Jewish diaspora engagement with Israel

Abstract

From the outset of Zionism, the Diaspora has had a distinct role to play with developing the homeland, raising funds, mobilizing political activity, and providing&nbsp;immigrants. Today, particularly since 1948, Israel continues to play an unequivocally essential role in Diaspora Jewish identity. This centrality is expressed through&nbsp;many areas of Jewish life, such as education, community, philanthropy, and political activism. These deepseated&nbsp;attachments to Israel are also evident through&nbsp;growing rates of aliyah, participation in Israel programs, and visits to the Jewish state.&nbsp;Since 1967, a time when the Jewish world was gripped by the realization that the State of Israel could be destroyed, and people were then caught up in Israel&rsquo;s&nbsp;jubilation at her survival, Israel has been a central factor in Diaspora Jewish life and identity. Israel is seen as playing a central role in maintaining Jewish identity&nbsp;throughout the Diaspora. The existence of Israel is important to world Jewry, as is illustrated by the following data: 87 percent of Canadian Jewry believes Israel is&nbsp;&ldquo;important to being a Jew&rdquo;; more than 80 percent of American Jews in the 2000 National Jewish Population Survey were very or somewhat familiar with social and&nbsp;political events in Israel, and over 80 percent strongly or somewhat agreed that Israel is the spiritual center of the Jewish people; 81 percent of British Jews were,&nbsp;according to a 1997 survey, strongly or moderately attached to Israel; and 86 percent of respondents to a 2002 survey of French Jews said they felt &ldquo;very close or&nbsp;close&rdquo; to Israel. The importance of Israel in the identity of world Jewry today is manifested through various means of engagement with the Jewish State.</div