Do Jews need the Diaspora in order to survive? - opinion

Conversations around the dinner table, both in Israel and abroad, take on special meaning during a period in which there are questions and fear about how this current conflict between Israel and Hamas will play out for Jews in Israel, as well as for Jews living in the Diaspora.

The combination of this unprecedented war in Israel, together with a hike in antisemitism worldwide that has seen no equal since the 1930s and ‘40s, poses the question about the fate of the Jews should Israel no longer exist. As I write these words, there is a sense of extreme guilt even to be penning such a sentence.

However, these thoughts came about in a dinner table conversation, where a view was expressed that Iran could reach a point when it might drop a nuclear bomb on our beautiful country. One guest remarked that history has shown that a Jewish Diaspora is essential if Jews are to survive. 

Can the Jewish people survive without Israel?

But is this the case today, when Jews are fast diminishing in the Diaspora? Europe is no longer a comfortable place for Jews to live, partly because of the demographic reality of a Muslim population, which numerically far outweighs the Jewish population. At the end of the day, numbers count, especially, it would appear, at a time of government elections.

How did the discussion around the dinner table arrive at the above unpalatable concept? It arose when I expressed the view that there is only one place for Jews today, and that place is Israel. My thoughts stem from the reality of antisemitism pervading the corridors of the most prestigious universities worldwide; the constant attacks on Israel have produced a spectacular rise in antisemitism. Recognizing that the future leaders of countries emanate from universities, it should be a cause for major concern to us Jews, wherever we may reside. 

To quote an eminent professor, invited to address a synagogue in London on the subject of Anglo-Jewry’s future, he shocked his audience when he stated that the only future for Jews is in the State of Israel. Demographic studies tend to endorse this view as the rate of assimilation in the Diaspora increases with each passing year. A notable finding is that with the increase in intermarriage, the majority of children in these marriages are no longer Jewish. 

BUT WHAT of America, asked one of my dinner guests, where the second-largest number of Jews reside? Demography, again, is relevant, with a decreasing number of Jews. One only has to read the May 2021 Pew Report to recognize that American Jewry is diminishing at an increasing rate. 

The report states that four out of 10 married Jews have a non-Jewish spouse (42%). Forty-seven percent of non-Orthodox Jews are married to a non-Jewish spouse, a numeric reality increasing every year. Among Jews who have married since 2010, some 61% have non-Jewish partners, compared to 18% who married before 1980. 

Among married Jews who say they have one Jewish parent, 82% have a non-Jewish spouse, compared with 34% where both parents are Jewish. One million children live in households without any Jewish adults but with at least one adult of Jewish background, although 900,000 are not raised as Jews in any way. Judging by this 2021 Pew Report, it is highly probable that in 2024 there will be even fewer Jews in the US than in 2021. 

If the above scenario is correct, then Israel must survive if there is to be a Jewish future. 

However, the current conflict between Israel and Hamas has evoked shock waves throughout Israel. The hitherto unanswered questions remain as to how we were caught unaware on October 7, resulting in the barbaric murder of over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, with over 250 taken hostage. While 123 hostages have been released (including the two dramatically rescued by the IDF just days ago), some 134 remain in captivity, including those thought to be dead. 

What is clear is the high cost of fighting this war. We have lost far too many of our brave soldiers, with thousands more wounded, including 4,000 sustaining severe wounds such loss of limbs and paralysis; this aside from the psychological trauma that many will be left with at the end of this war. 

While Israel is fighting Hamas in the South and Hezbollah in the North, the true enemy we are confronting is Iran, which is definitely a contributing factor to the extensive support currently given to Israel by the United States.

HOWEVER, THE big question still remains: Who will confront – not the proxies, but the source – Iran? Iran has been able to continue its production of nuclear weapons unabated while its proxies attack American forces in Syria and Iraq. The US has hit back but remains committed to removing its remaining forces from the Middle East in the near future.

America is preparing for a presidential election in November, which in itself does not bode well for Israel because the candidates need to show the electorate that the US wants to stay out of war and concentrate on its domestic issues.

Looking back, one is reminded of Germany in the 1930s; initially, no one wanted to confront Hitler. History recalls the Munich Agreement of September 29, 1938, when Britain’s prime minister Neville Chamberlain boasted of an international agreement reached with Hitler enabling him to retain Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland in exchange for Germany making no further demands for land in Europe. Chamberlain returned to Britain on September 30 saying, “Peace in our time.” Although relieved to hear this news, many wondered if appeasement was the best decision. 

As we view the West’s attitude toward Iran today, one can’t help but think that appeasement rather than confrontation is what the US is offering Iran. 

Back to the beginning, questioning how the current conflict between Israel and Iran’s proxies – Hamas and Hezbollah – would play out in relation to Israel and the Jews living elsewhere. If there was any doubt that we are one people, then the worldwide anti-Israel Jew-hating gatherings emphasize that we are perceived as one, irrespective of our country of residence. But when it comes to survival, we can only rely on ourselves; and our good fortune is that we live at a time when there is an Israel. Am Yisrael chai. 

The writer is chairperson of Israel, Britain, and the Commonwealth Association.