This guidebook seeks to help Jews and non-Jews, in Israel and worldwide, understand the events that have unfolded since October 7 in historical and ideological context. These are difficult times – and this is no Six Day War. Months after absorbing the bloodiest terrorist attack in its history, Israel finds itself stuck on so many fronts. On Day 86, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared: “We are being attacked from seven different arenas: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran.” Israel has invaded Gaza, defended itself successfully against an unprecedented Iranian attack, absorbed more than 5,000 Hezbollah rocket launches, and seen tens of thousands of its citizens displaced, north and south, for months. Parts of Gaza in ruins, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced and thousands killed.

Beyond the Middle East, a worldwide movement has demonized Israel’s actions and Zionism itself, while Israel has clashed repeatedly with its closest allies, including the United States, regarding military tactics and “day after” strategies. Since October 7, haters have targeted Jews on a scale unseen since the Holocaust in the 1930s and 1940s, and the mass expulsions of Jews from Arab lands in the 1950s.

At the same time, Israel’s military lost far fewer soldiers than most experts anticipated in an excruciatingly difficult urban warfare theatre, while killing thousands of Hamas terrorists, destroying tens of thousands of armaments, and regrettably, killing many Gazans caught in the crossfire. Meanwhile, Israel’s political divisions have emerged again, especially over the painful questions of how to handle the heartbreaking hostage dilemma, as well as the character of Israel’s current and future leadership.

No one knows how this multi-front war will end – but most people in the Jewish world are struggling with complicated questions about what Israel feels it must do to survive, what kind of Israel and Middle East will emerge from these wars, and how Israel can restore its international standing. This guidebook is the first in a series that will be addressing pressing issues about the meaning of Zionism, Jewish peoplehood, and the Jewish condition in an age of

increasing Jew-hatred. It is meant to trigger robust debate about what Israel means to the Jewish people, how Israel should progress, and how the Zionist movement can help us find meaning today. It is the inaugural publication of the Jewish People Policy Institute’s Renewing Zionism in the 21st Century project.

And, yes, trigger-warning: this is an old-fashioned, intellectual project. It explores pressing issues with facts, charts, timelines, subtleties, and complex arguments. Not every idea should be reduced to a TikTok video. The views expressed here do not represent the views of the JPPI. They are those of the author – who thanks many JPPI colleagues for all their wisdom, knowledge, disagreements, challenges, creativity, and skill, in the writing, editing, and publishing of this guidebook.

Special thanks to Barry Geltman for a masterful editing job, and Maya Haser for the extraordinary graphics, while Yair Orvieto and Shai Bernat-Kunin aided in the research, and Doron Krakow was an invaluable thought partner.

Full documentation backing this guidebook can be found at the jppi website: https://jppi.org.il

For more copies of this guidebook please email: info@jppi.org.il

In memory of our fallen, especially a 22-year-old hero of the Nova festival, Ben Mizrachi, in shock that dozens of innocent hostages still remain captive in Hamas’s hands, enduring abuse daily, and with hopes for a true peace.

Professor Gil Troy, Jerusalem, July, 2024