Support for Israel is tumbling– even among young Orthodox Jews

Modern Orthodox Jews are among Israel’s strongest backers in the U.S. Think Jared Kushner. Well, the generational split that is occurring everywhere in American Jewry is taking place among the Modern Orthodox, with a minority of young Jews saying they “actively support the Jewish state”.

The New York Jewish Week has a report on the survey of the Modern Orthodox, written by Hannah Dreyfus. Modern Orthodox represent 4 percent of the U.S. Jewish community, and the survey got 4000 respondents.

One of the study’s most concerning findings, experts say, is a decrease in emotional connection and active support of Israel. While 87 percent of those 55 and older report feeling emotionally connected to Israel, 65 percent of those ages 18 to 34 feel the same way. And while 71 percent of those 55 and older actively support the Jewish state, less than half — 43 percent — of Jews 18 to 34 do the same.

The angle is buried in the New York Jewish Week article. And these are kids who go to Israel! So they’re not all that different from #IfNotNow Jews. Apartheid is just not good for global popularity, and a sea change in middle-age Jewish attitudes (i.e., the establishment) is coming.

“Decreasing political activism on behalf of Israel among the young Modern Orthodox flies in the face of our assumptions,” said [poll consultant Steven] Bayme. The data is particularly unnerving given the common practice among the Modern Orthodox to send high school graduates to Israel for a gap year before beginning college. While decreased attachment to Israel was widely recognized for young people in other denominations — Birthright Israel began trips in 1999 to address the problem — this was “always thought not to be true among the Orthodox,” said Bayme.

The survey also reports a fragmentation of religiosity among the Modern Orthodox. More and more going OTD, “off the derech,” leaving strict faith.

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@Phil

Read the article. Very interesting. Though their definition of left orthodoxy includes 16% who didn’t go to Jewish day school, 27% who don’t don tefillin and 34% who don’t believe the torah was given at Sinai. I’d say what we are really looking at is Jews who are Conservative in all but name. Obviously there is overlap. So I’m not sure entirely they are “like the group from which INN draws”. I think we are talking the same group.

They didn’t ask enough questions about Israel unfortunately. The issues that did bother this group though are indicative of a USA focus: cost of Jewish day school and sexism in shul. The sexism is shul though makes a point again about kotel being a terribly bad policy choice.

The other graph the article didn’t mention was their “why be orthodox” which again shows a community focus:
42% orthodox community
22% shabbat (family & community focus time)
20% family

Finally I do think you may be seeing some of what you want to see. On the details page we see stuff like:

anti-BDS scores 87% strong support and 7% moderate support
89% want a unified Jerusalem under Israeli control
71% support more housing in the West Bank (outside of Jerusalem in Jerusalem 78%)
only 43% would support a negotiated 2SS

BTW here is a better link to the report: http://nishmaresearch.com/assets/pdf/Report%20-%20Nishma%20Research%20Profile%20of%20American%20Modern%20Orthodox%20Jews%2009-27-17.pdf

These are welcome developments.

According to Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg, a member of Brooklyn’s Satmar Hasidim fundamentalist branch of Orthodox Judaism, some segments of the Orthodox community have a pedophilia problem akin to that of the Catholic Church.
“The Child-Rape Assembly Line”
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qbe8bp/the-child-rape-assembly-line-0000141-v20n11

The Orthodox Jews drive the so-called “settler” movement that dominates Israeli politics. Perhaps the pathological politics of the “settlers” and the Israeli government have more immediate traumatic roots.

Support is tumbling? I dunno. I don’t see much evidence of that in Congress, or in the Trump administration, on in the NYT.

“In a moment when being Jewish in America suddenly feels threatened in a way it hasn’t in decades, the idea of a distinctly Jewish novel — a concept that has persisted in literature since the turn of the 20th century — has become increasingly urgent. Three fiction writers and one cartoonist ruminate on Jewish identity and its relationship to Israel and the U.S. in 2017.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/t-magazine/jewish-american-novelists.html

https://israelpalestinenews.org/adl-campus-guide-describes-block-events-palestine/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=fd5bda1e-1826-4917-a48c-6c0c22d9058a

“ADL Campus guide describes how to block events about Palestine”

Sept. 13/17

EXCERPT:
“The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) has just launched a new initiative for college students called ‘ADL CAMPUS: Tools for Dealing with Anti-Semitic and Anti-Israel Incidents on Campus.’

“This resource contains much useful information about addressing anti-Semitism, endorses such valuable principles as freedom of speech and non-violence, and recommends that students talk to others who may hold different perspectives.

“It also, however, contains some deeply problematic components for anyone who believes that human rights and justice should apply to all people without exception.

“Unfortunately, the ADL does not share this belief.  While it announces prominently, ‘We protect the Jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment to all,’ in reality the ADL supports Israeli injustice against Palestinians.”