Almost immediately after Oct. 7, local Jewish agencies began organizing. By the time Simchat Torah ended in Denver, JEWISHcolorado and the Jewish Agency had announced a briefing for that night, Oct. 8.
Elsewhere in the intermountain region, however, the infrastructure did not exist for an immediate response. But it didn’t take long for local community activists around the region to form groups and coalitions to advocate for Jews and the State of Israel.
• New Mexico formed a Jewish Community Relations Coalition that has met with lawmakers at the State Capitol.
• Wyoming4Israel has held solidarity rallies in front of the State Capitol in Cheyenne and hosted speakers from Israel.
Both groups have tried to raise awareness of the hostages still being held in Gaza.
• Idaho: Synagogue rabbis stepped up. But more: By late October, an Israel advocacy group was in formation, spearheaded by Boisean Dan Berger.
What he calls a pro-Hamas protest was set for late October. “I decided to counter it,” Berger, 42, told the Intermountain Jewish News in a recent phone interview.
On WhatsApp, which has become a linchpin for Jews and Israelis since Oct. 7, he put out the word:
“If anybody wants to join me, it’s tomorrow.”
He hosted a sign-making event. When 50 people showed up, Berger thought to himself, What if we did a rally instead of constantly responding to their positioning?
That rally ended up attracting 1,500 people — the largest pro-Israel rally in Idaho’s history — and the Idaho Israel Alliance was born.
The group’s mission is simple: To fight anti-Semitism and support Israel from Idaho.
Berger, who roadtripped to Idaho during COVID and never left, endowed the organization with a small sum. It is currently led by a four-person volunteer team, but is looking to hire a part-time executive director.
With no cross-communal infrastructure in Idaho — no JCC, federation or JCRC — there was a need for a group that could bring together Jews from different congregations, as well as the unaffiliated and people outside the Jewish community. The latter is important for Idaho Israel Alliance. One of its executive team is Christian.
“There are only 2,100 Jews in Idaho,” says Berger, so the interfaith component is necessary. Idaho has also been home to white supremacist organizations, though current protests, according to Berger, are being organized by the Socialist Workers Party.
He sees it as a Venn diagram, or the horseshoe theory, where the far right and far left are either overlapping or meeting.
Demography presents some challenges for the alliance, says Berger. Most of the state’s Jews are liberal, while Idaho is 70% Republican. IIA strives to keeps its positions and calls to action non-partisan and “really tries to have a big tent for all,” including an umbrella for the area’s 30 Israeli families.
Some of the anti-Semitism in Idaho comes from ignorance and the lack of direct interaction with Jews. Then there’s also the potential for internecine fractures, with some in the group feeling it’s not right wing enough.
What is clear is that there is a lot of work to be done, and since Oct. 7, IIA has not wavered from its commitment to advocate for Israel and Jews.
What IIA has done, Berger said, is “created a playbook for flyover states” that don’t have the infrastructure of a larger Jewish community. While Idaho belongs to the Washington State federation, Idaho comes last on its priority list.
But he believes that activism in what he calls Middle America is what lays the groundwork for affecting larger change.
Since Oct. 7, IIA has organized rallies, counterprotests, bought billboards, brought Oct. 7 survivors to speak and holds a hostage vigil every Sunday.
What it’s hoping to do in its next phase, with a part-time employee, is to work on a policy level.
Idaho recently passed a bill mandating Holocaust education. What IIA wants to do is to influence the curriculum.
“Holocaust education,” he said, “has failed the Jewish people. Holocaust education should explain Zionism. And it’s done the opposite.”
He cites two recent acts of anti-Semitism by anti-Israel activists.
• Nathanial Hoffman, an anti-right wing activist who founded Boise for Palestine, interrupted a panel on anti-Semitism at a local church.
• an anti-Israel encampment was set up at Boise’s Anne Frank memorial.
Maybe it’s the Israeli in Berger — he emigrated to the US at the age of nine — but he doesn’t shy away from hard work. He doesn’t want to “preach to the choir.”
It’s not just events directly related to the Israel-Hamas war that activate Berger.
What really moves him to act, he shares, is his concern over how fringes on the far left and right are gaining traction and influence.
“Of course, I worry about Israel, I worry about Jews, but I worry about liberal values being eroded. That’s what moves me.” We’re in “the fifth inning of that.”