By, Simi Lampert, The Jewish Daily Forward
Young Jews are now more attached to Israel than the previous generation, almost reaching the level of interest of their elders, a new poll reveals.
While Jews 45 and older were rated as having a 40-44 level of attachment to Israel, those between 35 and 45 only scored a 24. Those under 35 got a 39 out of 100, according to the poll carried out by the Workmen’s Circle.
The poll looked only at Jews who are not Orthodox and do not attend Jewish day school, thus reflecting the broader Jewish population and particularly the segment of the population that attends such programs as Birthright. It is these trips to Israel, and not a connection to Jewish life, which are being credited with the recent increase in Israel interest.
“It seems that the attachment levels for the entire age cohort are elevated due in large part to the increasing number of people who have visited Israel,” says Sociologist Professor Steven M. Cohen who, along with Professor Samuel Abrams, conducted the survey. A full 34% of the under-35 age group has been to Israel, compared with 22% of 35-44 year olds.
The poll dubbed the effect the “Birthright bump” in data.
Birthright Israel has sent nearly 300,000 Jews between the ages of 18 to 26 to Israel since 2000.
In spite of the increased interest in Israel, however, confidence in the Israeli government has actually dropped, leading to the conclusion that the young population is more nuanced in its views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
“Apparently, while attachment to Israel and trust in Israeli leaders are correlated, they are not the same sentiment,” says Abrams. “Among those under 35, people in my own age demographic, Jews can be both attached to Israel and assume fairly independent if not skeptical stances toward Israeli government policies.”
@ E.M.:I would say that Jewish students expressing such ideas are generally ignorant of Jewsih history in Europe, the swindling of Jews out of the majority of the Jewish homeland during and after the holocaust. These facts have been relegated to the sidelines by the state of Israel and Jewish NGO’s and red herrings of GC and “Palestinian refugees” substituted in their place. After all, what sane person with factual knowledge would discuss the enemy narrative and ignore his own. This is a case where ignorance is not bliss. Once these Jews, and most other global Jews, are properly educated to these facts I predict a massive change in the overall Jewish perspective and a righteous demand to correct the injustices.
There’s a regular cluster of negative nabobs on this thread, Ted. Don’t let them get you down.
As always – throughout history: sha’ar yashuv!
The polls are as reliable as those betting on horses. The modern youth are dating those of other religions and all the modern diversions. They don’t give a rats a–s about Israel. Except for a small minority.
Wishful thinking. A majority of young Jews could care less if Israel were nuked into obliviom tomorrow. On college campuses, Israel.is regarded as the new Nazi Germany and comsequently, Israel is a,source of embarassment for young Jews.