the Middle East, and Jewish culture has a great tradition of intellecutallism, dialogue, and debate. On the other hand, the very idea of Zionism seems to me inseparable from theocracy, and Israel is always in danger of falling into the thrall of its extreme elements, who aren't all that different from many of the Jihadists nearby. Anyway, it's fair to ask how far is it reasonable to carry a founding myth as justification not ony for a nation's very existence but also for insipient theocracy, and hard line positions in geopolitics that threaten the security of the entire West.

These thoughts, it turns out, are tormenting not only me but some of the prominent descendants of old stock Israeli "pioneer" families. And the very emergence of this kind of dissent among leading Isralis themselves is terrifying to many Israelis because for them apostacy means literally rejection of Zionism, and ergo possibly an end to even the idea of Israel. A couple of weeks ago The New Yorker published this interesting article, aptly titled "The Apostate" (I don't agree with many of the featured apostate's criticisms of Israel). The featured apostate is a former leading presidential candidate in Israel and, amazingly, remains a not only viable but influential political figure in Israel, and a likely future presidential candidate.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...a_fact_remnick