Project leader: Yaakov Katz
The Jewish People Policy Institute’s Annual Assessment is an essential analysis that examines whether the developments of the past year have positively or negatively affected Israel and the Jewish world.
This summary, traditionally submitted to the Government of Israel, serves as a crucial resource for the country’s decision-makers. It provides a concise, policy-oriented overview of trends and recommendations across five key dimensions of Jewish well-being: geopolitics, cohesion, resources, identity and identification, and demography.
In the wake of the events on October 7, the situation seems dire. Israel has been embroiled in conflict for nearly a year since the Hamas massacre on Simchat Torah last year and is currently facing battles on multiple fronts – a scenario that not long ago seemed improbable.
The attacks on October 7 have profoundly impacted all aspects of life in Israel and the Jewish world. They have triggered a surge in antisemitism, significantly weakened Israel’s economic outlook, and exacerbated political tensions over national issues such as the drafting of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the IDF.
While last year’s primary concern was Iran’s ongoing pursuit of nuclear weapons, this year, the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah continue to divert substantial resources and attention from the IDF, affecting its operations for the foreseeable future.
Diplomatically, the war in Gaza has further isolated Israel, with European governments openly discussing boycotts and similar ideas gaining traction in the United States – an approach once considered unthinkable. Three member states of the European Union unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state.
More questions are being raised than ever before about the strength of the strategic triangular relationship between Jerusalem, Washington, and American Jewry, and about U.S. policy in areas crucial to Israel’s resilience. Negative perceptions of Israel are increasing, and without a change to policy in Jerusalem, altering this trend may prove difficult. Numerous campuses in the U.S. have become virtual battlegrounds, with pro-Palestinian students and some faculty members demonstrating not simply for a two-state solution, but for the effective elimination of Israel as a Jewish state, with provocative signs and chants, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.”
In addition, antisemitism, Holocaust denial and distortion have grown to troubling levels on social media. In May 2023, the Biden administration put out the nation’s first national strategy to combat antisemitism, calling for specific actions across all government agencies.
The challenges are significant, and the ongoing governmental instability casts a shadow, complicating efforts to address these challenges and develop long-term solutions.
Despite these very troubling trends, there are some hopeful realities in the region and internationally, especially if Israel’s government is capable of taking advantage of them.
The key countries who joined the Abraham Accords have preserved their relations with Israel, and the concept of a regional coalition to counter Iran and its proxies is not an abstraction. On the night of April 14, when Iran in an unprecedented act launched over 300 drones and cruise and ballistic missiles against Israel, the U.S.-led Central Command with countries from the region participating intercepted a third of what was fired at Israel. For the first time in Israel’s history, it did not have to defend itself by itself.
That is not the only hopeful development of which the Annual Assessment takes account. For example, the changes in charitable giving in the Diaspora, the rising enrollment of children in Jewish day schools, and the possibility of greater integration of the ultra-Orthodox into Israeli society provide some optimism that better times may lie ahead for the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
What can also provide hope is the way the Israeli people put aside their political differences on October 7 and stood together as a nation. The impressive mobilization of the reserves, the way civil society filled the void to help the displaced from the South and the North and the unprecedented contributions by Diaspora Jewry, all show the unique spirit that lives on within the Israeli and Jewish people.
Stuart E. Eizenstat, Dennis Ross, and Yedidia Stern