opinions & letters
In-person Beats Online
Israel and the US:
Danger Just Around
the Corner
BY SHUKI FRIEDMAN
Oleksii Liskonih / iStock / Getty Images Plus
A strong
U.S. relationship with
Israel depends on broad
support for the Jewish
state among American
citizens. At fi rst glance, a survey published a
few days ago by the Pew Research Center
shows that American support for Israel is
adequate and has even increased slightly.

A closer look, however, reveals a far less
rosy future. Support for Israel among the
younger generation of Americans is declin-
ing, and support for the Palestinians is on the
rise. To maintain the existentially necessary
strategic backing of the United States, Israel
must address the challenge of this eroding
support among young Americans before
they become tomorrow’s leaders and turn
their backs on the Jewish state.

The headline of the Pew survey —
“Modest Warming in U.S. Views on Israel and
Palestinians” — is gratifying, and the overall
picture presented by the survey is indeed
positive. The share of Americans who take
a favorable view of Israel (67%) and of the
Israeli government (48%) has climbed by
several percentage points over the past two
years. Among older Americans (65+), sup-
port for Israel is skyrocketing (78%). Another
piece of good news is that, although Israelis
often have the impression that the BDS
movement is a great success in the United
States, the survey shows that the over-
whelming majority of Americans (84%) have
heard nothing or very little about it. Only 5%
support the movement.

There are dark clouds on the horizon, how-
ever. The statistics show a dramatic split in
support for Israel based on party affi liation.

While 44% of Republicans support Israel and
take an unfavorable view of the Palestinians,
only 12% of Democrats feel the same.

Moreover, support for Israel over the
Palestinians decreases dramatically as one
moves down the age scale. While 37% of
those aged 65 and older prefer Israel, that
preference plunges to just 11% among those
in the 18-29 age range, while 17% support
the Palestinians and a signifi cant number
take an equally favorable view of both sides.

The younger generation shows similarly low
levels of support for the Israeli government.

Alongside, one fi nds increasingly favorable
views of the Palestinian government.

In other words, the younger generation
prefers the Palestinians over Israel.

This disparity between generations also
exists in the American Jewish community.

A comprehensive Pew survey of Jewish
Americans published a year ago revealed a
disturbing picture. Regarding attachment to
Israel, caring about Israel, a sense of partner-
ship with Israel and more, there are striking
disparities between the older and younger
generations. Among young Jews unaffi liated
with any Jewish denomination (40%), only a
third see Israel as important. Other surveys
published over the past year confi rmed this:
Young American Jews are more liberal and
less emotionally attached to Israel than their
older counterparts.

Some of the processes underway in
American society, including in the Jewish
community, are unrelated to Israel and its
policies, but nevertheless, aff ect it. Still,
Israeli policy is naturally an infl uential factor
in shaping attitudes toward the state.

Israel cannot change America, but engag-
ing with the younger generation there, and
making every eff ort to foster an attachment
to the Israeli story and the Jewish state, are
critical to maintaining the special closeness
between the United States and Israel, as well
as American support for the Jewish state
and its existence. JE
Shuki Friedman is vice president of the
Jewish People Policy Institute and a lecturer
in law at the Peres Academic Center.

No doubt, online education is the direction of the future
(“Gratz Refocuses, Ahead of the Curve with Online Classes,”
May 26), but call me old-fashioned. I am more attentive to
in-person classes and fi nd that personal interactions are a
critical component to learning.

I attended Gratz Hebrew High School decades ago and
still have strong memories of my teachers and classmates,
in addition to the content of many of my courses. It’s hard
to imagine that children learn as much in Hebrew schools of
today, with fewer hours and tests and more entertainment.

It will be interesting to measure the eff ectiveness of online
Hebrew school education at Gratz since in-person Hebrew
high school was eliminated years ago.

Ina Asher
Merion Second Amendment Argument Rings Hollow
Jonathan Tobin’s recent invitation to an “honest discussion”
about guns and the Second Amendment (“The Only Honest
Discussion About Guns Rests on the Second Amendment,”
June 2) feels rather hollow. In addition to declaring that no
gun restrictions could possibly reduce gun violence, he also
suggests that the liberal Jewish groups pushing gun control
are largely bicoastal urbanites who are out of touch with real
Americans and real American culture.

Rather than an honest labeling of those who demand
unfettered access to guns as right-wing or conservative,
Tobin repeatedly identifi es gun advocates and their position
simply as “American.” Not surprisingly, liberal Jews are never
described as equally American. This insinuation that liberal
Jews and their political activity are in some way un-Ameri-
can is reminiscent of ugly accusations that have been made
about Jews’ place in America.

If there is to be an honest debate, then the assumption
that guns are an integral part of “American culture” and
“American political tradition” needs to be critically evalu-
ated rather than blindly accepted. Respected historians of
Colonial America have challenged the idea that guns were
a major part of Colonial American culture. For example, it is
estimated that perhaps only one in 10 people even owned a
gun at that time, compared to nearly four in 10 today.

To suggest that a gun-saturated society is a necessary
feature of American culture, or that any regulation of guns is
an aff ront to all authentic Americans, represents a particular
interpretation of the Second Amendment that only became
popular in the last half-century. JE
Stuart Charme
Philadelphia Letters should be related to articles that have run in the
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