“Aliyah” is a term that refers to the journey of Jews from the diaspora to Israel. These young Jews arrive in a land torn apart by conflict and brutality, carrying with them a perspective that often puts them at odds with their new home. Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has seen decades of conflict. Arguably, the pinnacle of this was the Six Day War in 1967, which ended with Israel's occupation of the remaining Palestinian lands. This occupation continues to erupt in near daily violence, creating a brutal status quo that has killed thousands, and displaced countless more.

Though multiple attempts at peace have been made over the years, the process has seen little advancement in the last decade. Due to the nature of the conflict, which disproportionately affects the Palestinians by a wide margin, the narrative is often presented as the right-wing Israeli occupiers against the occupied Palestinian people. This is not the totality of the situation, however.

“Israel is very complicated and very unstable,” says Zack, who prefers to keep his last name anonymous. Zack is a 29-year-old Jewish man who moved to Israel from America more than two years ago. Zack may be an expatriate, but he has an insider’s view of the politics in Israel. “It's not so different from the American religious Right versus the Left.” As Zack describes it, Israelis generally fall into three groups: the religious Right, the moderates, and the secular Left. While the right-wing government vehemently opposes cooperation with the Palestinians, Arabs and Israelis working together is the central aspect of the Left. The politics of Israel, however, make this cooperation difficult. As Palestinians must receive special government permission to travel into Israel, organizations dedicated to peace, such as the Geneva Initiative, are often forced to hold their meetings in places like Cyprus so that their Palestinian colleagues can more easily attend.

The position of non-government organizations, or NGOs, is further complicated by recent attacks by the Israeli government on progressive organizations. A recent Knesset bill proposes to require all NGOs that receive funding from foreign governments to not only reveal these contributions, but to wear patches in the Knesset to make their “affiliation” with foreign governments known. Zack points out that this legislation is targeting progressive NGOs, who often receive funding from European governments, while ignoring the money the right-wing receives from individuals.

The prominent Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem supports this sentiment, saying in a November press release “[Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister of Justice Shaked] ought to start by waiving the millions from foreign business tycoons they receive for the benefit of primary elections. These foreign monies constituted the overwhelming bulk of contributions received by the heads of the Likud and Jewish Home parties.”

When asked about this and other assaults on the Left, Zack grows dismayed. “The Left is in disarray,” he says. “They had the perfect opportunity with the economy to win the election and they blew it.” From Zack's view, the Israeli Left has failed to present a figure that can rally its disparate members and motivate them in a way reminiscent of Barack Obama in 2008. “I'm not so hopeful at this point,” says Zack, addressing the prospect of the government moving toward peace. “I think the Left is so weak in Israel and the Right is getting stronger. I think the only thing we can hope for is a ‘Two-State Situation.’” In this, Zack invokes the term coined by Israeli historian and author Michael Oren. Zack believes Oren's proposal that an actual solution to the conflict may be out of reach given the current state of affairs. Instead, the better goal is to focus on creating economic and social equality for Palestinians, resulting in a more “enlightened” occupation. The hope is that this “situation” could pave the way for an independent Palestinian state.

Zack's experiences aren't limited to interactions with Israelis, however. Upon first arriving, he joined a program that offers education and internship opportunities for young Jews. As part of this, he traveled to a West Bank university and spoke with a group of Palestinian students. According to Zack, Palestinians are not united in the idea of an independent state. Some would base their decision on whether to live in Israel or Palestine on which nation had control of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam. Still others were unsure of a Palestinian state's ability to provide security, especially in the face of ISIS and the general instability in the region.

In discussing the attitudes of Palestinians and Israelis, Zack says, “I've learned there are competing narratives, both in history and in recent events.” Zack explains how both sides have stories that explain why they are the rightful inhabitants of Israel and Palestine. “I've heard it from both sides: ‘One side is a fairy tale and my history is the real history.’” These competing narratives were on display recently during a Knesset meeting, in which a lawmaker insisted that since Arabic lacked a letter for the “pa” sound, they couldn't possibly be Palestinians. This fits with the Zionist claim that the modern Palestinians are actually immigrants from Jordan and the Arabian Peninsula, and not descendants of the region's original inhabitants.

Zack, however, does not support this narrative. “It doesn't matter whether Israelis are European immigrants or if the Palestinian population is not in fact the ancient population. We're all here now, so what do we do now and what do we do in the future?” This isn't the only narrative that Zack rejects. Right-wing lawmakers in Israel regularly invoke the boogeyman of fertile Palestinians as a threat to the state's Jewish identity. To Zack, however, “The biggest [threat] to Israel is not the Palestinian population overwhelming the Jewish population. It's the ultra-Orthodox population overwhelming the moderate secular Jewish population.” This group of ultra-Orthodox individuals is highly religious and very insular. Many live in poverty and are suited only for manual labor, due to their rejection of secular education. They even rejected a recent proposal that mandates serving in the Israeli Defense Force, for they feared that their young men may learn new ideas and bring them back to the community. These families also receive a stipend from the government for each child, which allows them to live their lives in their West Bank settlements. The issue of this group and their subsidies is one about which many in Israel feel quite strongly, seeing them as a drain on the country's resources and their settlements as exacerbating the conflict.

Another issue of great importance to many Israelis is that of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, or BDS. This movement seeks to isolate Israel economically, culturally, and intellectually in a manner similar to that which was used against apartheid South Africa. When asked about BDS, Zack is ambivalent. He doesn't think that the movement is inherently anti-Semitic, as many in the Israeli government claim, but he does think it is wrong to single out Israel for not following European values when it's neighbors in the Middle East also engage in egregious human rights abuses.

While BDS may have been effective in helping to bring Israel to the negotiating table, Zack fears that it could backfire. “Israelis don't like to feel cornered. Pressure like that doesn't usually produce good results.” He admits, however, that he doesn't have an alternative solution, saying that he can't think of what could motivate Israel to negotiate “that wouldn't make them feel threatened.”

Some may question why someone would choose to live in a country whose actions run counter to one’s ideas. “I was an American when George Bush was invading Iraq, and I didn't agree with that policy. It's the exact same in Israel,” Zack explains. “I'm proud to be an American, a Jew, and an Israeli, even though I may disagree with the government and what it does.”

Though he does not plan to remain in the country, Zack hopes that he can help people see that Israel is not some sort of monolithic villain. “Israelis have all sorts of opinions and affiliations. Anything that reduces Israelis, that makes them tribal and sub-human, is a shame. Israel has a lot to offer the world.” Zack is realistic about the difficulty in achieving this, and is frequently pessimistic about the future of Israel, but his efforts, and the efforts of those like him, show that even in a land in which violence is all too common, the hope for progress still lives.