That is pretty much like saying God doesn't have to be a central component of Judaism. Sure there are Jewish atheists, but don't call it Judaism.
Yet there are some people who hate Israel so much that they feel they must twist the religion itself to fit their biases.
I've demolished the "diasporism" idea a number of times, but one part of this article is worth examining.
The star of the article is Shaul Magid, a professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth and a rabbi. His scholarly credentials are impressive.
But he says something that is mindblowing:
Mr. Magid, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, favors one state for Israeli Jews and Palestinians, but he said in an interview that he also would welcome a negotiated two-state solution. More than its shape, Israel’s centrality to Judaism elsewhere is what he hopes can be adjusted.“Israel has become the substitute for Jewish identity,” he said. “And we have at least a 2,000-year history — maybe longer, certainly 2,000-year. A robust history. We have to grab ahold of that and basically take it back from those who took it away from us.”
"Maybe" longer?
2,000 years happens to be the date of the destruction of the Second Temple. Magid is essentially saying that Judaism did not start until after the Jews lost to the Romans. The Jewish kingdoms and the Temples seem, according to him, to have little or nothing to do with Jewish history.
Conveniently, he is redefining Jewish history to start with the Diaspora that he fetishizes.
All of Judaism is centered around remembering and hoping to bring back the Judaism of the Temple periods, the Judaism where Jews controlled our land. The Land of Israel is central to the Hebrew Scriptures. If you re-define Judaism to have begun afterwards, you are no longer talking about Judaism.
This shows how anti-Israel attitudes warps one's brain. The religion, the prayer book, Psalms, world history and basic facts are diametrically opposed to Magid's viewpoint - so he has to change reality to conform with his perverted view of Judaism.
