“I have in general become disillusioned with progressive Zionism since Oct. 7,” said Silberstein, a doctoral student in modern Jewish history at New York University

Silberstein vehemently objects to Israel’s conduct and no longer believes in the possibility of changing Zionism from within. Even if he did, he can no longer ethically participate in the election. That’s because voters are required to say they accept the Jerusalem Program, an evolving set of principles that serves as the official platform of the Zionist movement.

Silberstein refuses to accept the platform’s final clause, which identifies service in the Israeli military and support for the military as a fundamental Zionist value. It was added after the last election, amid debates in Israel about whether haredi Orthodox Jews should continue to be exempt from service, and during a global surge in criticism of the Israeli military.

“If I claimed to uphold the Jerusalem Program today, I would be lying — and that would be plainly unethical,” Silberstein said.

Silberstein is not alone in reconsidering his position on the congress. As the 21 slates running this year ramp up their campaigns and election administrators tout record turnout during the first week of voting, American Jews at different fringes of the community are debating whether to participate. Silberstein is part of the conversation taking place on the far left.

Haredi Orthodox Jews, meanwhile, are also divided over whether to turn out and vote for a slate promising to represent their interests.

For nearly all of Zionist history, there was no haredi slate. In Israel and in the United States, haredi rabbis have historically regarded Zionism as a secular movement that clashes with traditional notions of God’s role in restoring Jews to the Land of Israel. They’ve allowed participation in Israeli democracy for the protection of their religious rights and state services, but viewed support for the World Zionist Congress as a capitulation to secularism.

But a rebel faction emerged ahead of the 2020 election with the creation of a slate called Eretz Hakodesh, meaning “the holy land.” Championing “classical Jewish values of Torah,” the slate shocked the Zionist world by placing third out of 15 slates with about 20,000 votes. Many voters, it turned out, were willing to swallow the bitter pill of voting in their fight for haredi interests.

Eretz Hakodesh’s success came without any backing from Agudath Israel, the most prominent haredi umbrella organization in the United States. A few months after the election, when the slate signed a coalition deal with right-wing non-Orthodox parties, Agudath Israel issued a rebuke.

“Any suggestion that the ideology of Zionism is compatible with Chareidi Jewry’s fundamental beliefs has no basis and must be rejected,” the October 2020 statement reads.

I told you that ordinary Jews were going to outgrow Zionism sooner or later. Now I just need to figure out a way to hurry things up.