Study: U.S. Jewry's willingness to strengthen Israel ties very low

Although American Jews and Israelis share a strong and mutual feeling of solidarity, U.S. coreligionists have a very low willingness to strengthen the relationship, according to a new study on the subject.

The Jewish Peoplehood research, whose findings will be presented on Tuesday at the Herzliya Conference, relies on questionnaires by some 3,000 Israelis and American Jews. Asked about the degree to which they feel connected to a Jewish brotherhood, both groups gave a similar answer which yielded an average score of 68 out of 100.

But the research also shows that Americans possess a drastically lower level of willingness than the Israelis' when it comes to strengthening the bond. While Israelis ranked 66, the Americans' average score was 32. "The emotional attachment that U.S. Jews have to Israel does not translate itself into willingness to act to strengthen this bond," the research states.

Asked to rank the level of familiarity between the two groups, responders from both continents gave a score of 39. They also said the two groups have scarce direct contact. In contrast with past research projects, the Jewish Peoplehood survey showed most Israelis perceive themselves as Jewish first, and only then as Israeli.

Surprisingly, perhaps, Israelis ranked even higher than Americans in this department. When ranking the "significance of Jewish identity," Israelis returned a score of 85, compared to the Americans' 81.

Both Jewish communities said they had a very positive attitude toward one another. They nonetheless gave different answers when asked whether non-Jews married to Jews should be seen as members of the Jewish People. U.S. participants voted with a resounding yes, giving a score of 69, compared to the Israelis' more ambivalent 59 points.

As for the current state of the transatlantic relationship, both populations report substantial ties of family, friendship, and communication with Jews in the other country. Israelis, in fact, report more such ties.

"Perhaps this reflect the significant number of Israelis who have taken up residence in the U.S.," propose Professors Yoav Shoham of Stanford University, Uzi Arad of the IDC Herzliya and IDC's Nimrod Gur, who conducted the research.

The Herzliya Conference session presenting the full results of the survey will be headed by Russian-Jewish businessman Leonid Nevzlin, chairman of the Nadav Foundation that funded the research. "The results surprised me," he said. Instead of trying to foster an already-existent sense of solidarity, "the critical challenge is to capitalize on the communities' mutual positive feelings, and turn it into a more meaningful relationship," he concluded.