Jewish Anti-Zionists are there for the attention, and the media fawn over them because they too realise they are an anomaly. They have become “useful idiots” in the current wave of antisemitism surging around the world.

They may mask their feelings about the State of Israel as criticism, but the red line is very simple.

Zionism’s goal is a Jewish state in our ancestral homeland. Sure, Zionism comes in many forms: secular, religious, cultural, etc. These subgroups have argued and continue to argue about what kind of Jewish state we should have, but they all agree on the basics: Jews. Nation State. Israel.

Similarly, people have argued and continued to argue about the actions of the Israeli government of the day. Israel is a melting pot of every different kind of Jew, plus a non-Jewish population of around 20%. Former president Chaim Weizmann famously said “I head a nation of a million presidents”. Now there are around ten million all of whom know better than Bibi. Yet despite their differences, the vast majority will still agree on the basics: Jews. Nation State. Israel.

By contrast, Anti-Zionists deny the right of Jews to have a nation state in Israel. That’s an anathema to the Israel-centricity of the Jewish religion going back over 3000 years. You may not be a Zionist – to make aliya, or support the state, but to deny its right to exist? Bear in mind also that not every non-Zionist is an anti-Zionist – there is a grey zone of neutrality. Jewish anti-Zionists – despite their protestations and misrepresentations – are a miniscule proportion of Jews. The media knows this and loves them for exactly this reason.

They are disproportionately reported upon in the news because they are the “man bits dog” news story that journalists crave. Not boring old “dog bites man”, “plane lands safely”, and “Jew wants his people’s legacy to endure”.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators – many of whom are anti-Zionists – love them too, because they give their hatred and rhetoric a mask of legitimacy. “See, we have Jews demonstrating with us!” they say. This has just become the latest version of “some of my best friends are Jews”.

So what can we do about them? Consider the options:

Try to change their minds? Don’t waste your time. Their views are driven by social identity, not by logic. They do not respond to rational arguments, let alone silly things like historical facts.

Debate them in public forums like the media? Another waste of time. It just gives them oxygen and the attention they crave.

Lobby the media? Hang on, don’t we control the media?! But seriously, the media won’t stop chasing sensational stories.

Rather, we have to unite around a simple truth: anti-Zionism is antisemitism.

By our nature, our history, our diversity – ethnic, geographic, theological – Judaism is a “big tent” with room for almost everyone. Everyone except anti-Zionists. We must draw the line there. They cannot hold that belief and also lay claim to being part of the Jewish people.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)