Who Speaks for American Jews Now?

Major Jewish organizations often represent no one but their own major donors. But would elected representatives offer an improvement?

By Elliott Abrams

Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy have written a wise and fascinating analysis of Israel-Diaspora relations, and have then proposed a path toward ameliorating them.

As they explain, today’s situation is unprecedented: the world’s Jews live mostly, and for now in almost equal numbers, in just two places, Israel and the United States. What’s more, they write:

[T]oday, for the first time in 2,000 years, most Jews live under two radically separate constitutional arrangements. Rather than being united by a shared homelessness, half choose to live at home as sovereign citizens in the Jewish homeland, and most of the other half feel at home elsewhere.

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Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy have written a wise and fascinating analysis of Israel-Diaspora relations, and have then proposed a path toward ameliorating them.

[T]oday, for the first time in 2,000 years, most Jews live under two radically separate constitutional arrangements. Rather than being united by a shared homelessness, half choose to live at home as sovereign citizens in the Jewish homeland, and most of the other half feel at home elsewhere.