Rabbi Mark Levin: Israel’s direction betrays ideals of Judaism, democracy | Opinion

I have throughout my life and my rabbinate supported Israel and her people. While I have not supported most of the governments since Menachem Begin was elected prime minister, I have supported the state — and most particularly Israel’s people. I have contributed to the Israel Religious Action Center, the Reform movement’s social justice arm, and the Hiddush, an independent nongovernmental organization dedicated to religious freedom in Israel. (Both were founded by Rabbi Uri Regev.)

I have had three goals: peace among Israel and her Arab neighbors, as well as Iran. Second, a secure Israel within internationally recognized borders. And finally, a democratic and Jewish homeland for Jews and any other population living in the state.

Now these goals conflict. After the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist assault, Israel pursued a war I defended because Israel was attacked and has been defending herself against a genocidal enemy: Hamas. I did not always agree with Israel’s tactics, but I am not a military person, and Israel is a democracy. I don’t get to vote or choose policies except as they apply to my life as a Jew.

Now it is undeniable that the right wing, messianic government of Israel is not pursuing self-defense, but expansion. The “trade land for peace” policy is dead, and is being replaced by displacement of Arabs in Israel, both the Palestinians of the West Bank and the Gazans. I do not support these policies. They are not only counterproductive to the goals of peace, but also immoral.

Israel always considered itself to be a moral and responsible state. Israel’s Declaration of Independence guarantees rights to all of its citizens. This government is betraying both its declaration and the ideal of an independent Jewish homeland with equal rights for all of its inhabitants. Between Jewish and democratic, the current government has chosen Jewish nationalism over democracy and a homeland for all of the Jewish people — the original goal of Zionism.

I don’t write this lightly. The travesty of destroying Gaza and its people — and I write this despite the fact that Hamas is a genocidal organization dedicated to destroying not only Israel but me and my family — is unnecessary to Israel’s defense. The attacks on innocent Arabs and Bedouin in the West Bank, aided by the Israel Defense Forces in many settlers’ murderous attempts to displace the Arab population, go far beyond the tragedy of lawlessness I ever envisioned as possible for Israel, either because of its Judaism or its democracy.

I will never turn against Israel. But we need to be clear: The nationalist values of Israel are neither good for the homeland of the Jewish people, nor for Judaism. The messianism of this government is no better than Christian nationalism in the U.S., nor Islamism. It may be less virulent than Hamas and ISIS, and more violent than the current Christian right in the U.S., but the exclusionary philosophies are medieval and ultimately dangerous to humanity. They reverse the vision of modernity that all humans are created in the divine image and deserving of equal rights. They are a formula for internecine wars and international conflagrations, regionally or even worse. They are a symptom of the abandonment of our view of humanity, equality and justice for all.

I pray that the world will see clearly the destructive core of the nationalist forces currently holding sway in much of the world, and reverse course. The vision for Israel was legitmately a Jewish state — but not exclusively for Jews, as the Arab states persecute their Jews. Israel’s current direction betrays both ideals: Judaism and democracy. The American and Israeli Jewish communities must stand together to counter the forces leading to destruction.

Mark H. Levin is founding rabbi of Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park.

This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 5:02 AM.