Echoes of Osirak: How Israel’s strike on Iran will shape American Jewish identity

 

For many who remember 1967 and 1981, the strike will reaffirm their belief in Israel as the ultimate safeguard of Jewish survival.

Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities and military leadership will reignite not only international debate but also an internal reckoning within American Jewry.

To understand how these events may shape the Jewish American view of Israel, we must look back: to the lightning-fast Six-Day War in 1967, the daring destruction of Iraq’s Osirak reactor in 1981 and similar strikes in Syria in 2007. Each of these actions, controversial on the world stage, deeply influenced how American Jews saw Israel—and themselves.

In June 1967, Israel’s preemptive strike against the Egyptian air force and its rapid victories over neighboring armies sent shockwaves through the Jewish world. The New York Times ran a three-line headline across all seven columns of the front page.

In the United States, a Diaspora community long accustomed to marginalization, assimilation and caution suddenly stood a little taller. Israel’s success gave many American Jews a sense of pride and power. Synagogues filled, donations poured in, and Jewish identity—so often tied to Holocaust memory—began to include strength and resilience. Israel was no longer just the underdog, but a symbol of Jewish survival on its own terms. Israel seemed to be saying: “Threaten us annihilation, we’ll take you seriously and do what we have to do.”

Fast-forward to 1981: the strike on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor.

To read the full column, please visit Echoes of Osirak