Public debate about Israel, Zionism, and antisemitism is loud, fast, and often sloppy. One side shouts. The other hides behind soft, hedged language. Readers walk away no smarter. OZJF exists to change that.
The gap we fill
Most readers want more than a slogan. They want to know how an argument got made. They want to see the receipts.
- Serious readers want sources, not vibes.
- Reporters and donors should not have to reverse-engineer a claim.
- Jewish safety is too important for lazy writing.
What changed after October 7
The October 7, 2023 attacks reset the debate. Hamas and allied groups killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 240 hostages, as documented in the Congressional Research Service’s primer on the Israel–Hamas conflict. In the U.S., antisemitic incidents hit record highs. The ADL Audit of Antisemitic Incidents reported the worst totals since tracking began, with a sharp spike on college campuses. The FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics continue to show Jews as the most targeted religious group in the country.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has opened a historic number of Title VI cases tied to campus antisemitism. Jewish students report hiding their identities, avoiding buildings, and dropping classes. That is a civic problem. Slogans don’t fix it. Real writing does.
Why we built an institution
Social feeds move fast. They do not carry trust well. Institutions earn trust over time. They publish standards. They run corrections. They show their work.
That is the model. Not just a set of views, but a public record that holds up to review. We use the IHRA working definition of antisemitism as a shared line — because drawing that line carefully matters, and because criticizing Israeli policy is normal while calling for the end of the Jewish state is not.
How to judge us
Here are fair tests for any site like ours. Do the claims link to real sources? Are the research rules easy to find? Is it clear when you are helping OZJF and when you are helping outside relief groups? Are the people and policies behind the site named?
If the answers are weak, the trust has not been earned. Hold us to that bar.