Israeli Figures Warn of Weakening Ties With Younger Jewish Americans

Israeli officials and Jewish communal leaders voiced concern Friday that younger Jewish Americans are becoming less connected to Israel. An AP-NORC survey of 1,022 Jewish adults found about four in 10 religious Jews under 45 said supporting Israel was highly important to their Jewish identity, compared with about half of older religious Jews. Itai Nixon of Israel's Diaspora Affairs Ministry said Israel is the state of the Jewish people, not only Israelis. Lesley Sachs of the Israel Movement for Progressive and Reform Judaism called close diaspora ties a strategic asset.