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The Myth of the Israel-Diaspora "Schism"

(Jerusalem Post) Rafael Medoff - Since Israel's earliest days, there has always been a minority of American Jews who are deeply troubled by some Israeli policies, or even uncomfortable with the very existence of a sovereign Jewish state. The voices of the critics are amplified precisely because their perspective runs contrary to that of most American Jews. For the media, Jews supporting Israel is a boring dog-bites-man story; Jews denouncing Israel, however, is man-bites-dog. But the notion that there is a substantial new split between American Jews and Israel is contradicted by years of public opinion polling. Every year, the American Jewish Committee, in its annual survey of U.S. Jewish public opinion, asks respondents how much they care about Israel. And every year, the results are the same. For the past 20 years - regardless of who Israel's prime minister was - 70-75% of American Jews have said they care "strongly" or "somewhat strongly" about Israel. The percentage who care "strongly" about Israel (as opposed to "somewhat strongly") has actually increased over the years. It was in the 20s in 1997-2002, the 30s from 2003 to 2015, and reached the 40s in each of the past three years. The writer, an American historian, is founding director of the David Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies in Washington.
2019-01-17 00:00:00
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