FAULT Lines

With tensions still running high over the war in Gaza, many of the Upper East Side's Jewish denizens are circling the wagons.

- Hannah Seligson

NOT TOO LONG ago, a non-Jewish lifelong New Yorker who grew up on the Upper East Side was asked by a friend to host a screening of the documentary film Israelism. She immediately said no. It wasn't that she necessarily disagreed with the message of the film-which bills itself as the story of "young American Jews battling the old guard to redefine Judaism's relationship with Israel, revealing a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity."

Rather, this would-be screening host feared "being socially exiled by many of her Jewish friends" and "possible career consequences. I want to be brave," she told me. "I'm disappointed in myself." As the summer season kicked into gear and much of the Upper East Side migrated to Long Island's East End, no one wanted to get canceled.

Not right when guest lists are drawn up for some of the most exclusive parties in the Hamptons, often held at the sprawling estates of some of the wealthiest people (including some of the wealthiest Jewish people) on the planet.

In the wake of October 7, much of Manhattan's moneyed Jewish elite has doubled down on what is considered acceptable behavior and speech related to Jews, antisemitism, Israel, and the war in Gaza. There is enormous pressure not to step out of line for reasons that are historically understandable but less defensible considering the right-wing takeover of Israel and the questionable motives of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue the war in order to avoid possible jail time. (Netanyahu has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust.) As the war stretches on, with the international community calling for a ceasefire and protests having roiled campuses across the country, this set has become an island upon an island.