A Jewish teacher criticized Israel. She was fired.

Controversy over Israel, sometimes strongly criticizing its policies, is not unusual in synagogues in the United States, especially those of the Reformation. The Union for Reform Judaism, an umbrella group of Reformed congregations, describe itself as a movement that “accepts and supports the fundamental goal of Zionism: the establishment of a Jewish state in Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people.”

At the Westchester Reformed Temple, rabbis criticized Israel in the past. In my Rosh Hashana lecture in September, Rabbi Jonathan Blake criticized “extremists, skeptical political officials and wealthy patrons” in Israel for promoting “a grand vision of totalitarianism in Israel.” Jews in the Holy Land of the Bible.”

But their criticism never challenged Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, as opposed to a structured state. does not support an ethnic or religious group.

In the blog postpublished on May 20 in last year’s conflict between Israel and Hamas fighters in Gaza, Sander and her co-author, Elana Lipkin, wrote that they support the view of “rejecting the Zionist claim to the Palestinian land.”

The post continued, “Zionism is not equivalent to or a necessary component of Jewish identity.”

They also described Israel’s actions against the Palestinians as genocide and accused Jewish organizations in the United States of spreading “one-sided narratives and propaganda” about the conflict.

Marc Stern, legal director of the American Jewish Committee, said Sanders’ case may have little chance of success because the US Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that religious organizations There are many limitations in terms of employment.

“It seems completely unintelligible to me that any court would say that some doctrine – whether Zionism or any other – is part of the faith. that a school wants to pass on to students,” said Mr. Stern.