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American and Israeli Jews: Twin Portraits
(Pew Research Center) Four out of every five Jews in the world live in Israel or the U.S. The Pew Research Center has surveyed Jewish adults in both places, and has found deep bonds between them. Nevertheless, their experiences and perspectives are very different. Fewer than half of Israeli Jews (43%) polled in 2014 and 2015 said they believe "a way can be found for Israel and an independent Palestinian state to coexist peacefully with each other," compared with a clear majority of American Jews (61%). About four in ten American Jews have traveled to Israel at least once (many have done so more than once), and a similar share of Israeli Jews have visited the U.S. A solid majority of Jewish Americans say they are either "very" or "somewhat" attached to Israel and that caring about Israel is either "essential" or "important" to what being Jewish means to them. Most Israeli Jews say that a thriving diaspora is vital to the long-term survival of the Jewish people and that Jews in the two countries share a "common destiny."