New York – In 2003, several prominent Jewish philanthropists hired Republican pollster Frank Luntz to explain why American Jewish college students were not more vigorously rebutting campus criticism of Israel. In response, he unwittingly produced the most damning indictment of the organized American Jewish community that I have ever seen.
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The philanthropists wanted to know what Jewish students thought about Israel. Luntz found that they mostly didn’t. “Six times we have brought Jewish youth together as a group to talk about their Jewishness and connection to Israel,” he reported. “Six times the topic of Israel did not come up until it was prompted. Six times these Jewish youth used the word ‘they‘ rather than ‘us‘ to describe the situation.”
That Luntz encountered indifference was not surprising. In recent years, several studies have revealed, in the words of Steven Cohen of Hebrew Union College and Ari Kelman of the University of California at Davis, that “non-Orthodox younger Jews, on the whole, feel much less attached to Israel than their elders,” with many professing “a near-total absence of positive feelings.” In 2008, the student senate at Brandeis, the only nonsectarian Jewish-sponsored university in America, rejected a resolution commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the Jewish state.
Luntz’s task was to figure out what had gone wrong. When he probed the students’ views of Israel, he hit up against some firm beliefs. First, “they reserve the right to question the Israeli position.” These young Jews, Luntz explained, “resist anything they see as ‘group think.’” They want an “open and frank” discussion of Israel and its flaws. Second, “young Jews desperately want peace.” When Luntz showed them a series of ads, one of the most popular was entitled “Proof that Israel Wants Peace,” and listed offers by various Israeli governments to withdraw from conquered land. Third, “some empathize with the plight of the Palestinians.” When Luntz displayed ads depicting Palestinians as violent and hateful, several focus group participants criticized them as stereotypical and unfair, citing their own Muslim friends.
Most of the students, in other words, were liberals, broadly defined. They had imbibed some of the defining values of American Jewish political culture: a belief in open debate, a skepticism about military force, a commitment to human rights. And in their innocence, they did not realize that they were supposed to shed those values when it came to Israel. The only kind of Zionism they found attractive was a Zionism that recognized Palestinians as deserving of dignity and capable of peace, and they were quite willing to condemn an Israeli government that did not share those beliefs. Luntz did not grasp the irony. The only kind of Zionism they found attractive was the kind that the American Jewish establishment has been working against for most of their lives.
Among American Jews today, there are a great many Zionists, especially in the Orthodox world, people deeply devoted to the State of Israel. And there are a great many liberals, especially in the secular Jewish world, people deeply devoted to human rights for all people, Palestinians included. But the two groups are increasingly distinct. Particularly in the younger generations, fewer and fewer American Jewish liberals are Zionists; fewer and fewer American Jewish Zionists are liberal. One reason is that the leading institutions of American Jewry have refused to foster—indeed, have actively opposed—a Zionism that challenges Israel’s behavior in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and toward its own Arab citizens. For several decades, the Jewish establishment has asked American Jews to check their liberalism at Zionism’s door, and now, to their horror, they are finding that many young Jews have checked their Zionism instead.
Morally, American Zionism is in a downward spiral. If the leaders of groups like AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations do not change course, they will wake up one day to find a younger, Orthodox-dominated, Zionist leadership whose naked hostility to Arabs and Palestinians scares even them, and a mass of secular American Jews who range from apathetic to appalled. Saving liberal Zionism in the United States—so that American Jews can help save liberal Zionism in Israel—is the great American Jewish challenge of our age. And it starts where Luntz’s students wanted it to start: by talking frankly about Israel’s current government, by no longer averting our eyes.
Forget it it going to happan! For one couse it’s there judiesem they checkt not there zionizim. Second what a left wing sham artical. But the biggest chidush is that how nebch orthadox have fallen for the zienist lies, which is totely keneged our holy Torah.
The Satmar Rebbe, R’ Yoel was right, Israel in its current form cannot sustain itself in the long run. Not only was he a true Tzadik, he was also a man with a practical vision, a vision that most of us fail to see to this day! But as time goes on, we all see how right he was.
Welcome to America’s melting pot. Give these liberal Jews a couple more generations and they’ll be gone or become frum. Reform/Conservatives rejoice, you have accomplished your goals. Torah Yiddishkeit continues to prove itself as the only viable choice amid eastern or western society. Please understand that there is nothing more liberating than to live with a purpose with tradition, respnsibility, accountability, community, life, children, and love.
Fifty years of Jewish kids in local Hebrew schools buying trees with their milk money for JNF/Israel, somehow, didn’t do the trick. I guess the six and seven figured salaried presidents, directors and rabbis will have to repair to their boardrooms for another think…
one MAJOR point not mentioned or questioned (or at least not mentioned) is whether we Jews have a divine right to the land or not!
I would venture to bet that “liberal American Jews” that have “lost” their Zionest beleifs have also “lost” their beleif in Hashem!
It is interesting to note that most jews don’t care about zionism at all and so does a huge part of the frum part of jews that leaves a very small minority of jews that believe in zionism so I guess moshiach can come already…….
That is making the situation even more dangerous, what the Palestinians see all the time is: that only the frum yidden believe its a MUTZVAH to kill them under the name of zionism!
well it seems to me that the secular jewish world has finally aligned with the neturei karta..
its time to eleiminate all sinat chinam and to promote jewish unity across all spectrums of observance.
this is a sad but probably true article
that rebbe was a fundraiser..only practical in getting money…not a bad gig.
The joke in orthodox quarters is:
“The only jew that still believe or speak about zionists are the ultra orthox Satmar and Eida Hachareidis of Yerushalayim”. Jews in general never ever mention or care about zionism. Its over. However the ultra are still busy day and night with the zionists. If they would leave it go, it would be forgotten.
Those fools who tried to destroy the youth have cut of the branch on which they sit.
They are now reaping the bitter profits.
Zionizem has nothing to do with the jewish religion, even the totaly non frum realize this, all that’s left are a few misguided modern orthadox. But even they are moving away….
Satmar rebbe sorry it took me so long to say but you were right.
Perhaps it also has something to do with the fact that Israeli Jews have long viewed American Jews with barely concealed contempt and want nothing except our money. They don’t care if your institutions and yeshivos are broke and we are breaking out back to get our children real Jewish education, so long as we send them billions each year.
Sad Irony: Zionism started by anti Torah secular Jews. Zionism becomes abandoned by younger secular Jews. At the same time Zionism becomes adopted by the younger religious Jewish population. sad really sad! I wish frum yidden would LEARN !
R’ Meir Kahane was a man that was way ahead of his time, he knew this and said countless times Zionism without Torah is nothing. The young Jewish secularists for the most part just want to go out and have “fun” and not be responsible for their actions.
may hashem help the same should happen with the chareidim. ky savir memsheles zudoin min hu’oretz. umein
Secular Zionism was DOA except to closed minded anti-religious bigots. Bereishis – see Rashi – that is our claim to EY. If not as a vehicle to Torah and Mitzvos – then why bother to sacrifice for it??? Hence the situation today.
But what about Birthright??
Just proves The Eida, Satmar and all those like them are busy fighting the last war.
The interest in Zionism will rise and fall directly with the interest in Yiddishkeit.
Those polled are the same Neshamos that are unfortunately intermarrying and leaving Judaism in droves. We must help those poor Neshomos or we will lose way more than political influence.
Luntz’s work shows something far more profound — 60 years on, israel is a fully functioning country of its own — the conceit is that we think it exisitence requires american jews. And this is a very healthy development — just as italy, France, Spain or Britain do not require the participation of their expatriate populations for legitimacy, likewise — israel’s fate is in the hands of its people, its government, its army and its civil society — and that’s the sign of a mature, independent nation state.
few commentors have pointed out the fact that the NY book review is liberal/secular in the extreme. That should be taken into considiration as well.
To #24
Well actually Israel is *fully* dependent on american aid. Israel does nothing without getting the “O.K.” from the whitehouse. Sad.
My message to all those that don’t support our holy beloved land eretz yisroel, where will u run to when we are chased out of america?
At the Israel parade today the only ones that did show up were the MO’s and conservative
To #16 Zionism did not begin with secular Jews, maybe it 100 years ago or more, but it continued with the orthodox groups like B’nei Akiva over 80 years ago. B’nai Akiva is world wide. Orthodox, even in New York. Check it out!!
I’m one of those American liberal Zionists and I find this sad. But given the reaction I personally get from the increasingly right wing Zionist community in the US it does not surprise me.
B”h its being forgotten,since the whole zionist movement was founded 2 destroy the torah, its a great encouregment 2 read thus article how its slowely fading away
It is tragic that Agudas Yisroel finds itself maintaining the exact same position as these completely ignorant secular Jews. Neither will sing the Anthem of the State of Israel, say the Tefila for the Medina or the Tefila for its soldiers, and neither will offer a declaration in honor of the State’s birthday. Neither will say Hallel on Yom Haatzmaut, and Yom Yerushalayim. Who thought Aguda shared so much in common with non-religious Jews? It is time for both to end their tragic assimilation.
Aguda is like a bunch of sore-losers who can’t accept that they were wrong 62 years ago, and that rather than being a tragedy for the Jewish people, the founding of the Medina was the greatest thing since the Churban. The return of the Mekomos Hakedoshim, the enabling of Torah learning on a massive scale, the flourishing of the country in both gashmius and ruchnius, the advanced economy and scientific powershouse, and the open miracles by the the RBSH via the hands of the IDF have rejuvenated the klal and set the stage for the final geula.
Aguda, should we go back to Poland where life was so rosy in between pogroms? Should we give EY to the Arabs? Maybe a little hakaras hatov for a change.
this zionist nonsense is alienating so many secular Jews from Torah because they mistakenly think it has something to do with Torah. I understand the old way of kiruv that used Zionism to attract the secular (which unfortunately confused so many religious Jews to become zionists R”L) but we live in a new world B”H and are now ready to teach authentic Judaism to the secular masses of Jews. I myself am a kiruv rabbi and have found many young people who now are proud to be Jewish because they know that the traditional form of Judaism is anti-Zionist. (Yes I love Eretz Yisrael but politics and religion are strange bedfellows)
So, it seems like this:
Secular are no longer zionist (they say ‘zionosm is dead’).
We, Bnei Torah, never were.
So who remains zionist? There still are some. Who are they? YU-affiliated modern allegedly orthodox?
So what’s the problem? Change the Israeli government to one we can identify with, one that can actually accomplish something. We would all prefer an openly religious leader to represent us to the world.