By Avromi Mostofsky, JNS
We need to figure out how we went so wrong that those we thought we could count among our friends could have so quickly, harshly and callously turned against us in our hour of need.
There were many positive takeaways from the American Zionist Movement biennial meeting earlier this month in New York. Opportunities for face-to-face meetings with fellow slate members, allies, and perhaps, most importantly, those with whom one disagrees on political and religious issues, proved to be invaluable moments of getting to know one another without the pressure of WZO elections in the backdrop.
The ability to build personal connections helps the AZM function with a wide consensus on most issues in non-election years. And given the rise in anti-Zionism and its obvious spillover into overt antisemitism, what many of us predicted, a functioning AZM is more important than ever.
Speeches and panel discussions were interesting and engaging. I enjoyed being able to sit back and take in the varying perspectives on how to better engage and empower our youth, how to effectively operate an organization as diverse as the AZM, and how to move forward after such a contentious WZO Congress experience. Working together, listening to one another, loving our fellow Jews and the State of Israel was what I heard, and it totally aligned with the theme of the biennial: “Zionism: Many Visions, One Dream.”
Unfortunately, the closing keynote address, given by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, who recently made headlines by bravely calling on New York City Jews to vote against now mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, left a bitter taste in the mouths of many participants, myself included.
He started out great—spending about one-half of his speech recounting a history of Zionism in America, weaving anecdotes with some harsh realities of the past that some who currently identify as Zionist would probably rather sweep under the rug. I found him evenhanded and scholarly. But somehow, the same Elliot Cosgrove who told The Forward that it was “totally bewildering” to him that 30% of the city’s Jews voted for an avowed anti-Zionist like Mamdani told those gathered that we “shouldn’t be surprised” by that fact, and then blamed it on liberal Zionists being “disillusioned by the Israeli government.”
It was this incongruence that the press immediately picked up on and what became the main story of the biennial, as Cosgrove moved from defender of Israel to airing out his own dirty laundry on political and religious issues with Israel, without making the case for why those gripes are less important than supporting Israel; and where he gave credence to anti-Israel claims, including that Arab Palestinians are being denied rights, that they are indigenous to the Land of Israel, and that Israel and the Israel Defense Forces did not ascribe enough value to the lives of Palestinian children. He did so without making the case for why those claims are misguided and libelous, and how Israel remains the most just of causes and the IDF the most moral of armies in the world.
He missed a golden opportunity to return to describing what Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, wrote in her diary: that we in the Diaspora need Israel as a cause as much as Israel needs our support, regardless of whether any particular individual or group of Jews in Israel or America realizes it.
Cosgrove failed as a unifier to provide a path forward for the American Zionist Movement as a left-to-right nonpartisan organization, and instead, at the WZO Congress, sent us back to the partisan squabbling that frustrates so many of us. He asked: “What is the calling of the hour?” The clear answer needed to be that we are to unite and support the only Jewish state in the world, where, within a few years, the majority of Jews in the world will live, and which, after the horrors of Oct. 7 and two years of war, has shown us that Jewish resilience is indeed alive and well.
That is our clarion call, regardless of whether we think the state is too religious or not religious enough; regardless of whether we feel Israelis rely too much on us or whether they don’t show us enough love; and regardless of whether we think our particular values of the left, right or center should be adopted by our brothers and sisters in Israel. The closing keynote needed to be unifying and optimistic, not a partisan grab and swipe at our brothers and sisters in Israel for not living up to whatever values we Americans (or whatever political affiliation) happen to have at any given moment. It was a sorely missed opportunity.
AZM came off as directionless and factional, and the negative press about the biennial has reflected that. Cosgrove was correct that it is time for us to have a cheshbon hanefesh—to self- introspect. But we cannot heed his call and open our tent to those who spend most of their time criticizing Israel and their fellow Jews, even when under the fire of war and antisemitism across the world, and then wonder why they are not welcomed into our tent.
Instead, we need to figure out how we went so wrong that our own children, grandchildren and the non-Jewish community we thought we could count among our friends could have so quickly, so harshly and so callously turned against us in our hour of need. We are, indeed, to blame for at least some of the naiveté that led to this.
Now, it’s time for us to double down on educating our children about shared responsibility for the safety and success of fellow Jews across the world because that is the true litmus test of whether we are part of the Jewish community or not—Ahavat Yisrael, our love for our fellow Jews.
He was right that we need to focus on Jewish education and not just Israel education because proud Jews don’t turn their backs on their fellow Jews. He missed his golden opportunity to unite us, but the rest of us don’t have to. We would welcome an acknowledgement that he is saddened by the hurt his words and inflection caused. And we would welcome the fact that he is ready to engage in this introspection with us and double down on commitment to Israel, even at the expense of being uncomfortable with any particular government, action or statement.
We need Israel and the Israeli people as much as they need us. If we forget that, it is only at our own peril.
