Israel-Diaspora Relations

Managing the Growing Challenges to Jewish Cohesion

 

JPPI’s 2023 Jewish World Dialogue examined the growing polarization and uncivil discourse within Israel and Jewish communities worldwide – especially in regard to Israeli government policies affecting religious pluralism in Israel, the balance of power between the Israeli judiciary and the other branches of government, and the administered/occupied territories (Judea and Samaria, aka the West Bank) post-l967.

By: Dr. Shlomo Fischer, Dr. John Ruskay

Project Coordinator: Jonathan Siedel

Editor: Barry Geltman

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Managing the Growing Challenges to Jewish Cohesion

The Jewish World Dialogue is one of JPPI’s signature annual initiatives. It provides a context for convening Jewish leadership groups throughout the Jewish world to solicit their views on challenging issues. As with all projects of this kind, planning and implementation requires many months. In the case of this year’s Dialogue, planning, convening the discussion sessions, and the preparation of this report, took place, before the horrific hostilities that began on October 7/Simchat Torah. Hence, reading our report today appears (even to us) as if it is from a prior period as it focusses on an issue that was previously seen as critical – the growing polarization in the organized Jewish world particularly over Israeli government policies vis-à-vis religious pluralism and the administration of the territories/occupied areas.

At the time of this writing, in mid-October 2023, as the war was in its first weeks, the organized Jewish world has never been more unified than it has in response to the horrific Hamas attacks on southern Israel. It is true that on the margins Jewish anti-Israel and anti-Zionist positions are more visible than ever, but, a month and a half into the war, the overwhelming majority of American Jews, not only support Israel but also the policies of the present government in regard to the Israel-Hamas War. Thus, only 16% support an unconditional ceasefire1.

While it is our hope that this unity will continue long into the future, our intuition is that in the period that follows the war, the polarization will likely return. Thus, this report, which seems born an anachronism, from a different era in Jewish history, is and will be of value for decision makers in the future. That is certainly our intention.

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