New Knesset Caucus to Address Widening Gap between Israel and American Jews
January 24, 2012 by eJP
http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/new-knesset-caucus-to-address-widening-gap-between-israel-and-american-jews/

Focused on deepening the understanding and relevance of the relationship
with the American Jewish community, a new Israel-American Jewish Knesset
Caucus will be inaugurated tomorrow. The Caucus will raise awareness among
MK’s, Knesset committees and lobbies concerning agendas and priorities of
Israel and the American Jewish community. With a Teleseker (TNS) poll
sponsored by the Ruderman Family Foundation on January 19, 2012, showing a
vast majority (87.5%) of Israelis believing that the American Jewish
community is important to the future and security of the State of Israel,
this new initiative is extremely timely.

The poll also found that 70.8% of Israelis think it important that
legislators consider the Diaspora when deliberating on legislation like “Who
is a Jew.”

MK Ronit Tirosh, Caucus Chairperson, launched the Caucus to ensure that this
crucial relationship stays strong. “I came back from the Ruderman Fellows
Program in the US last year with the understanding that Israel is in danger
of losing one of its most critical strategic allies. As times change, and
the US Jewish population becomes less engaged and less attached to Israel,
the bedrock of traditional US support of Israel becomes less of a certainty
too.” Tirosh was one of six MK’s to participate in the first Ruderman
Fellows Program in 2011, which is designed to educate MK’s about the
American Jewish community.

Expected to serve as a dynamic platform for open and candid conversation on
relevant and controversial issues affecting the two communities, the new
Caucus will become a central Knesset address for all issues related to the
American Jewish community.