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| Young American Jews Without Connection to Israel Alienated From Israel, Study Confirms | |
 by Michael Pine, September 6, 2007
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The findings in the most recent Kelman/Cohen studyare not as blazingly obvious as "men want hot women", but they are nonetheless unsurprising.
Based on the responses of more than 1,700 non-Orthodox American Jews of all ages, the study indicates that successively younger age groups show a greater detachment from the State of Israel.
According to the report, which was based on statistics collected as part of the 2007 National Survey of American Jews between December 20, 2006, and January 28, 2007, less than half of Jews under the age of 35 believe Israel's destruction would be a personal tragedy, compared to 78 percent of those over 65. Sixty-six percent of Jews aged 50-64 believe it would be a personal tragedy, compared to 54% aged 35-49.
The study doesn't even lend itself to the favorite American Jewish pastime of fruitless hand-wringing in that there is an obvious policy solution to this "dilemma.":
The new study showed sharp differences in levels of attachment to Israel between people who have visited the country and those who have not. Among those who have never been to Israel, the number of those with a high level of attachment is less than half that of those who have visited at least once (19% vs 42%). Additionally, the level of attachment grows with the amount of time spent in Israel. Thirty-four percent of those who have traveled to Israel once are highly attached to Israel, while only 17% of them report low levels of attachment.
The numbers go up as the time spent in the country increases. Fifty-four percent of those who have traveled to Israel two or more times are highly attached, while less than 10% report low levels of attachment. Meanwhile, 68% of those who have lived in Israel for a semester or year-long program show high levels of attachment.
That last paragraph should be quite effective in rousting up additional funds for Birthright (which given the study's sponsors, was probably the point of the study in the first place).
Not surprisingly, the Post article contaiins the requisite quotes from young, progressive American Jews who express their "detachment" from Israel. But what the findings really show is that young American Jews are increasingly alienated not from the reality of Israel, but of the myth of Israel. The Israel presented in Hebrew schools is one of child-like simplicity - SabraLand!- with the less convenient aspects of Israeli history and society omitted. Without a more sophisticated understanding of Israel, American Jews are ill equipped to respond to the counter-myths that are peddled by anti-Zionists at American universities, which they embrace or at least triangulate. On the other hand, those American Jews who get to personally experience Israel and all of its contradictions - the incredible surface rudeness and underlying warmth of the people, the wonder of Ben and Jerry's and McDonald's being just down the road from the Old City of Jerusalem - develop a mature love for the country, one that can withstand Israel's very human failings and the shifting currents of political fashion.
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Michael Pine is a former professional Jew who regained amateur status nine years ago, only to become the most cliched of Jewish professionals - a lawyer. More... |
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zbird
no "obvious policy solution"
You make the classic error of equating causation with correlation.
It could be that going to Israel increases a person's connection with the country (and the notion certainly seems plausible). But it's just as likely that people visit Israel because they are ALREADY committed to the country, and that those who visit Israel for long periods of time are even more committed than the average visitor. To see if the trip to Israel is really a solution to the "problem" of American Jews' detachment, you would need a longitudinal study showing how people's views change before vs. after the trip.
I also don't put much value in the survey because the choice of question itself is completely ambiguous. First of all, what is "personal tragedy" supposed to mean? People who identify very strongly with Israel might still not consider its destruction a "personal" tragedy because they don't live there. Or maybe they consider it a collective, rather than a personal tragedy.
And maybe someone who doesn't identify with Israel at all still thinks it's destruction is a personal tragedy because he sees himself as a member of the human race and is horrified at the thought of any country being destroyed. Or maybe someone has no cultural or political feelings for Israel, but equates "destruction of Israel" with something bad happening to his uncle/cousin/friend who lives there, and therefore answers yes to the pollster.
I could blame the study's flaws on mere carelessness or lack of rigor, but the question is way too contrived to have been an accident. Why make up this nonsense about "personal tragedy" to measure a person's attachment to Israel, when you could simply ask "How strong is your attachment to the state of Israel; please rate on a scale of 1 to 4." It seems like someone is trying to cook the numbers here.
--Z
Anonymous
zbird
Good points.
mhpine
Real Data Coming Up
Here's a link to the actual study as opposed to the media spin on the results. As you can see, Cohen & Kelman asked more telling questions than the "personal tragedy" one highlighted by the JPost. The study's most interesting finding, which the coverage did not highlight, was that alienation from Israel did not correlate with political views, which shoots a hole through the instinctive progressive reading of this data.
ZBird's point about causation and correlation is a legitimate one. There is very likely a selection bias among those who choose to go to Israel. Making things even more complicated is a positive first Israel experience is likely to lead to additional visits. I couldn't find a pure logitudinal study, but this paper compares Birthright participants to a control group and finds significant increases in attachment to Israel as a result of Birthright.
If we really want to open up a can of worms, we might as well discuss Cohen & Kelman's conclusion that the principle driving force behind young Jews alienation from Israel is -- duh duh duh -- intermarriage.
zbird
not gonna do it!
Michael, you are absolutely correct that the notion of intermarriage = alienation from Israel would open up a can of worms. But I refuse to take the bait!
--Z
jez
Myth
Maybe the very idea of 'destruction of Israel' is part of the whole myth.
I haven't heard very many, if any, people call for destruction of Israel. Many call for the removal (forced or brought about peacefully) of the zionist (colonialist) regime. I hope no-one here is seriously equating anti-zionism with antisemitism.
zbird
jez--you should learn arabic
...and then I'm afraid you will hear plenty of calls for Israel's destruction. Not to mention the President of Iran's call to wipe Israel off the map (although I imagine that was said in Farsi).
--Z
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