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America's politically divided Jewish community braces for Israel's elections · Best of: Features

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  America's politically divided Jewish community braces for Israel's elections. Written
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  by Giovanna Del Orto. This article is being read by an automated
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  voice generated by Everlett. New York, the AP. Jewish Americans
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  feel the have a lot at stake in this month's contentious elections
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  in Israel as three years of Mideast conflicts rile up emotions across
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  the United States, from street protests to the midterm races. But the
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  are sharply divided along political, religious, and often generational lines on the
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  preferred outcome in a vote that perceived as a referendum on Prime
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  Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and held against the backdrop of the enduring trauma
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  of the october seventh, twenty twenty three, Hamas led attack, which triggered
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  the war in Gaza. Netanyahu's supporters, especially among Orthodox Jews, believe he's
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  protecting a country they love as central to their identity. Many liberal
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  and younger Jewish Americans believe his policies have harmed Israel's global standing,
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  engendering widespread anger that threatens them in the US too. The moment
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  is particularly fraught as anti Semitism and anti Semitic violence grow. Even
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  harsh critics of Netanyahu's actions, whether over Gaza or Israeli settler violence
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  in the occupied West Bank, argue that blame for attacks against Jews
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  can't solely be said at his feet. A lot of American Jews
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  are really torn. They want to shout from the rooftops. Stop the
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  pogroms in the West Bank, but also yell at everybody. Stop with
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  allegations of genocide and double standards against Israeli said Rabbi Dan Levin
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  of Temple Beth L in Boca Raton, Florida. Israel is important to
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  Jewish Americans identity. Levin's Large Reform Synagogue is one of many across
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  the U.S. Hosting educational programs this fall because congregants feel deeply emotionally
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  invested in the Israeli elections, even if, as non citizens, they can't
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  vote. Under Israel complex, multiparty political system, the october twenty seventh election
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  outcome is impossible to forecast. Polls suggest a tight race between a
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  Netanyahu led bloc and an alliance of rivals for control of the
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  government. Many Jewish Americans have Israeli friends and family. More broadly, support
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  for Israel is a key component of the religious identity of many
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  US Jewish adults, ages forty five and older, particularly those who identify
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  as religiously Jewish, according to a recent The A P Norsee poll.
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  The largest Jewish denomination in the United States is Reform, which emphasizes
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  progressive values. Many Reformed Jews see no contradiction between their liberalism and
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  their Zionism. Understood as the Jewish people's aspiration to live as a
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  free people in our land, said Rabbi Josh Weinberg of the Union
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  for Reformed Judaism, an umbrella group for more than eight hundred Reformed
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  synagogues in North America. But they worry about the growing power of
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  the ultra orthodox in Israel's political and religious life, as well as
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  settlement policies and the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank, that
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  they perceive as contrary to their values, Weinberg added. If Netanyahu wins,
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  I worry very much about the young generation of American Jews who
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  may continue to be, I'll put it nicely, disenchanted. And who might
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  just say, Okay, that's it. I'm giving up on Israel, he said
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  Only about four in ten religious Jewish adults under forty five in
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  the United States say that supporting Israeli is extremely or very important
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  for their Jewish identity, prioritizing instead other forms of connection, like celebrating
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  Jewish holidays, according to the AP Norsee poll. Antisemitism is a key
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  concern. In the same poll, a majority of Jewish adults said prejudice
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  against Jewish people is an extremely or very serious problem in the
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  United States today. As the Israeli elections approach, many communities are worrying
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  about their effects on antisemitism. Some American Jews believe a different style
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  of Prime Minister, one more similar to earlier ones, who constantly talked
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  about the desire for peace, will change the way American Jews themselves
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  are viewed, said Jonathan Sarna, Professor Emeritus of American Jewish History at
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  Brandeis University. Even Netanyahu critics, however, don't believe anti Semitic acts
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  would stop if Israel changes its government, especially when outrage at his
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  administration's actions toward Palestinians is used to incite violence against all Jews
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  regardless of nationality or political leanings. There is only one solution, Intifada
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  Revolution. We hear that as a call to rise up and use
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  violence against Jews, Weinberg said of a popular protest chant referring to
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  the violent Palestinian uprising. So when someone says that in Ramallah, that's
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  one thing. When someone says that in Minneapolis, what exactly are they
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  calling for? That seems pretty clearly to us anti Semitic. But some
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  think different Israeli policies would help stem the tide. Somebody who decides
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  that they're going to drive a car into a synagogue or attack
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  Jews on the street, that is their responsibility. You can't blame that
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  on Israeli actions, said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of Trua, a rabbinic
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  human rights organization. But I think that it's going to be a
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  very scary time for Jews around the world, if there's another Netanyahu
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  government, and if it continues on its policy of expanding occupation, ethnic
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  cleansing, and forever war. Stanley Weinstein, an Orthodox Jew from Florida, rejects
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  much of the criticism of the Israeli military treat and policy making,
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  especially given the threats the state faces from militant groups like Hamas
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  and Gaza, as well as in other conflicts that keep simmering despite
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  tenuous ceasefires, including in Lebanon and with Iran. Weinstein sees Israel's security
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  as crucial, especially given the rise in anti Israel and anti Semitic
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  rhetoric among left and right wing American political figures that he has
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  observed even from his home in the diverse and vibrant Jewish community
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  of Miami Beach. I am appalled as an American, I am appalled
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  as a Jew, and I say, Thank God there is an Israel,
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  he said. Netanyahu Trump in close elections with unity at stake. For
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  Jewish Americans, Israel also looms large in the US midterms, when voters
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  decide who controls Congress for the next two years. The november third
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  elections come a week after Israelis go to their polls. From New
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  York City to Michigan and beyond support for Palestinians and withdrawal of
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  US aid to Israel are rising issues among Democratic voters. Both the
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  Israeli and US elections could affect the two countries longstanding alliance. It
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  has been particularly close, though not without recent strains, especially over the
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  joint Iran war under the Trump and Netanyahu administrations. Even as some
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  Israeli policies have become controversial in the United States, among American Jews
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  there is still substantial support for the State of Israel, said Jason
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  Isaacson, Chief Policy Officer for the American Jewish Committee, a prominent advocacy
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  group that strives to broadly represent Jews in the US and abroad.
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  There is strong support for the continuation of the US Israel relationship
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  and for the necessity of Israel's survival, he said. Regardless of their
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  faith and politics, some Jewish Americans are most concerned about the prospect
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  of further divishons driven by Israel's elections. This may be the most
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  consequential election in modern Israeli history, because the nature of The current
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  administration is so fraught with division that it's ripping the people apart,
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  said Levin, the Reform Rabbi in Boca Raton. Weinstein, the Orthodox congregant
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  in Miami Beach, believes Netanyahu has been doing a terrific job, but
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  he shares the same worry for the future. The biggest issue in
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  Israel to day, which doesn't exist, is unity. To me that is
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  what is at stake, he said. Is there a way to unify
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  the country, unify the people? Associated Press Religion Coverage receives support through
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  the AP's collaboration with the Conversation US with funding from Lilly Endowment
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  Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.