ATLANTA – Among the more than 800 North American college students who gathered in Atlanta this week for an Israel-focused conference organized by Hillel International, the mood was lighthearted and joyful, even as the students shared story after story of the antisemitism and demonization they have faced on their campuses since Oct. 7. 

That students are able to come together to share their pride in being Jewish and caring for Israel at a time when hostility toward Israel has become ingrained at many schools is a point of pride for Hillel International CEO Adam Lehman, who told Jewish Insider in an interview at the conference that the organization’s “core commitment” to Zionism has never been more important. 

“If there has ever been a moment in modern Jewish history when Zionist organizations need to be clear about our commitments, and make sure that we are there for Jewish students who share these beliefs — and in ways that meaningfully support the Jewish and democratic State of Israel — this is that time,” said Lehman. 

Hillel’s strong and straightforward embrace of Zionism — and its delineation of clear ground rules for how campus Hillels should handle anti-Zionism — stands in contrast to some Jewish institutions, such as Reform and Conservative rabbinical schools, where the topic of Israel is largely avoided because it is viewed as divisive even among some Jews. 

Hillel International does not have ownership or control over campus Hillels, but it provides crucial logistical and financial support. By reaping the benefits of the umbrella organization, campus Hillels largely opt in to the group’s approach to Israel. 

“There’s an enormous pressure on all Jewish organizations, including Hillel, to downgrade commitments to Israel and to step back from core values as it relates to Zionism. Jewish students, like Jewish organizations in the diaspora, are swimming in an ocean of extreme demonization of Israel,” said Lehman. “We have taken that demonization, that external pressure, and actually used it to strengthen our commitments.” 

This position has not been embraced by everyone. Over the past decade, Hillel has had to contend with some left-wing Jews leaving the Hillel umbrella to create their own Jewish institutions that are more hospitable to anti-Zionism. On many campuses, Hillel professionals have to find a way to manage students who may have competing views on Israel and try to create space for them to coexist. But Lehman said that while Hillel would never give a platform to people opposed to the Jewish state, the movement’s core goal is supporting all Jewish students.

“We truly are committed to creating space for every student, regardless of their political views as it relates to Israel, the United States or anyplace else,” Lehman said. “However, at the same time, we don’t want to compromise or sacrifice our core commitments and beliefs as a Zionist organization.” One priority for Hillel International, Lehman explained, is promoting dialogue within the Jewish community. The organization will be sending facilitators to several schools this spring to help jump-start those conversations. 

Lehman contrasted that commitment to dialogue and inclusivity with the ethos of Students for Justice in Palestine, an anti-Israel group that on many campuses describes its work as “anti-normalization” and prohibits interactions with Zionists. 

“We are committed to outreach from Hillel and Jewish student communities to other communities on campus, including Muslim student associations and Palestinian student groups,” Lehman explained. “Our objective is to promote dialogue and understanding as part of nurturing strong Jewish life overall. For other organizations, their objective is to poison the campus climate and specifically poison it for Jewish and pro-Israel students, as part of a very clearly stated global Intifada.” 

The degree of well-organized animosity to Israel that erupted even a day after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, revealed that the Jewish community was unprepared for such an onslaught of hate, Lehman said. This happened even after Hillel and a whole cottage industry of campus pro-Israel groups spent more than a decade exerting untold millions of dollars on actions like fighting Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolutions and organizing pro-Israel students. 

“I do think that as a Jewish community, and as Jewish organizations supporting campuses, we’ve woken up post-October 7 to the unfortunate reality that the level of organization, resourcing and synchronicity of groups dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish and democratic state of Israel has surpassed what we as a community have organized to respond and address,” Lehman said. There is a need, he continued, to “better align across many organizations that are addressing pieces of the puzzle but not in a comprehensive enough way.” 

Hillel has in recent years made a concerted effort to educate and work with college administrators, and Lehman pointed to this as one arena where the Jewish community has seen some success. But he pointed to two other areas where he thinks the Jewish community should focus its energy — university faculty and social media.

“Faculty are the permanent residents of campus and feel unaccountable, really, to anyone other than themselves, and have across entire disciplines of academia become uniform in their demonization of Israel,” Lehman said.

As to social media, Lehman noted that “students live and swim in an ocean of social media that has become the largest cesspool of antisemitism in the history of the world. We need to both better analyze how that has come to be, but also, as a community, take seriously how to address that cesspool.” It’s a code no one has yet been able to crack. 

During the conference, students shared stories that painted a picture of what Lehman described as “an ambient level of Israel demonization on campus that all of us just take for granted because it’s everywhere.” While anti-Israel sentiment existed and even thrived on some campuses prior to Oct. 7, its ubiquity and ferocity is new. Students were resigned to this new reality, even as they also sought to find ways to refute the hate they see.

“My message to Jewish students and pro-Israel students,” said Lehman, “is that’s not OK.”