Mr. Harel, The real problem, at least in the US, is the gap between the Israeli and American Jewish definition of Judaism. The Jewish American community largely consists of Reform and Conservative jews, who are rejected by the Orthodox establishment in Israel. Moste Jews living in Western countries believe in the separation of State and Church and we have a difficulty understanding things like the recent letter from ex-IDF Rabbis stating that soldiers should give precedence to Halacha over lawful orders. We also have a problem when we read about the 'conquest' of Jerusalem by ultra-Orthodox fanatics, the subsidies to Yeshivot and the general submission to the ultra-orthodox Jewish Taliban. I pity the Israeli diplomats who have to explain that Israel is a liberal, secular and democratic state when so many events in Israel seem to negate this statements.