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.
