JERUSALEM (Press Release) — The Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) presented its 2018 Annual Assessment of the Situation and Dynamics of the Jewish People on Sunday to the weekly Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. JPPI Co-Chairs Amb. Dennis Ross and Amb. Stuart Eizenstat and the Institute’s President Avinoam Bar-Yosef presented the findings and recommendations of the annual report. Although 20 minutes was slated for the discussion, the Cabinet took a full hour and one-half to focus on Diaspora-Israel relations and the partisan divide in Congress.
The session started with a briefing conducted by Amb. Ross on the impact of geo-political developments on the Jewish People and Israel. Ross divided his presentation into the good, bad and uncertain trends.
On the good news front, he mentioned the close relationship with the Administration, tactical coordination with Russia on Syria, and improving relations with India and China. On the bad front, enhanced Russian influence in the Middle East, the US intention to leave the region and in Europe, and the growing populism which “always increases anti-Semitism.” The uncertainties belong to the possible peace plan expected to be rolled out shortly by the Trump Administration.
Most of the discussion focused on challenges faced by Israel and the Jewish people today. Amb. Eizenstat emphasized the distancing of parts of Jewish community from Israel. “For the first time in its history, Israel is becoming a partisan political issue. This is not yet evident in the U.S. Congress, but it becomes increasingly evident among the general American public and dealing with this is a strategic imperative,” he continued.
The religious community is not growing only in Israel. This demographic trend is mirrored in the U.S. Today, only 12% of American Jewry is Orthodox but the lower birthrates and high levels of intermarriage in non-Orthodox families are quickly changing the demographic picture (around 30 percent of Jewish children under the age of 18 in the U.S. are being raised in Orthodox households. In the greater New York area, this rate is well over 50 percent).
Bar-Yosef stressed that besides investing in the non-Orthodox community, “We can’t ignore millions of identified Jews in the general Jewish community and Israel should encourage the growing Orthodox public to engage in politics and public service on the national level because as they grow numerically, the burden of the Jewish future rests on their shoulders.
The Prime Minister was very responsive, “We know that non-Orthodox and progressives have some concerns.” The PM said he understands the JPPI recommendation to need for the Orthodox to both engage politically on national level and to reach out to liberal streams of Judaism in the U.S. “Contrary to popular opinion, it is not true that I am writing off liberals, Democrats and non-Orthodox Jews. We know we have a problem. The Kotel issue will be solved and we are very close to doing it but the conversion issue is more complicated politically,” he said.
The full Cabinet agreed that it was imperative not to write off non-Orthodox Jews. Minister Deri stated he respects all Reform and Conservative Jews and believes they are no less Jewish than himself. He is however, concerned about intermarriage with non-Jews.
Minister Bennett suggested that the Israeli government invest an additional 1 billion shekels in young generations in the Diaspora.
In the Cabinet meeting, Eizenstat emphasized JPPI recommendations concerning outreach to Hispanic, Asian and African-Americans to stress the diverse nature of the Israeli population including using Israeli Ethiopians as good-will ambassadors and the government investment in the Israeli-Arab population.
Eizenstat and Ross were deeply impressed by the degree to which the Prime Minister and much of the Cabinet agreed to reach out to political liberals and moderates in the U.S. and to the non-Orthodox streams of Judaism as well as to Orthodox Jews to heal the growing political rifts with Democrats and non-Orthodox Jews.
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Preceding provided by the Jewish People’s Policy Institute