This Chanukah I join Jews around the world in celebrating Israel’s recent military victories, that parallel the holiday’s commemoration of the Maccabees’ triumphant war against the powerful Syrians, more than two millennia ago. Yet, in disabling her enemies Israel may have elevated internal forces that will make it painful for liberal Zionists like myself to embrace the Jewish state. I had neither visited nor cared much about Israel until my late 30s, when I toured the country. The endless desert sand, the gold-topped Dome of the Rock set against a cloudless sky, the black-garbed Haredi set against the Western Wall’s white stone, the uniformed soldier with a rifle draped over his shoulder, carrying a challah loaf, the Holocaust survivor sobbing as he told his story of survival to our tour group, filled a hole in my psyche I never knew existed. I suddenly felt linked to the Jewish state and its biblical promise to be a light among the nations. When I returned to New York City I took Jewish education courses, to learn about my religious heritage. I eventually married an observant woman, who has many Israeli relatives. My Jewish immersion coincided with the hopefulness of the Oslo accords. A nation great enough to make peace with its enemies became my lodestar for the Jewish state. For many years I have done organizing work to promote a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But Israel has drifted far from this vision, culminating in its current government’s outspoken goal of annexing the West Bank, while degrading the rights of Arab Israelis. The 10/7 terror attack and subsequent war against Hamas has coarsened the Israeli psyche. Public opinion polls show that Israelis are mostly unconcerned about the mass casualties in Gaza. An Israeli I met in Brooklyn, who shared my hopes for a two-state solution, told me that he had no sympathy for Gaza’s civilians. According to him, they were all aligned with Hamas. Several months ago I visited Israel, when four hostages were rescued in a military operation that killed 40 civilians. The nation was understandably ecstatic, but the civilian deaths went unremarked upon by most Israelis. “I know we are a traumatized people, but not to even notice that 40 people lost their lives.” an exasperated Israeli, who I knew from New York, said to me. “Where has our humanity gone?” She asked. The next day I had lunch with a friend in Jerusalem, who identified with Israel’s political left. “The foreign press highlighted the civilians who were killed,” my friend said, talking about the rescue mission. “F­-­-­k them.” Driven by the insecurity and shame of centuries of Jewish powerlessness, Israel’s military victories can easily translate into a reflexive triumphalism. I fear that Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s refusal to heed America’s call for restraint, and to prioritize a hostage deal, will be seen as proof that force and confrontation, rather than compromise and negotiation, are the keys to Israel’s future; that the extremist’s goal of annexing the West Bank and establishing settlements in Gaza will come to define the Jewish zeitgeist. The prospect of a Zionism that values conflict over coexistence is disorienting. My attachment to Israel and her people are an essential part of my makeup, which could leave me with an unresolvable internal contradiction — an aspect of my identity that clashes with the rest of my persona. Still, I know Israelis who are fighting against their country’s extremist tendencies, through protest and political organizing. During one of my trips to Israel I marched with many of these liberal Zionists in a demonstration against their right-wing government. They are the Israelis I feel closest to, which includes many of my relatives, who are deeply patriotic and deeply disturbed by their homeland’s illiberal turn. With Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran on the defensive, Israel will have the opportunity to redefine itself. The choices Israelis make will help determine the course of Judaism, and how Jews around the world see themselves. It is worth noting that the Maccabees were religious zealots, who employed cruelty to enforce their intolerant views. Religious scholars believe that the fictional miracle of one day’s worth of oil lasting eight days was added as a way of diluting the story’s martial aspect. Hopefully today’s military triumph’s will not unleash the type of cruelty that will cause future generations of Jews to downplay the IDF’s accomplishments. For this holiday season my wish is that Israel and Jewish communities around the world are bathed in the light of tolerance, rather than the darkness of zealotry. Krull is a lawyer and writer.