We may complain about the Israeli education system, and there’s certainly room for improvement, but let’s imagine what would happen if the Israeli-Jewish knowledge base that our education system transmits to students were available to all American Jews as well.

Establishing the state’s identity as a cultural identity in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence would prevent divisiveness and hostility, and enable all Jewish communities in Israel and abroad to join forces for the building of a nation-state for the Jewish people in Eretz Israel.

Israel’s path to the confident Jewish State it is today was not predictable. And in critical ways, without America’s friendship and support, it would not have happened at all. But America’s soul and America’s spirit owes much to the biblical roots of the Jewish people.

There’s something about the Land of Israel. An invisible tether which tugs every Jew toward our homeland, and as a student, professional, wife, mother, and grandmother, my home is always there for me when I need it.

If Israel leans sharply toward one “side” and greatly disfavors one of these two pillars – Jewishness or democracy – it will lose its distinct moral character. It must be agreed that these values-based pillars will continue to serve as a robust basis for any structure built upon them.

The State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, whose character determines the character of the state. This character is the basic common denominator of the “people who dwell in Zion.” If we so merit, then the minorities among us, minorities that are not Jewish, will become attached to that vision out of respect and appreciation. If not, we will have to improve.

The new Israeli-Jewish entity wants to be recognized as a Jewish state and not only as a state for Jews. Therefore, it should also formulate a national covenant of destiny as the next stage in its development. Not only that, but it needs a covenant of destiny embodying a unique Israeli-Jewish and democratic destiny that will also be acceptable to the state’s non-Jewish minorities.

Israel needs to encourage the establishment of integrated schools for religious and secular pupils, where the encounter between the communities will not superficialize or erode each individual community but rather fortify the communities and deepen their respective identities.

The place for deciding on ethical questions should be the Knesset alone, as it is the Knesset that is able to most faithfully reflect the will of the people, and to achieve practical compromises that make coexistence possible.