Shanie Reichman’s goal of keeping the liberal Zionist tent as wide as possible has met a fraught moment. 

In the months since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel—  and the subsequent  war in Gaza and global rise of antisemitism — Reichman has walked a tightrope trying to balance the wide range of views within the American Jewish community. 

Last month, the 28-year-old was named Israel Policy Forum’s director of strategic initiatives, a role she took while still continuing her position as director of IPF’s young professionals’ network, Atid (Hebrew for “future.”) The months since Oct. 7 have been busy for Reichman; she has appeared on panels alongside prominent Israel-U.S. policy experts such as Martin Indyk, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, and Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, D.C. She also regularly appears on IPF adviser Neri Zilber’s podcast — most recently leading a conversation with IPF’s Israel fellow Nimrod Novik, the former senior adviser on foreign policy to the late Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. 

As she takes on her new post at IPF, Reichman sat down with eJewishPhilanthropy to talk about her role, the growth of Atid and its future.  

“It’s been easier to get people involved since [Oct. 7], especially because of the loneliness they felt after,” she said about millennial and Generation Z engagement. “We were already [seeing more engagement] but Oct. 7 definitely expedited it. A lot of Jews hadn’t felt the need to engage with Israel before, and they were all very activated not just by Oct. 7 but also as a result of friends not showing up and asking how they were doing.” 

“Many people have lost friendships over this,” Reichman continued, adding that she encourages even those with differing views to still engage, but recognizes “that’s not an easy task and it can be very hard to do day in and day out. Some people, because of where they sit politically, are inundated constantly by people they went to college with and thought were their friends.” 

Reichman, who is based in New York, said a primary focus of both of her roles is ensuring that “a broad tent” is included in discussions. 

“[Uniting] the broad swaths of our communities who do value liberal democracy, equality and pluralism” has been Reichman’s goal even well before Oct. 7 and the regional tensions that have come as a result. Last year, along with Mor Yahalom, the former chief of staff to the deputy foreign minister of Israel, Idan Roll, she launched the “shared values project.”

“We include those who would never question the IDF’s actions to those who are deeply concerned about treatment of Palestinians. We have a spectrum and our job isn’t to impose judgment, it’s to bring paths forward,” Reichman said. “There is so much more common ground than we realize, both within and outside of the Jewish community.” (Reichman emphasized that IPF is a Zionist group and does not bring in speakers from the far left). 

Reichman started her career at IPF in 2017 as a program associate amid what may now seem like a less divisive time for young, pro-Israel Jews. But even then, as a recent graduate of Queens College, she recalled being unable to “find any space to engage with Israel.” That’s what drew Reichman to IPF and soon after to help launch Atid. Under Reichman’s leadership, Atid has grown to encompass chapters in seven cities in the U.S. and Canada and a network of more than 4,000 young professionals ages 21-40, in some 25 cities. 

The young professionals’ group delves into “a range of issues” that are addressed by IPF, Reichman said, such as strategy for post-war Gaza and reforms for UNRWA. But among the highlights, she added, is the programming uniquely designed for the next generation of policy leaders. This includes discussion groups, book clubs and partnerships with a wide variety of policy and Jewish communal organizations featuring external voices: journalists, policy advisers and think-tankers. Other events are more focused on building community — with little political discussion —  such as a sushi Shabbat dinner hosted on a member’s Manhattan rooftop last month.  

Earlier this month, Atid sent a summer delegation to Israel for one week of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials and analysts, although Reichman — who is expecting her first child — stayed home.  

All of the programs have one overarching theme, she told eJP: “The focus is on what can actually be done to make the situation better, as opposed to who is more right, who is the bigger victim. We delve into those questions too, but that’s not the core of our work. The core of our work is what do we want the future to look like and how do we get there.”