In an unrelated video clip, young Jewish Americans talk to their Israeli counterparts about Israel and being Jewish
According to a recent survey, close to half of American Jews under age 35 said they did not feel comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state, according to the Jerusalem Post. The report, conducted by Professors Steven M. Cohen and Ari Y. Kelman, demonstrated a growing detachment from Israel among young Jews in America.
The report is based on a survey of more than 1,700 non-Orthodox Jews of all ages.
Findings show that 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.
"[F]eelings of attachment may well be changing as warmth gives way to indifference, and indifference gives way even to downright alienation," the authors of the report wrote.
"A mounting body of evidence has pointed to a growing distancing from Israel of American Jews, and the distancing seems to be most pronounced among younger Jews. Insofar as younger Jews are less attached to Israel, the inevitable replacement of older with younger birth cohorts leads to growing distancing in the population overall. If so, then American Jews, as a group, may be growing more distant primarily because younger Jews feel less attached to Israel," they added
Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Ze'ev Bielski said the only way to combat the growing apathy trend was to invest more in such programs as birthright, which offers a free 10-day tour of Israel to young Jews, and Masa, JAFI's flagship program for young adults.
"Looking at this study makes us even more determined to invest in these programs to enforce Jewish identity and in bringing young Jews to Israel for any length of time," Bielski said.
The reported cited age as a factor, noting that respondents over 65 had a stronger connection to Israel. However some pro-Israel critics fault voices within the Jewish community that are highly critical of Israel, saying they may contribute to the younger generation's wariness of fully supporting the Jewish state.
The reports authors, Cohen a sociologist of American Jewry and research professor of Jewish Social Policy at Hebrew Union College's Jewish Institute of Religion, and Kelman, an assistant professor of American Studies at the University of California Davis, are releasing the study today.
Meanwhile, Nefesh b'Nefesh, an organization that facilitates aliyah from North America and the UK, just brought a group of 96 singles and 29 families to Israel as new immigrants, Ynet reported.
This summer, the organization brought over 2,200 new immigrants to Israel, including nearly 400 single people, 265 families with roughly 600 children and 115 recruits to the IDF.
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