Uzi Rebhun

In the past, emigration from Israel was perceived as a sign of weakness and an act of prioritizing personal and material aspirations over collective commitment.

As nationwide surveys attest, American Jews’ attachment to Israel has remained fairly stable to this day.

The divorce rate is on the rise: from 5% to 12% among Jews in the past 50 years, up two and a half times.

A central feature of Israeli society is its Jewish-affiliated majority alongside other religious minorities.

Only about 5% of Israelis rate ethnic cleavage as the main source of tension in Israel - stronger by far are tensions between Arabs and Jews or Right and Left.

Indeed, more than three and a quarter of a million people have “made aliyah” since 1948. Aliyah comes in waves, massive in some years, followed by downturns, and back again.

Over time, the population of Israel has increased to just over two million in 1960, about four million in 1980, nearly six and a half million at the turn of the current century.

We need to confront them truthfully and acknowledge the opportunities and challenges that they present to Jewish vitality in 21-century America.

If current trends continue, the ratio of Jews and non-Jews will level off around mid-century, and thereafter Jews in Jerusalem will be the minority.