I am not a Jew but I agree with this opinion piece by an engaged member of a Conservative Congregation of New York that the return to power of Benjamin Netanyahu, at the head of a far-right coalition, in 2022 was a devastating blow, compounded by his government’s failure to prevent the Oct. 7 attack and its conduct of the wars that followed.

A Profound Question Haunting Jews Today

By Nicholas Lemann

Mr. Lemann is the former dean of the Columbia Journalism School and the author of “Returning: A Search for Home Across Three Centuries.”

July 6, 2026