THEINSTITOTE ON TI |SMELI REUNIONS A Three-Year Report 1982-1985 THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE Any weakening of American Jewry, any lowering of its sense of security, any disruption of its communal life, any diminution of its status, is a definite loss to Jews everywhere and to Israel in particular. — David Ben Gurion With all my heart and conviction I feel that my fate and that of my children... are inextricably tied, whether we like it or not, to Israel. — Morris B. Abram Honorary President, The American Jewish Committee Why an Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations? Israel and American Jewry — the two largest most vibrant Jewish communities in the world — are inextricably linked by ties of religion and history, a deep sense of kinship and common destiny. But notwithstanding the myriad of constructive relationships that have been forged over the years, there have been recurrent tensions as the two communities have traveled along divergent paths. Often misperceptions and misunderstandings about one another have served to alienate, rather than to unite them. It is vital for the future of Israel as it is for the future of American Jewry that such differences and tensions as exist between them be continuously examined and confronted. It is essential that the two communities learn to listen to one another, to appreciate each other's unique history, value systems and accompanying mindsets. Without such understanding, appropriate and effective modes of cooperation cannot proceed. It was toward this end that the Institute of American Jewish-Israeli Relations was created in the Fall of 1982 as an arm of the American Jewish Committee. For, surprisingly, while there were — and are — many American Jewish organizations devoted to building understanding and support for Israel here in America, there were — and are — relatively few efforts or programs under way to enhance Israel's and Israelis' understanding of the needs and concerns of the American Jewish community. Yet, for the foreseeable future, Israel may require for her own survival all the economic, political and intellectual support American Jewry can provide. How the Institute Functions The Institute is housed in the American Jewish Committee's national headquarters in New York and in its office in Jerusalem. Thus it has access to the Committee's extensive resources and facilities nationally, in the communities and in Israel. It is professionally directed by Bertram H. Gold, Executive Vice President Emeritus of the American Jewish Committee, assisted by Selma Hirsh, former Associate Director of the AJC. Morris Fine, earlier the Director of the AJC's Foreign Affairs Department, serves as a special consultant, and Mordechai Gazit, one-time Director-General of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, is the Institute's consultant in Israel. Two Advisory Boards — one in the U.S. and one in Israel — help to chart the Institute's direction and oversee its programs in both countries. The American Advisory Board, currently chaired by Stuart Eizenstat, includes some 50 distinguished American Jews with diverse interests and points of view. The full Board meets twice a year, but small ad hoc committees are convened as necessary to advise on specific programs. The Israeli Board is chaired by S. Zalman Abramov, former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, and is made up of approximately 25 prominent men and women who bring an Israeli perspective to the Institute's program. The two Boards meet periodically to exchange views on specific issues. During its first three years, the Institute undertook a number of programs, including research, policy studies, publications, dialogues and consultations in Israel and the U.S., and sponsored visits to the U.S. by young Israeli potential leaders to enhance their understanding about America and American Jews. It has sought to develop new perspectives on issues of mutual concern and to propose new and independent initiatives to help the American Jewish community and Israel achieve more effective interaction, not only in times of crisis but day after day. The Program Understanding One Another We regard Israel with awe. We regard it as a place of sanctity and inspiration. But the question is how to concretize these feelings without undermining the legitimate authority of the Diaspora — Dr. Gerson D. Cohen Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary, New York Definitions may be good for scholars but such terms as "centrality" or "priority" or "primary" have no practical consequences for the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora The main problem is how to improve the content of this mutual relationship, how to strengthen existing ties and how to deal with points of dispute. — Simcha Dinitz Vice President, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem From its beginning, the Institute has sought to identify the primary issues troubling each community. At their initial meetings, both the American and the Israeli Advisory Boards discussed frankly their differing perceptions about the centrality of Israel, the concept of aliyah, such questions as religious pluralism (or the lack of it) in Israel and the matter of political dissent. Their deliberations were summarized in two publications: Understanding One Another: Excerpts of a Discussion on American]ewish-Israeli Relations (1983) and Understanding One Another-. An Israeli Perspective (1984). Since the founding of the State, there have been countless consultations and conferences and thousands of words written and spoken, in Hebrew and in English, in both countries on these and related issues. As further background for its work, the Institute commissioned and published a summary of the major dialogues over the years, as well as an up-to- date bibliography of significant articles on Israel- Diaspora relations. The two publications, Reasoning Together: Three Decades of Discussion Between American and IsraeliJews by Etta Bick, and Israel- Diaspora Relations: A Selected Annotated Bibliography by Morrris Fine appeared in 1984. 4 Joint meetings of the American and Israeli Advisory Boards were held in Jerusalem in March and November 1983, and in January and February 1985. At the most recent joint meeting, Stuart Eizenstat discussed Israel's economic crisis in the context of American-Israeli relations. His address was widely reported in the Israeli press and was later published in Commentary magazine. How American Jews And Israelis See Each Other Early in its programming, the Institute realized that, despite all that had gone on before, there were little if any available data on how American Jews view Israel, and what Israelis today think about the U.S. and American Jews. Convinced that such information is essential if its programs are to be responsive to real, rather than imagined problems and needs, the Institute commissioned two in-depth surveys. The first, undertaken by Professor Steven M. Cohen of Queens College, City University of New York, investigated the nature and extent of American Jewry's involvement in pro-Israel activities, the depth of the emotional attachment of American Jews to Israel, their perceptions about Israelis, and their attitudes toward a range of Israeli foreign and domestic policies. The study, utilizing sophisticated techniques and methodology, involved interviews with a random sample of approximately seven hundred American Jews and a selected stratum of Jewish communal leadership. Its findings were published in 1983 under the title Attitudes of American Jews Toward Israel and Israelis. A companion study was conducted simultaneously in Israel by Hanoch Smith of the Smith Research Center, a highly regarded Israeli polling organization. This was a national probability sample covering more than a thousand interviews, including Israelis in cities, towns, new development towns, kibbutzim and moshavim, individuals from different countries of origin and with wide-ranging political preferences. Those findings were published under the title Attitudes of Israelis Toward America and American Jews. The two studies, and an accompanying discussion guide, provided the springboard for dialogues and discussion groups in both countries. Their key findings were widely reported in the press both here and in Israel. The insights gathered from these and related studies were also discussed in a penetrating publication commissioned by the Institute: Israeli and American Jews: Toward A Meaningful Dialogue (1984) by a noted Israeli psychologist, Drora Kass. The author stresses the need to confront the fact that there will always be tensions "between Israelis' particularism and American Jewish pluralism" and therefore it is imperative for the two communities to find new ways of meshing old values with new realities, of building a relationship that is meaningful and relevant to the new generation growing up on both sides of the ocean. Getting To Know American Jewry There is not one Jewish people but two, maybe more, I now realize. But where is the common denominator between us? I worry because I now see that American Jews are not likely to come to Israel in great numbers. What would that mean for Israel's future? We have learned so many stereotypes about American Jews. Now I realize we need to learn much more about who you really are and who we are. These are but a few of the comments made by some 27 young Israelis at the end of their two-week visits to major centers of Jewish population across the country. Brought to the U.S. by the Institute, they came in three separate groups (May '83, '84 and '85) to learn something of America and the American Jewish way of life. Chosen because they were viewed as potential leaders of their country, the young Israelis were remarkably representative of the professionals and intellectuals of their generation in Israel today. This unique and ongoing program, made possible by a gift from Matthew and Edna Brown of Boston is, perhaps, one of the Institute's most important and innovative programs to date. For the fact is that a considerable portion of the Israeli population today is young, born after the State itself, and while young American Jews have many opportunities to study, work, or visit in Israel, young Israelis do not have comparable opportunities in the U.S.