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AJC\u2019s 2020 Survey of American Jewish Opinion asked, \u201cHow important is being connected with Israel to your Jewish identity?\u201d[1]<\/a> Fifty-nine percent of respondents said that it is important (29% said very important, and 30% said somewhat important; 24% referred to it as not too important, and 17% as not at all important). The current Pew data is inconsistent with its own data from 2013 as well as data collected by AJC over the last decade. These gaps suggest that the high numbers in Pew\u2019s current data are probably not due to better relations between the two communities but rather the result of a technical matter, such as how the the questions and possible answers were phrased or methodological issues.<\/p>\n Unlike the question regarding Israel and the Jewish identity, data regarding attachment to Israel were significantly lower compared to surveys conducted eight or more years ago. Fifty-eight percent of the respondents in the new Pew report said they are either very emotionally attached (25%) or somewhat emotionally attached (32%) to the State of Israel. \u00a0These results are much lower than in the 2013 Pew study, which found that 69% were very (30%) or somewhat (39%) emotionally attached to Israel. A similar question was asked in the 2000-2005 AJC surveys. The respondents back then felt more connected to Israel: 74.3% (in 2000) and 76% (in 2005) said that they felt close or attached to Israel.<\/p>\n In the new Pew report, as in many other Jewish Diaspora surveys, age, religiosity, and political affiliation affected the sense of closeness to Israel. Interestingly, although we know that the younger age cohort reported a weaker sense of closeness in almost every question regarding Israel, the older age cohort had the most significant decline (Figure 2).<\/p>\n Figure 2: Percentage attesting that they feel close to Israel, by age cohort<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n American Jews are more distanced from Israel than other Diaspora Jews. The 2018 Survey of Jews in Canada found that 79% of Candian Jews are very emotionally attached to Israel (48%) or somewhat attached (31%). And according to FRA surveys in Europe, 69% of European Jews feel strongly attached to Israel.<\/p>\n Pew\u2019s question regarding travel to Israel doesn\u2019t provide us with new insights: 45% of U.S. Jewish adults have been to Israel at least once (19% have visited once and 26% have visited multiple times or have lived in Israel). These results are similar to those of other surveys. It is important to highlight that although the percentage in the Pew study is slightly higher than any previous studies, U.S. Jews are still behind most other Diasporas Jews, as can be seen in Figure 3.<\/p>\n Figure 3: Traveled to Israel at least once<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Pew study includes the distinct category \u201cJews of no religion\u201d (those who said they presently have no religion but who consider themselves Jewish aside from religion and have at least one Jewish parent or were raised Jewish). We can see that this distinction provides us with more profound insights. When religious identity is weak, the connection to Israel is weak as well — in almost every aspect.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/jppi.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/graph2e.jpg\")
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