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Debates over Israeli policy often devolve into heated arguments over each side's motive, with charges of "dual loyalty" and "anti-Semitism." East Brunswick native Deborah Passner is looking to analyze the most common defense to anti-Semitism accusations: simply being anti-Zionist, not anti-Semitic.

"I'm very interested in proving there's more of a connection between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism," Passner told The Jewish State. "Even in Europe, where people feel that there's a lot of anti-Semitism, no one will come out and say they're anti-Semitic, but there's a certain amount of pride to say that you're anti-Zionist. If you could show that there's more of a relationship between the two than they would like to admit, then it would counter their argument that it's coming from a noble place for them, but rather just a cover for anti-Semitism."

Passner has experience with such attitudes; she is the former head of the student division of CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. To get a better perspective on some of the issues her project will deal with, Passner attended the ninth annual Herzliya Conference, held in Herzliya, Israel and dedicated to security and other challenges facing the Jewish state and its allies.

"It's a great opportunity to hear different perspectives on so many different issues," Passner said. "They don't just focus on security -- they talked about education, they talked about economics… and they bring experts from around the world to better educate policymakers and academics."

At CAMERA, Passner dealt mostly with media bias. She said Herzliya offered her the opportunity to hear how security and Diaspora issues relate to the public perception of Israel around the world.

"I think that when you're trying to fight bias or educate people, you can't just focus on one issue, that it's multi-faceted, and I wanted to hear the different aspects of it," she said.

One official in the United Kingdom talked about what he called the Palestinians' "Jesus complex" -- that European communities believe the Palestinians need to be "saved," driving their uneven coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Passner also spoke with John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a strong advocate for Israel during his time in the State Department. She met with R. James Woolsey, the former U.S. director of the CIA, as well as Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress.

"You just don't have those kinds of opportunities, and you don't know how often you're going to get the opportunity to meet these people," Passner said.

Passner believes that a person can be opposed to Zionism without being anti-Semitic -- for example, she said, a person that opposes all nationalist movements or an advocate for European Union-style post-sovereignty.

"And I don't know if I'm looking to dispute that some people can be against Zionism and not necessarily be against the Jews, but to look generally, what is motivating that view," she said. "Why do they care so much to malign the Jewish national movement? Is it really coming from something that's [respectful] or is it really just a cover for anti-Semitism that they themselves don't necessarily acknowledge?"

Many Jews are anti-Zionist as well -- what is often called post-Zionism. Passner said that tends to come from issues with personal identity, and that the person is often uncomfortable with some aspect of their Jewish heritage.

But, she added, there's a strong trend that those who are least ready to identify with religious Judaism are often the most hostile to Israel.

"If you feel proud of your religion and proud of your nationality, your identity, then you're going to feel proud of the Jewish national expression of that identity," Passner said. "If you're not as proud of the religion, you're not going to be as proud of its expression. And the more religious you are, the more likely you are to feel pride in that -- you have a deeper understanding of it, it doesn't seem foreign."

As a former day school student, Passner believes there is a strong correlation between Jewish education and pride in Israel. She would like to continue to work with college students to examine the efficacy of current programs aimed at students.

She said there is a lot of money invested in college students, but it isn't clear what kind of effect the money is having.

"There is a lot of anti-Israel bias on campus," Passner said. "Is it necessarily impacting their views on Israel one way or the other? We don't know, because we don't spend the money that way."

The Herzliya program was valuable, Passner said, as an example of the type of conference at which she could present her findings, once her project gets under way. She said she wants to report her results in a way that would have academic value, but wouldn't be over the heads of her subjects.

"I want to have information and results that will be respected among the intellectuals and can be presented at a place like Herzliya, but I want it to be simplified enough that it could be understood and could influence the opinions of the average person," Passner said. "Because the average person often influences public policy and perspective, and even among Jews themselves they really care about what the rest of society thinks. If they feel that the rest of the society is very anti-Israel or very negative toward their Judaism, it wears on their self-esteem."