The Jewish High Holidays will soon be upon us. The third anniversary of Oct. 7 will then quickly follow. Three weeks later, Israeli voters will head to the polls to elect all 120 members of its parliament, the Knesset and thereby their next prime minister.

It has been a couple of years since I’ve addressed the topic as my thoughts have been too conflicted. But that excuse no longer suffices and avoidance has grown untenable.

If you, my reader, are looking for a definitive declaration as to Israel’s path, then I am afraid you should turn elsewhere. Few matters lend themselves to clear-cut, black-and-white solutions. The ceaseless conflict between Israelis and Palestinians certainly does not.

However, just because an issue defies easy pronouncements and clear answers does not mean that we cannot discern between better and worse.

To be clear, even as Oct. 7 did not happen in a vacuum, there can be no justification for its barbarity and horror. Israel had every right to retaliate and defend itself.

But no right is open-ended or provides tacit permission for “anything goes.” There are still obligations of proportionality, humanity, sustainability and justice.

For this American Jew and child long ago of two Holocaust refugees, it is increasingly hard to look at much of Israel’s conduct and say that it meets these tests.

Asking questions is a central feature of our religion. With respect to Israel, I have many such questions, so I will take comfort in being true to my faith.

Jews barely constitute a rounding error in the scope of the total world population. Roughly 7.5 million Jews now call Israel home with more than 8 million Jews living elsewhere, including about 5.7 million here in the United States.

More and more, the qualities which have served Jews so well across the diaspora are in fundamental conflict with the core traits of Israeli Jews. In the diaspora, pluralism and accommodation are valued as Jews are a distinct minority. In Israel, it is the opposite and minority rights are not exactly front and center.

Many of Israel’s trend lines are disconcerting. Younger Israelis, fresh out of required IDF service, show signs of harboring decreasing respect for the Palestinian minority. Orthodox Jews on the ultraright are growing in number and influence.

For decades, the aspiration and vision of many has been the exalted two-state solution. Yet, that prospect seems farther away than ever. As lines have hardened, to go along with too many hearts, the constituency for such a resolution has withered.

Which begs the question: Absent a two-state solution, what lasting solution is there?

If the definition of being a Zionist is support for a Jewish state after centuries of programs culminating in the Holocaust, count me in. However, Jewish rights cannot be to the exclusion of the legitimate claims of others. As Jews, Lord knows we have plenty of historic grievances. But we do not hold an exclusive franchise on being wronged.

Deep in my bones, I worry that the Israeli government and too many of its citizens, aided and abetted by some in our country, are engaged in an endless campaign of repression.

How else do you explain the occupation of Palestinian land and the growing multitude of settlements, far too many to ever be effectively rolled back? To say little of the utter obliteration of Gaza, far beyond neutralizing Hamas’ capacity for military aggression.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a career of catering to the inherent insecurities of his countrymen. His political interest lies in keeping Israel in some perpetual state of war. With Bibi, peace is never on the table because it would come at the expense of his seat at the head of the table.

Every nation needs friends and allies. That is doubly true for Israel, surrounded as it is by hostile players. But Israel is ever more isolating itself, dangerously so no matter how much it prides itself on self-reliance.

Looking at America’s own politics, both the young, activist, socialist-adjacent left and their equally young and activist counterparts on the Groyper right have little interest in or use for Israel. Whichever party is in control, this could mark a worrisome sea change in this time-tested alliance.

Israel came into existence due to centuries of antisemitism just as my parents landed in America as a function of that timeless hatred. The last few years showed that this prejudice had been far more dormant than eradicated. The disease is real and all too prevalent. Even as too many throw around the charge too loosely in trying to silence or discredit legitimate concern over Israel’s chosen course.

A book out earlier this year, “Israel: What Went Wrong” by Omer Bartov, asks whether Israelis have taken the wrong lesson from the “never again” conviction that came out of the Holocaust and led to the country’s founding.

Instead of interpreting this central pillar to mean that Jews would never again be weak or dependent or subject to slaughter, what if the Israeli ethos had been that never again would we countenance oppression, subjugation and violence?

If this column reeks of dissonance, then you read it correctly. Welcome to my world.

Eric Sondermann is a Colorado-based independent political commentator. He writes regularly for ColoradoPolitics and the Gazette newspapers. Reach him at EWS@EricSondermann.com; follow him at @EricSondermann.