• Home
  • About
    • About
    • Policies
  • Submissions
    • Op-eds
    • News / Announcements
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

eJewish Philanthropy

Your Jewish Philanthropy Resource

  • News Bits
  • Jewish Education
  • Readers Forum
  • Research
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / Inside Israel / New Study Examines American Jewry’s Relationship with Israel

New Study Examines American Jewry’s Relationship with Israel

January 27, 2017 By eJP

Israel – a Unifying or a Divisive Issue among American Jews?, a newly released academic paper from the Ruderman Family Foundation, outlines a number of reasons behind an increasingly complicated relationship between American Jews and Israel.

Published by the Ruderman Program for American Jewish Studies at the University of Haifa, the paper, written by Alon Pinkas, former Consul General of Israel in New York and foreign policy advisor to four previous Israeli Foreign Ministers, indicates that Israel is no longer in the top five issues that influence American Jewish voting patterns in U.S. elections.

Pinkas, in the study, claims that Israel plays neither a distinctively unifying nor patently divisive role in American-Jewish life, and while the bond between American Jews and Israel remains strong, the ties are fraying and recurrent friction on important issues has weakened the link over the last 10 to 20 years.

The study also cites a shifting mindset of Israel among the new generation of American Jewry. Memories of Israel’s heroic and miraculous victory in the Six-Day War and tragic remembrances of the Holocaust are simply further removed from today’s young Jews, who therefore see Israel in a different light than their parents and grandparents. Now, Pinkas claims, “US Jews concerns are specifically American and that their lively involvement and participation in American politics is not usually motivated by Israel-driven causes.”

“The American Jewish community and Israeli society exist in very different realities and these differences have been shaping the worldviews of these two communities,” said Jay Ruderman, President of the Ruderman Family Foundation. “Despite the differences between American Jews and Israelis, the two communities are intimately connected as the two largest Jewish communities in the world, which mutually benefit each other. As we move into a new political era it is more important than ever for Israelis and American Jews to try to better understand each other and treat each other with mutual respect.”

In the study, Pinkas finds that most American Jews were relative latecomers to Zionism and only reluctantly embraced the movement. Well into the 1930’s most American Jews were outright hostile to the idea of Zionism, which they saw as a form of socialism alien to their attempt to assimilate in America and saw no compelling reason to support the ideology before 1948.

The full paper, Israel – a Unifying or a Divisive Issue among American Jews?, is available here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Inside Israel, Research, The American Jewish Scene Tagged With: Ruderman Family Foundation

Click here to Email This Post Email This Post to friends or colleagues!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jennifer Scher says

    January 27, 2017 at 11:05 pm

    Israel is still in my top 5 issues when I vote! This should be driver for Jewish day school support, making it affordable and accessible. Birthright Israel trips are not enough. The American jewish community should recognize the critical roll day schools play in raising the next generation of Jews who are secure in their personal identities, feel a deep connection to Jews around the world, and are raised as advocates for Israel and the Jewish people.

Primary Sidebar

Join The Conversation

What's the best way to follow important issues affecting the Jewish philanthropic world? Our Daily Update keeps you on top of the latest news, trends and opinions shaping the landscape, providing an invaluable source for inspiration and learning.
Sign Up Now
For Email Marketing you can trust.

Continue The Conversation

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Recent Comments

  • Bruce Powell on An Invitation To Transparency: Reflections on an Open Salary Spreadsheet
  • Sara Rigler on Announcement: Catherine Reed named CEO of American Friends of Magen David Adom
  • Donna Burkat on The Blessings in 2020’s Losses
  • swindmueller on Where Do We Go From Here?
    Reflections On 2021
    A Jewish Response to These Uncertain Times
  • Alan Henkin on Where Do We Go From Here?
    Reflections On 2021
    A Jewish Response to These Uncertain Times

Most Read Recent Posts

  • Jewish Agency Accuses Evangelical Contractors of “Numerous Violations” but Denies They Evangelized New Immigrants
  • Breaking: Birthright Israel & Onward Israel Seek to Join Forces to Strengthen Jewish Diaspora Ties with Israel
  • An Invitation To Transparency: Reflections on an Open Salary Spreadsheet
  • Why One Zoom Class Has Generated a Following
  • The Blessings in 2020’s Losses

Categories

The Way Back Machine

Footer

What We Do

eJewish Philanthropy highlights news, resources and thought pieces on issues facing our Jewish philanthropic world in order to create dialogue and advance the conversation. Learn more.

Top 40 Philanthropy Blogs, Websites & Influencers in 2020

Copyright © 2021 · eJewish Philanthropy · All Rights Reserved