
Israelism
Two young American Jews raised on Hebrew school, youth group trips, and unconditional support for Israel find that support cracking under direct experience. Simone Zimmerman goes from AIPAC-adjacent activism to co-founding a Jewish anti-occupation group after a visit to the West Bank; a former IDF volunteer named Eitan describes the culture shock of encountering Palestinian life up close for the first time. The film traces how American Jewish institutions, day schools, summer camps, Birthright trips, build a near-uniform pro-Israel identity, then follows the growing number of younger Jews who break from it after seeing the occupation firsthand. Rabbis, educators, and organizers on multiple sides of the argument explain what is taught, what is left out, and what happens to someone who starts asking questions publicly. Archival footage of youth group rallies sits next to footage shot in Hebron and Gaza checkpoints. The film's real subject is generational rupture: how a community built consensus around Israel for decades, and what is pulling that consensus apart now.