For the first time ever, and in honor of the rebirth of the Jewish state 70 years ago, AJC Global Forum 2018 convened in Israel, June 10-13. Over 2,400 participants, including hundreds of young Jews from across the United States and many other countries, made this the largest-ever American Jewish advocacy event in Israel.
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American Jewish-Israeli relations usefully may be compared to a pyramid – close at the very top, drifting further and further apart at the foundations.
The message of the AJC survey is clear. If the concept of a global Jewish community – am ehad – is to retain any meaning, each of its two major components must develop a greater appreciation for the priorities and needs of the other. If not, the next AJC survey will find even more American and Israeli Jews writing off those in the other country as “not part of my family.”
More than 2,100 people, mostly American Jews, are converging in Jerusalem this week, participating in the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Global Forum. It’s the first time that my organization is holding its signature annual event in Israel, and, we are told, it is the largest-ever gathering in Israel’s capital by an American Jewish advocacy group.
The issues that pose the greatest challenge to strong American Jewish-Israeli ties are not the oft-cited left/right matters such as settlements or access to the Kotel.
For the first time, American Jews and Israelis have a chance to develop a relationship between Jewish grown-ups. We need to recognize each other’s achievements, and understand, if not indulge, each other’s failures (which are often a consequence of geographic circumstance).
There has yet to be serious conversation, let alone effective action, on the issue of religious pluralism in Israel, one of the core issues that may determine the future of relations between Jews in Israel and in the United States.
Given AJC’s longstanding efforts to strengthen American Jewish-Israeli ties, and in particular in anticipation of AJC’s first-ever Global Forum in Israel, AJC invited a cross-section of Jewish intellectuals and opinion leaders, both in Israel and in the U.S., to reflect on the status of Israel-Diaspora relations, which have been compiled in this new publication.