A Tale Of Two Jewries

In Zohan and the Quest for Jewish Utopia, Michael Oren traces the suspicious attitudes Jews in American and Israel have had towards each other since before 1948. Despite the effect the Holocaust and The Six Day War have had in bringing the two together--even to this day, there is something else going on beneath the surface:

But despite signs of a growing closeness between the two communities, the schism still endures and, in some dimensions, deepens. Israel, having surpassed the United States as home to the world’s largest single concentration of Jews, is rapidly generating a national identity independent of the diaspora. Young Israelis, especially, are eschewing American cultural influences for those of India, China, and the Middle East. And the Israeli economy, currently growing at a rate of more than 5 percent, is annually less in need of American aid.

Read the whole thing.

While Oren's historical overview is very interesting, the above paragraph bothers me: Just how independent can Israel's national identity be of the diaspora if all it is doing is merely "eschewing American cultural influences for those of India, China, and the Middle East"?

On the other hand, Jews in the US will claim Israel is important yet put Israel low in priority when considering the issues that determine who they will vote for.

What will happen as American and Israel Jews go their own way pursuing their national identities?

Technorati Tag: Israel.