How tribalism silences complexity, and why it threatens Israel’s survival.

Recently, while discussing the war with long-time friends, I raised a question about the strategy in Gaza. The atmosphere quickly changed. Within seconds, the conversation shifted from the policy to my allegiance to Israel. That personal moment reflects a broader, dangerous pattern I see across news feeds and political rhetoric, the shrinking space for doubt and argument that was once a fundamental part of being Jewish.

The Jewish people have long favored pragmatism and complexity over simple, immediate solutions. However, in recent decades, Israeli society has been losing its capacity for complexity and genuine public discourse and is drifting toward tribalism, oversimplification, and hate. These tendencies weaken the very qualities that once ensured our survival and risk handing our fate to those whose interests are not our own.

An independent, questioning mindset helped the Jewish people survive and preserve their identity in the diaspora. Through Talmudic reasoning and ‘machloket l’shem shamayim’ (‘Argument for the sake of heaven’), communities honed habits of critical thinking, debate, and pragmatism. In many places, Jews learned to live with complexity, accepting the compromise of being secular in the street and Jewish at home.

Even in the early years of the State of Israel, when uncertainty and danger were........

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