The Value Proposition for Young Zionists

What is the value proposition for young Zionists today — or for those the Jewish community is trying to persuade to become vocal, unapologetic Zionist voices in their schools, friend circles and digital spaces? The answer is about as clear as the Ganges River. For older generations — Boomers, Gen Xers, and even the Silent Generation — Zionism was a relatively straightforward affair. The story of Israel was clearer. The threats were more external than internal. The state was young and idealistic. And Jewish unity, however imperfect, felt more achievable. The media landscape was centralized and relatively easy to navigate. Zionism then was something you could defend with pride — and with minimal social penalty.

Today’s Millennial, Gen Z and Gen Alpha Jews — the MZAs — are playing a different game on a very different field. The frameworks their elders used to understand and advocate for Israel might be compelling to them — but to younger Jews, they carry all the relevance of the 1903 World Series or a Hoplitodromos foot race. In other words: ancient history, wholly detached from the world they’re living in. 

The dynamics facing MZAs — when it comes to telling Israel’s story, justifying their own emotional and political connection to the state and deciding whether to advocate for it publicly — are fundamentally different from anything their parents or grandparents ever encountered. The battlefield has changed. The weapons are social, digital, and cultural. The costs are personal and immediate.

And yet, what is the older generation of Zionist “builders” doing to help MZAs define a Zionism that resonates in 2025? What are they doing to make the case — to really make the case — that taking a stand for Israel is worth the backlash, the sacrifice, the social fallout? That answer, unfortunately, is also unclear.

From tone-deaf messaging out of the Israeli government, to an unwillingness to confront the extremism festering within its own ranks, to the absence of compelling visions for peace and pluralism, the current Israeli political and civic landscape offers little for young diasporic Jews to rally around. Add to that the litmus tests in Jewish communal spaces — where any deviation from the party line can make you suspect — and what you get is a suffocating environment that does the opposite of cultivating future Zionists.

In past generations, even during moments of war, there was relative clarity about who was on the right side of history. There was a basic level of trust in the leaders making life-and-death decisions. There was an assumption of statesmanship and diplomatic decorum. That moral scaffolding has largely collapsed. What’s left is a vacuum — and young people are being asked to step into it without armor or guidance.

Let’s be brutally honest: when a 19-year-old is still in the process of forming their worldviews, taking a public pro-Israel stance — especially one wrapped in outdated slogans and simplified narratives — feels less like defending the truth and more like self-sabotage. Why would anyone trade their social standing, romantic prospects or ability to make friends for a cause that offers little clarity and even less cool?

And this isn’t because they’re weak or apathetic — it’s because they’re human. At 19, most people are looking to explore the world, fall in love, make friends and have a good time. If being a Zionist means sacrificing any of that, then of course they’ll walk away. That’s not ideological failure. That’s basic social calculus.

This is the reality: speaking up for Israel today can mean being labeled a bigot, a colonizer or worse. It can mean social media pile-ons, campus isolation or professional consequences. And we’re asking young Jews to bear that burden with outdated frameworks and little emotional support.

The current Israeli government, for its part, seems unconcerned with the global Jewish diaspora — let alone the existential questions younger Jews are asking. That disconnect is corrosive. It not only erodes trust — it undermines any claim to shared destiny.

So what’s the path forward?

First, we need to stop trying to revive the Zionism of yesteryear and start building a Zionism for tomorrow. That means radical reinvention. A new generation of MZA Zionist thinkers, artists, influencers, educators, and organizers must be empowered — not just to carry the torch, but to completely redesign it.

That starts with honesty. Honesty about Palestinian suffering. Honesty about the moral complexity of the current war. Honesty about the deep concerns many of us have with Israeli leadership. Honesty about what makes us proud and what makes us sick to our stomachs. If young Jews don’t see that kind of moral seriousness reflected in our institutions, they’ll look elsewhere — or nowhere at all.

We must also build new spaces — intellectually rigorous, emotionally safe and socially relevant — where Zionism isn’t reduced to a test of tribal loyalty, but expanded into a real-time exploration of values, identity, history, justice and future-building.

And yes, we need to make Zionism cool again. Not in a superficial, marketing sense, but by embedding it in stories and communities that speak to young people’s highest aspirations — not just their inherited affiliations.

That means new messengers. New mediums. New language. It means embracing TikTok creators as much as Times columnists. It means putting trust in those who actually know what it’s like to be 21 and defending Israel in a college seminar. It means understanding that leadership doesn’t always come in a suit and tie — it sometimes comes in memes and DMs.

Right now, the thought leadership space is dominated by older voices who — well-meaning as they may be — simply don’t understand the world MZAs are navigating. They don’t understand the cost. They don’t speak the language. And so they don’t connect.

The time has come for young Zionists to stop waiting to be invited to the table — and build their own. To write in Jewish journals and mainstream op-eds. To create reels and curate Twitch streams. To show up with complexity, with confidence, and with moral clarity.

The end goal isn’t just to make Zionism defensible — it’s to make it compelling. To make it something young people want to own, not inherit. And that means answering the question that has haunted this entire conversation: What is the value proposition?

Because if we can’t answer that — not with spin, but with substance — we will lose an entire generation. And we’ll only have ourselves to blame.

Coby Schoffman is a Los Angeles–based serial social entrepreneur and the founder of The Nation Foundation (TNF), which operates project zones across East Africa. Schoffman holds an MSc in Transnational Security from New York University and a BA in Counterterrorism and Conflict Resolution from Reichman University. The views expressed are his own and do not reflect those of any affiliated organization.