Christian Zionism Helped Bring the Right Together. Now, It’s Driving It Apart (Sojournors)
“What makes this difficult to navigate is the concern for antisemitism and the ongoing discussion around our current definitions. The conversation and strategy for addressing Israel’s war crimes is complicated by bad-faith criticism on the Right and the prevailing definition of antisemitism, as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. The IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism has been adopted by 35 U.S. states. Writing for Jewish Currents in 2020, Lara Friedman, the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, observed that parts of the IHRA definition conflate antisemitism with criticism of Israel and opposition to Zionism. ‘There exists today a veritable cottage industry of organizations dedicated to promoting the IHRA definition as a legally-mandated litmus test, designed to delegitimize if not criminalize criticism and activism on Israel, and especially boycotts.’ This conflation is not only inaccurate but also harmful to Jews, since it can restrict their freedom to criticize the state of Israel when they believe such criticism is necessary.”