I've met thousands, maybe tens of thousands of Zionists in my life, most are Reform Jews, several are agnostics, only a very few identified as atheists. Saying "I hear" is a not-so-transparent way of saying "I just believe this, but i have no proof at all."

We were not talking about Zionists, who can be of any or no religion. We were discussing a person who said their views on Israel and Zionism were largely shaped by their experiences as a Jew, and that's a whole different universe. They explained a fairly deep involvement and knowledge of Judaism and Jewish culture, and as a fellow Jew I respect them as a Jew who holds a wildly different view of Zionism and Israel than I do, but still connected to the Jewish community. It's possible to respect the person even if you don't respect the viewpoint.