Whether they support the Israeli government or not, the conflation of Jews and Israel is “one of the most serious challenges that we face,” said Jonathan Jacoby, the national director of the Nexus Project, an antisemitism watchdog group positioned to the left of the ADL.
“I don’t believe that protests against Israel should take place in front of Jewish institutions, all things being equal,” he said in an interview. “But I understand why, in the context of people declaring that Zionism is an integral part of Jewish identity, those protests are inevitably going to take place. And I do think that we have a responsibility to pay attention to the ways in which we conflate [Jewishness and Zionism], and not just point the finger at the other conflators.
