70 Years of Israel-Diaspora Relations: the Next Generation
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DIALOGUE ORLD W JPPI'S 2018 ANNUAL JEWISH 70 YEARS OF ISRAEL-DIASPORA RELATIONS: THE NEXT GENERATION Shmuel Rosner | John Ruskay JPPI Partners and Members Board of Directors and Professional of the General Meeting: Guiding Council: Co-Chairs Sandy Baklor and Arlene Kaufman Stuart Eizenstat David Breakstone Dennis Ross as Deputy Chairman of JAFI Members of the Board Lester Crown and Charles Goodman Elliott Abrams on behalf of Crown Family Philanthropies Sandy Baklor Yohanna Arbib William Davidson Foundation Irwin Cotler Nathan and Frances Kirsh Wendy Fisher on behalf of the Kirsh Family Foundation Sami Friedrich Misha Galperin Irina Nevzlin Eric Goldstein on behalf of Nadav Foundation Dan Halperin Robert Kapito and Jeffrey Schoenfeld Steve Hoffman on behalf of UJA Federation of New York Alan Hoffmann Vernon Kurtz Mike and Sofia Segal Bernard-Henri Lévy Michael Siegal Glen Lewy as Chairman of the JAFI Board of Governors Judit Bokser Liwerant The Ratner Family Sallai Meridor Isaac Molho Natan Sharansky Miriam Naor as Chairman of the JAFI Executive Steven Nasatir David Silvers Leonid Nevzlin as Chairman of the JAFI Budget Jehuda Reinharz and Finance Committee Doron Shorer Jerry Silverman Michael Steinhardt Special thanks to James Tisch UJA Federation of New York, Marc Utay The Jewish Federations of North America, The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, Aharon Yadlin The Jewish Federation of Cleveland, President and Founding Director Sandy Gottesman, Mitchell Julis, Art Samberg, Avinoam Bar-Yosef Paul Singer, Wilf Family Foundation for Projects Coordinator their kind support, and with fond memories of Alex Grass z"l Ita Alcalay and Jack Kay z"l Founding President (Emeritus) Yehezkel Dror The Jewish People Policy Institute’s Annual Israel-Diaspora Dialogue 70 YEARS OF ISRAEL-DIASPORA RELATIONS: THE NEXT GENERATION Project heads: Shmuel Rosner, John Ruskay Contributors: Noah Slepkov, Dov Maimon, Dan Feferman, Uzi Rebhun, Adar Schieber Editors: Barry Geltman and Rami Tal JPPI Copyright © 2018 by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without express written permission from the publisher. An original project of the Jewish People Policy Institute (Established by the Jewish Agency for Israel, Ltd.) (CC) JPPI, Givat Ram Campus, P.O.B 39156, Jerusalem 9139101, Israel Telephone: 972-2-5633356 | Fax: 972-2-5635040 | www.jppi.org.il Cover, Graphic Design and Production: Lotte Design Printed and distributed by JPPI ISBN: 978-965-7549-64-3 Table of Contents Foreword by Avinoam Bar-Yosef � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 6 Main Findings � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 9 Policy Recommendations � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 10 Additional Major Recommendations for Israel � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 12 Additional Major Recommendations for the Diaspora � � � � � � � � � � � � � 13 Additional Major Recommendations for Israel and the Diaspora � � � � � � 14 General Introduction: Dialogue 2017 � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 15 Background: 70 years of relations � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 24 The State of relations today � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 32 The Israel-Diaspora Dialogue � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 48 Israel’s Responsibilities with regard to the Diaspora � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 60 Appendix � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 103 Basic Data on the Dialogue 103 Diaspora Participants 106 Visits to Israel 109 Israel Participants 111 The Question of Peace: Comparison with previous years ��������������������������������������112 Questionnaire �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������115 Partial list of Participants 123 Previous JPPI Dialogues 129 About JPPI � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 130 THE JEWISH PEOPLE POLICY INSTITUTE 5 FOREWORD The Jewish People celebrates, in 2018, 70 years of sovereignty There are still many challenges confronting the Jewish state today But at the same time, Israel can note that 70 years of independence had brought her to unfathomable heights of success beyond any dreams held at its founding Diaspora Jewry is also highly successful The disproportionate number of Nobel laureates, its material assets and cultural and political influence have opened doors that were closed for centuries globally Paradoxically, with all this success has come a new set of challenges for the unity of the Jewish People Many are attracted to the largesse of the general society, which may erode the circuitry connecting their present reality to their deeper ancestral roots The raison d’etre of JPPI’s annual Dialogue, and of the Institute itself, is to bridge differences between Jewish communities wherever they are and enhance the core principle of mutual responsibility and respect An open and ongoing discourse is essential to the Jewish future and the significance of the Dialogue is to create such a conversation, with all its complexities For these reasons the decision to dedicate the 2018 Structured Jewish World Dialogue to 70 years of Israel – Diaspora relations The threats of the Middle East are not always fully digested in the Diaspora, and Israelis do not always make sufficient effort to grasp Diaspora life and its challenges This may encourage distancing processes now and in the future Israelis are perceived as walking a conservative path, while the majority of Western Jewry, especially in North America, are committed to liberalism Although the strategic and tactical closeness between the governments of Israel and the United States causes discomfort for many, Israel cannot afford to neglect the positive moves that are taking place, such as the new administration’s approach to the Iranian threat or moving its country’s embassy to Jerusalem The Dialogue shows that Jews the world over are not indifferent to Israel’s plight and the vast majority remain committed to the Jewish state Israel and the Jewish Diaspora are indeed strategic assets for one another That said, Israel and the Jewish world’s energies should be directed toward enlarging the tent, and better 6 THE JEWISH PEOPLE POLICY INSTITUTE engaging in the discourse those perceived to be distancing themselves due to political and social pressures At the same time, red lines beyond which mutual respect and responsibility come under assault should be honored JPPI’s fifth Dialogue, as in recent years, was headed by Shmuel Rosner (Jerusalem) and Dr John Ruskay (New York), both are senior fellows of the Institute Their work culminated in a new road map for future Israel – Diaspora relations It recommends that: Israel consult with Jewish leaders “on decisions having to do with culture or religion” and take Diaspora Jews into consideration when formulating Israeli policy with ramifications for world Jewry Diaspora communities aspire to interact with all parts of Israeli society, and exercise “appropriate caution with regard to major involvement in the political plane�” Israel avoid “political criticism of Diaspora Jewry” and define the activities Israel views as beyond the red line of Diaspora legitimate criticism� The Diaspora take measures toavoid the distancing discourse JPPI warns that “a discourse that concentrates on distancing may itself generate distancing” This year we made a special effort to engage the young generation in the Dialogue It was launched with participants of joint programs of Israeli and Diaspora youth to stimulate a conversation on what may generate distance as a result of ideological and geographic diffusion, and what could contribute to unity Dozens of discussion seminars then took place all over the Jewish world I would like to express my gratitude to the William Davidson Foundation for their support of the Dialogue endeavor which is encouraging a deeper mutual understanding among Jews globally I especially appreciate the effort made not only by the project heads, Rosner and Ruskay, but also for the significant assistance of JPPI staff members Dan Feferman, Dr Dov Maimon, Prof Uzi Rebhun, Adar Schieber, and Noah Slepkov Next year’s Dialogue will be dedicated to a discussion of the growing responsibility of the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox communities for the Jewish future in light of the demographic developments underway Avinoam Bar-Yosef THE JEWISH PEOPLE POLICY INSTITUTE 7 MAIN FINDINGS The findings reflect what emerged in the course of this year’s Dialogue process – a framework in which engaged Jews, often occupying positions of leadership in the Diaspora communities, are predominantly represented • Israel is perceived as the driving force of the Jewish people and, accordingly, is felt to bear an outsized share of responsibility for the Jewish people’s fate • Diaspora and Israeli Jews agree that all Jews have a “stake” in the State of Israel and, therefore, the right and duty to help sustain it • Diaspora Jews expect Israel to provide cultural and ideological inspiration