On October 7th, I felt that Zionism had failed. Its most basic promise had been to provide a safe refuge to protect Jews against another Holocaust. Instead, it became the site of the worst act of genocide against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

In the days after October 7th, I was inspired by the way Israelis showed up for each other -and that made me want to stay, despite my fears. In the years since, this trend, and my attachment to the country, has only intensified. However, it is accompanied by a contrary trend: political divisiveness, increasing racism and violence, that makes me worried about the future of the country from a socio-political standpoint, leaving aside security fears.

The other thing that happened, in the days after October 7th, was that it seemed like the anti-Semites came out of the woodworks. What had been a silent, socially unacceptable attitude now became a vocal movement that was increasingly normalized. To be clear, I believe that the problem, of increasing anti-Semitic violence and normalization of........

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