Ritchie Torres
US Representative (D-NY); pro-Israel progressive
A Black-Latino, gay, non-Jewish Democrat who repeatedly and defiantly self-identifies as a Zionist, grounding it in a humanitarian and historical case for Israel as a sanctuary for the Jewish people.
What happened
As anti-Israel protesters heckled his on-stage interview in New York, Torres responded directly by affirming his Zionism, saying harassment would not change his pro-Israel stance.
I just want to tell the next disrupter: I am a Zionist. I always have been and always will be. (Jerusalem Post Conference, 3 June 2024)
Under each definition
“I am a Zionist. Always have been and always will be.”
He explicitly supports a Jewish state as a sanctuary for the Jewish people.
He supports the Jewish-state project.
Secular/humanitarian framing; he is not Jewish and cites history, not religious return.
The case that they're a Zionist
As direct a self-identification as exists, plus explicit support for “a Jewish state” as a sanctuary for the Jewish people.
The case against / their own view
The religious lens fails — he is not Jewish and grounds his Zionism in history and morality, not religious return.
In their words
I just want to tell the next disruptor, I am a Zionist — I always have been and always will be.
The verdicts above are how each definition would most likely classify this person — illustrative guidance, not official rulings. The lenses diverge most on the difference between a self-label and a substantive commitment, and between “Zionism” meaning a Jewish homeland versus a Jewish state. See the Definition tab for each definition’s full text. Inclusion is documentation, not a finding.