If Jews Vanished: A Thought Experiment About Israel and the World |
Let’s imagine, as a (tremendously unsettling) thought experiment, that Jews everywhere suddenly disappeared. Not as the result of violence or expulsion, but all at once and without explanation. The value of such an exercise is not rhetorical shock, but analytical clarity. It forces a consideration of what is actually held together by Jewish presence, and what would happen if that presence were removed.
This thought experiment engages a set of claims that have become increasingly common in public discourse, claims that frame Jewish disappearance, or the end of Jewish sovereignty, as an implicit or explicit solution. These claims surface in antizionist slogans heard at protests and online, such as “we don’t want ’48, we want all of it,” or “from the river to the sea,” and in more overtly antisemitic statements that invoke the murder of six million Jews as an unfinished project. At their core, these claims share a belief that the removal of Jews, or of Jewish self-determination, would produce moral clarity, justice, or peace. While those who advance such claims are generally beyond persuasion, this thought experiment is aimed at those who encounter them and have not yet examined their assumptions or consequences.
The implications of this thought experiment are, unsurprisingly, clearest when applied to Israel. Israel would experience the effects immediately, even though roughly a quarter of its population is not Jewish. Arab citizens, Druze, Bedouin, and other non-Jewish communities are deeply embedded in the country’s institutions, economy, and civic life. However, their continued presence would not mitigate the shock of Jewish disappearance. On the contrary, it would make the collapse more visible. Israel would not transition into a new political........