The Loneliness of the Israeli Leftist

The October 7th massacre by Hamas and the ensuing war on Gaza had an unexpected ecological dimension: The Israeli left, already an endangered species, now appears on the brink of extinction. Surprisingly, a significant accelerator of its decline seems to be the American left, which appears to do anything in its power to obliterate the last remaining stronghold of Israelis advocating for Palestinian freedom.

Consider what it’s like being an Israeli leftist these days. The mainstream political discourse has marginalized us for years, ostracizing those advocating for an end to the occupation. We’ve been labeled traitors by politicians who incite the public to unleash violence against those who criticize Israel’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza or express sympathy for Palestinian suffering. And then you wake up one Saturday morning to find that thousands of terrorists from Gaza invaded your families’ towns, brutally murdering more than a thousand children, women and men, burning their houses down and kidnapping hundreds more, including babies and the elderly.

While grappling with profound grief and shock, there’s the added weight of the “I told you so” coming from the right side of the Israeli political map. That is predictable — being asked to excuse violent acts of Palestinians and being blamed for them. Only now it seems to also come from the left side of the map — following the horrific massacre, many on the left seemed to abandon their agendas and “sober-up.” Frankly, it’s hard to blame them. No excuse whatsoever could be given for what happened. The usual suspects — the occupation, the blockade, years of dividing the Palestinians to prevent pragmatic forces from taking the lead — would not suffice and could never justify or explain these acts. It’s understandable that it’s hard to think of Palestinian lives and rights these days. And peace, who can even pronounce that word now? While the responsibility on the Israeli side for the strengthening of Hamas lies on the right-wing Netanyahu governments of the past 14 years, the Israeli left is in the midst of a deep introspection and reckoning. Indeed, October 7th might prove to be a breaking point within the already dwindling Israeli left.

But what truly breaks you is seeing supposed comrades from across the Atlantic revel in the slaughter of your family and friends, driven by a warped, distorted, post-colonial sense of justice.

But what truly breaks you is seeing supposed comrades from across the Atlantic revel in the slaughter of your family and friends, driven by a warped, distorted, post-colonial sense of justice.

You, who marched and rallied for years alongside Palestinians calling for their liberation from Israeli oppression, now feel isolated. As you mourn the lives of Israeli mothers and babies burned to death and fear the ramifications of another war on Gaza, figures like Tariq Ali laud the “fighting back” against “settler populations.” As you desperately hope your loved ones were only kidnapped and not raped or killed, while also watching with dread as the death toll of Gazan civilians rise, you see videos of American college and high school students marching and chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”  As you take cover from Hamas rockets aimed at your neighborhood and anguish over innocent Gazan children who lack safe shelters, memes surface celebrating the paragliding terrorists who murdered 260 partygoers as freedom fighters.

It may be that deep down, many on the American and European left are trying to atone for the West’s colonialist past by using Israel as a scapegoat. In doing so, they often view even radical Islamist terrorist groups like Hamas as a kind of ‘noble savage.’

Postmodernist and Postcolonialist studies have seemed to rendered liberal intelligentsia blind to tangible suffering. Naomi Klein remarked at the outset of this grievous chapter of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that the left should side with the child over the gun every single time, no matter whose gun and no matter whose child. It seems to be lost on many in the American left. For them, postcolonial studies paint Israel as the eternal oppressor and Palestinians as the perennial victims, absolving Palestinians of any accountability for their actions. It may be that deep down, many on the American and European left are trying to atone for the West’s colonialist past by using Israel as a scapegoat. In doing so, they often view even radical Islamist terrorist groups like Hamas as a kind of “noble savage.”

Postmodernist philosophy has left an indelible mark on the American left, one seemingly immune to the cleansing power of real-world suffering. For many, the dominant culture’s language cannot truly depict reality, so the term “terror” doesn’t apply to Palestinian actions. They argue that morality is relative, hence Israelis and Palestinians can’t be held to the same standards. Dogmatic adherence to these concepts permits no humanism, only racism: Palestinians can do no wrong, while Israelis must accept their bloody fate as the logical endpoint of a skewed philosophy of freedom.

But perhaps the most jarring realization is that beneath layers of so-called leftist ideology is an underlying denial of Israel’s right to exist. If the massacred kibbutzim townspeople, who were largely left-wing, are “settlers,” then the issue isn’t just about 1967, but 1948. If the cry is “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” then what becomes of Israelis? The chilling answer lies in the question itself: Into the sea. It’s particularly disheartening to hear American Jews express such views. This is not just because of our shared bloody history and the growing specter of antisemitism, but because it’s easy to hold such beliefs from a comfortable suburban setting, far removed from the threats of terrorist militias.

If the American left wants Israeli allies in the just fight for Palestinian rights, it must free itself from these juvenile fantasies and the naive misreadings of Fanon and Foucault. Regrettably, these days it looks as though they want no allies, for they literally celebrate their killing.

Nadav Neuman is an Israeli writer and Head of Education at Sapienship.