Israelis are rediscovering their connection to world Jewry

The Gaza War is prompting Israelis to recognise their common fate with Diaspora Jews, writes ELAN EZRACHI.

Historically, the status of world Jewry has not been a central motif in Israeli public life. Israelis tend to be distanced and uninterested in the life and lore of Jews around the world.

Looking at more than 100 years of history, it can be said that Israelis viewed Jews around the world as either a reservoir for aliya, or as funders of the Zionist project. This is a serious "blind spot" in the Israeli discourse.

The Gaza War is opening a new level in the Israeli consciousness regarding world Jewry that will reverberate in the coming years.

Yochi Rapoport, director of Women of the Wall, expressed this change in an article entitled, “It has been proven again – diaspora Jewry is a full partner” published on N12.

She wrote that despite calls to world Jewry to stay out of internal Israeli affairs and attempts to exclude and insult Diaspora Jews, this war proved the extent of the common fate and interdependence between Israel and Jews around the world.

“This war is going to end, one day and in the ‘day after’ we will have to seriously discuss the role that we give to our Diaspora brothers and sisters here in Israel. The State of Israel cannot continue to relate to their lifestyles and beliefs with dismissal,” Rapoport wrote.

Highlighting issues such as conversion, the status of the Western Wall and recognition of the non-Orthodox streams, Rapoport added that the Israeli establishment needed to develop a positive attitude to Jews around the world and to show respect for what was important for them.

Tani Frank, an activist in state and religious affairs, has observed that Israelis are thinking about the basic tenets of belonging to the Jewish people and the meaning of this belonging.

In an article entitled, “In the ‘day after’, we will need to recalculate our relation to Diaspora Jewry” published in the right-wing newspaper Makor Rishon, Frank wrote that the events of October 7 have changed the relationship with world Jewry.

Israelis now realise that our enemies do not distinguish between Jews in Kibbutz Be’eri and Jews in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, and between staunch Israel supporters and those who happened to be stranded in an airplane in Dagestan facing a local mob.

It is in our interest as Israelis to include all circles of the Jewish people in our collective experience. “This is how we will secure our sustainability for future generations. This is the time for the concept of the Jewish People, all of it”.

The One Hundred Initiative think tank is an independent civil society organisation that seeks to address the crises facing Israeli politics and society by advancing a comprehensive centrist agenda. The initiative is a partnership between senior figures from Israel’s tech industry, business sector, public sector and third sector.

After October 7, the One Hundred Initiative published a revised set of ideas on rebuilding Israel, including an article entitled, “Strengthening the Covenant with World Jewry”.

It calls for the State of Israel to invest in strengthening the connection with the Jewish world, recognise all religious streams and the unique contribution of world Jewry to Israel. It also proposes a series of practical tools for consultation, mobilisation and cooperation in times of peace and war. 

This change is also happening on a personal level. Maya Tevet Dayan, an Israeli poet and writer, has a PhD in Indian philosophy and literature and translates Sanskrit poetry into Hebrew and English.

Tevet Dayan is spending a year as an artist in residence at the University of San Diego. The war and the climate on campus caught her by surprise and shocked her. Since then she has been writing extensive posts on Facebook describing her feelings.

One of her main themes is how she is rediscovering her connection to the Jewish People. She joined a group called “mothers against antisemitism”. She did that out of curiosity and was shocked by the stories that were displayed in that group. She talks about her yearning for contact with people who share her sentiments, and those are Israelis in America, as well as Jews.

She writes: “Since October 7, many Jews have contacted me and when I meet them, it happens. I feel that their fear is pushing them to turn to Israelis. Their souls and mine connect instantaneously, and it is moving. I sense that American Jews are discovering us now and we are discovering them, and this is tremendous. This is only in its beginning, but already tremendous”. 

Illustration: Avi Katz