Jewish response to Hamas war criticism comes from deep sense of trauma, active grief and fear

A house in a kibbutz In Be'eri, Israel, was the scene of part of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. Amir Levy/Getty Images

In the wake of the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli military response, Jewish people in Israel and around the world have, at times, been posting on social media or otherwise saying publicly that people who criticize Israel’s response are, or might be, antisemitic.

The Conversation U.S. asked Dov Waxman, director of the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, to explain why many Jews might feel that way.