Ruchama, I've seen several of your comments on other people's articles. I've seen you lashing out at people whenever you encounter information that makes you feel uncomfortable, I’ve seen some of them respond with kindness and patience that still didn’t tempt you to consider looking more deeply at your position.

So no, it is simply not true that you would want to know that Israel is acting “improperly.” If you did, you would know. The atrocities Israel is committing are being broadcast to the world in real time every single day.

You are, in fact, desperate not to know.

Take your (and many others’) response to this article, for example. All it is is a collection of quotes. These are things that the founders of Zionism and several leaders of Israel said (and I could have included many, many more). You'd be horrified if anybody was saying things like this about Jews. Heck, people in Europe did say things like this about Jews.

Even if you don't believe me, even if you think I've taken something out of context or made something up, you could go and look at the sources I've provided and prove me wrong. But you don't even try to do that. Not because you think I'm wrong but because you fear I'm right.

So instead, you run as fast as you can to a space that frees you from the need to engage with the facts: you convince yourself that I must secretly hate Jews. You assure yourself that this horrific, 14-month-and-counting slaughter of Palestinians is necessary, even justified. And you tell yourself that anybody who points out when Israel is “acting improperly” is antisemitic and seeks Israel's destruction.

This is ridiculous on its face. Just as ridiculous as it would have been to call slavery abolitionists "anti-white" or people who opposed the Nazis “anti-German” (although I guess they also accused those who spoke in defence of the Jewish people as wanting to destroy Germany).

Your position (and again, you're far from alone sadly) is rooted in lies and fear that have been drummed into you for years and an outright refusal to look at the facts or recognise the Palestinians’ humanity. But I'm happy to say, more and more people, including former Zionists, are finding the courage to look at those facts. I had to look at those facts to get from my somewhat naive earlier viewpoint to the viewpoint I have now.

But no, I have never thought, and still don't think, that Israel needs to be destroyed or that Israeli Jews need to die for justice to be served or for peace in the Middle East. I think Israel needs to change. And I think that this change is the best way, very likely the only way, for the Jews living in Israel to be truly safe.