**Liberal Zionism: It Can't Be Dead Because It Never Existed**

Is Liberal Zionism dead?

Yes.

The romantic Zionist ideal has become tarnished by the reality of modern Israel.

Zionism is not compatible with liberalism. Israel has descended into fascist-haven mode. Liberal Zionists have to decide which of their political identities matters more:

*whether they are..
- first a liberal
~or~
- first a Zionist

Israel is no longer compatible with humanist values, given Israel’s hawkish policies Vis-à-vis Gaza and the West Bank. The term itself, liberal Zionism, is an oxymoron.

It's a yearning for a humanist, righteous, pure Zion that never existed. As a narrative, it served as a powerfully convenient fiction, both for liberal diaspora [living outside Israel] Jews who wanted to be Zionists without some of the moral dilemmas involved, and for pro-Israeli lobbyists who tried to enlist the liberal intelligentsia in their fight to legitimize Israel.

The dream that liberal-humanist values can truly be compatible with the reality of the desert has been perpet- uated by generations of liberal Jews who tried to find a balance between their sense of obligation to defend Israel, and their own personal values.

The romantic image of Israel has never been accurate but the strength of that image continues to capture the hearts and minds of these diaspora Jews.

History made a fiction of liberal Zionists. For what is a “liberal Zionist” anyway? Essentially, it means supporting Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state but supporting a two-state solution in which Israel withdraws from the occupied territories and treats its Jewish and Arab citizens equally. Liberal Zionists find it harder and harder to reconcile the conflicting sides of their political identity: are they more liberal, or Zionist?

Some choose to defend the notion that Zionism and humanism can co-exist peacefully within the same person, regardless of what Israel does or does not do. “Liberal Zionism” has been a vague-but-pleasant fantasy all along. If it were real, surely it would have some bearing on reality. But it isn’t, and it doesn’t.

“liberal Zionism” has come to one thing, and one thing only: reluctantly supporting Israel, whatever happens, whilst criticizing it in soft tones. And then they wonder why Israel doesn't get the message. Israel today is more nationalistic, more bigoted, more separatist than ever, despite the best efforts of those identifying themselves as “liberal Zionists”.

That is the whole story: all along: “liberal Zionism” is nothing more than a silly romantic notion. The Middle East has never been a good place for romantics. The last one who tried to get romantic around here ended up getting crucified.