72% of US Jews, 75% of Israeli Jews feel strongly connected, according to new study

A large majority of Jewish Americans and Israeli Jews feel a strong shared connection, according to a new survey commissioned by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), with 72% of Jewish Americans and 75% of Israeli Jews reporting such a bond. The survey included 4,000 U.S. and Israeli Jews and focused on identity and connection.

The report found that 62% of Jewish Americans described Israelis as extended family, up from 46% in 2021. During the same period, the share of Israeli Jews who defined American Jews as extended family increased from 45% to 53%. The report noted what it termed a “rise in peoplehood.”

Mimi Kravetz, chief impact and growth officer at the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), said the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack has strengthened ties between Diaspora Jews and Israel.

“Over the last three years, a surge in Jewish engagement here at home has come alongside a rising sense of connection to Jews in Israel too,” Kravetz said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.

“Now there’s an opportunity to strengthen those connections using the kind of relationship-building strategies our data show work, including travel, shlichut [emissary work], and community partnerships that our communities have invested in for decades.”

The report also found that 68% of Israeli Jews believe Diaspora Jews genuinely care about Israel following the Oct. 7 attack.

The data showed an association between travel to Israel and a stronger sense of shared identity. Jewish Americans who travel to Israel are 1.7 times more likely to feel connected to Israel. The figure rises to 3.8 times for American Jews who have visited Israel more than once, while those who have lived in Israel are 11.2 times more likely to identify with the Jewish state.

Israelis who participate in Jewish communal life in the United States are 2.8 times more likely to feel an affinity with Jewish Americans.

American Jewish respondents cited several reasons for their connection to Israel, including its status as the historical Jewish homeland and a safe place for Jews worldwide. Others said Israel is a necessity following the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were murdered.

Kravetz and Rebecca Caspi, JFNA’s senior vice president for Israel, noted in an op-ed on Monday that the survey constitutes only the first part of a two-part analysis of the Jewish communities in the U.S. and Israel.

“Part two will address where American and Israeli Jews see things differently, and why,” the authors revealed. The report also revealed that a majority of Israeli Jews (68%) believe that Diaspora Jews genuinely care about Israel after the October 7 attack.

“We are in another challenging season for the Jewish people,” Caspi and Kravetz assessed. “It would be easy to conclude that we have more differences than we have commonalities, and to approach discussions from a place of distance and division. But there is an opportunity in this tense moment to recognize our deep sense that we are one community.”

“Our data confirm that today we feel closer than ever, and we recognize that our lives are shaping each other’s. Perhaps even more importantly, our data show what we can do to strengthen and perpetuate this trend."

Caspi and Kravetz said maintaining these ties means continuing to invest in travel and programs that bring people together. They also pointed to joint volunteer projects, philanthropic partnerships, business and professional exchanges, and digital opportunities for Jews to learn from one another, saying these efforts could reach those who are less engaged and make connections across the global Jewish community “accessible to everyone.”