It’s hardly surprising.

Israel’s attraction for Jews was that it was supposed to be a safe haven from anti-semitism, especially after the holocaust. Successive Israeli governments have spent decades convincinge Jews this was the case, exagerating how safe Israel is, and exagerating the threat of attacks for those who live outside Israel.

As long as the country was largely safe, these people were willing to look the other way on what was happening in Gaza and the West Bank. Sure some of them protested, but I think any real belief in a negotiated settlement largerly died after Rabin was murdered. So they ignored what was happening to the Palestinians, with a bit of help from Israeli media which quieted their consciences and told them they were the good guys.

But October 7th, the inevitable slide into open fascism, and the endless wars have proven Israel to be a dangerous place. Plenty of Israelis have come to the very late realisation that they’re not safe from the fascists who dominate Israel either. That what their state is doing to the Palestinians is pointless and will never make them safe. That you can’t have a true democracy if it’s built on opression.

For example, Israel engaged in pinkwashing for years, but was still a relatively(!!!) safe country for gay people. But Tel Aviv pride has been cancelled for two years running, Smotrich is a government minister despite being virulently homophobic, and homophobic attacks have risen spectacularly.