Monday marked the last day for voting in the World Zionist Congress elections. A recent Jerusalem Post article titled “Young voices matter” was written by a potential US delegate, Allegra Levone, a member of Hadassah’s Young Judea movement, the largest Zionist youth movement in the United States.
Levone stressed the need for more investment in Jewish youth programs as preparation for the ever-increasing anti-Israel sentiment found on university campuses. Could this equally contribute toward ensuring that the Jewish youth of today support Israel tomorrow?
American Jewry is not alone in its concerns about how many Jews will be supporting the one Jewish state in the future.
Having recently returned from a family visit to London, where I was fortunate to enjoy unusually sunny days, the warmth of the sun could not dispel the disquiet I felt on reading the pre-Passover edition of The Jewish Chronicle. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world.
The first 12 pages were devoted to the question “How should our community manage debates over Israel?” The overall analysis noted that among young Jews, many identify with Israel much less than their parents and grandparents do.
Since the barbaric Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, Jewish student groups in the United Kingdom have emerged that oppose Zionism. The groups are currently active on campuses in Brighton, Birkbeck, Cardiff, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, University College London, and Warwick, where Jewish societies already exist.
Many of the members of these groups are proud to be seen participating in the virulent anti-Israel demonstrations. Clearly, these students are more concerned with the death toll in Gaza (whose figures are provided by Hamas) than with what happened to Israelis on October 7.
The UK’s Institute for Jewish Policy Research published a report in October 2024 assessing how the October 7 attacks on Israel and the Israel-Hamas war have impacted Anglo-Jewry one year later. The findings showed that British Jews in their 20s are the least likely age group to identify as Zionists. Some 57% of this age group identify as Zionists, compared with 63% of UK Jewry as a whole.
Identifying with the enemy
These figures reveal a propensity among the younger generation to identify with Israel’s enemies rather than comprehend the significance of a Jewish state at a time of an unprecedented level of antisemitism.
Could it be that these young Jews – prepared to identify with the internationally recognized terrorist group Hamas – believe that those opposing Israel will be spared from antisemitism? Has history taught us nothing? There were Jews in Germany in the 1930s who were more German than the Germans and those whose Jewish identity would not be halachically recognized, yet neither escaped the final death knell of Hitler and the Germans.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews – the official representative body of Anglo Jewry, consisting of over 300 representatives of organizations from across the religious spectrum – recently responded to a letter to the Financial Times by one-tenth of its membership, criticizing the continuation of the war in Gaza for which it blames Israel.
The initial board response to the publication of this letter was that its members held diverse views, with many others emphasizing the fundamental responsibility of Hamas for this ghastly situation. Is this the best response that the board can present?
As disturbing as it is to hear what one-tenth of the board’s membership feels regarding Israel, it is even more worrying to learn that younger Jews are disassociating themselves from the Jewish state.
Taking responsibility
While it appears comfortable for some to simply accept the situation, surely it is long overdue for Israel to take responsibility for its inability to counter the far-too-frequent, blatant anti-Israel projection by the international media, including the UK’s Sky and BBC.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, was recently invited to respond to the blatant anti-Israel presentation of a Sky News report on Gaza; his response was nothing short of embarrassing. Danon asked why the interviewer had not supplied him with her questions in advance so that he could have obtained the answers.
This in itself raises the question as to why our Israeli spokesmen appear consistently deficient in dealing with the flood of accusations against Israel raised by the media. Unfortunate as this is for those who watch TV news, it is considerably more damaging when viewed by youngsters online.
Israel's 'hasbara'
A vital unanswered question is why Israel’s hasbara (public diplomacy) leaves much to be desired.
The erosion of support for Israel by those who might well be the future leaders of Jewish communities worldwide must be addressed now. Israel must ensure that our projection of this war’s reality – especially to the outside world – includes the employment of the very best communicators.
We had an excellent one in Eylon Levy – an Israeli Oxford graduate – who made a positive impact on each one of his TV appearances and online presentations. He was dismissed from the position because, reportedly, he had formerly participated in demonstrations against the judicial reform.
As heartening as it is to learn from the UK’s United Jewish Israel Appeal – the prime sponsors of youth movements in Britain – that this year’s Israel-based summer plan for 16-year-olds has one of the highest participatory rates within the past 30 years, a question remains: Why are many Jewish university students not only drowning in the sea of Israel-bashing and antisemitism but identifying with those who wish to eliminate the one Jewish state?
Loud and clear
Allegra Levone’s words ring loud and clear: Israel must take on a more meaningful role in ensuring that the Diaspora youth of today will be supporting Israel tomorrow.
Together with the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency, additional Israel-based fact-finding missions should be provided specifically for pre-university youngsters. Israeli embassies worldwide must open their doors to Jewish youngsters and provide them with the reality of Israel rather than the fiction as projected by the media. There is no time to lose.
On a positive note, it was good to hear of President Isaac Herzog’s “Voice of the People Initiative” – a council of Diaspora Jewry representatives created by the president – that convened in March to discuss the future leadership of the Jewish world. The president recognizes the enormous challenges for Jewish students today.
We can only hope that our president’s initiative will bear fruit. As our sage Hillel said, “If not, now when?”
The writer is the president of the Israel, Britain, and the Commonwealth Association and has chaired public affairs organizations in Israel and the UK.