Gary Rosenblatt at The Jewish Week writes: When journalist Peter Beinart talks about the growing alienation between young American Jews and Israel, and with their Jewish practice, he is quick to point out that he isn’t referring to the Orthodox.
In recent years there has been a major shift in voting patterns from Democrat to Republican among the Orthodox, primarily over the issue of Israel. Whether or not he is seen as a Muslim or follower of Rev. Jeremiah Wright — it seems unlikely he could be both — President Obama is viewed with deep suspicion, if not outright hostility, as a negative factor for the Jewish state.
The fact that the levels of strategic and military cooperation between Jerusalem and Washington are at a high point is trumped by the troubled personal relationship between Israel’s prime minister and the American president, and the feeling that Obama has disrespected Netanyahu publicly and privately.
More and more I hear friends in the Orthodox community express their willingness to vote for anyone but Obama in the 2012 election, convinced that he has no patience or sympathy for Israel. Even moderates in the Orthodox community on domestic issues say they are willing to tolerate an ultra-conservative president who will be demonstrably supportive of Israel.
That reflects the fact that many Orthodox Jews list “Israel” as the No. 1 issue on which they will determine who to vote for next year in the national elections, unlike most other Jews.
One reason why close to 80 percent of American Jews voted for Obama in 2008, and a majority will do so again next year — though his numbers are likely to decline — is that only a small percentage of the U.S. Jewish community is Orthodox, generally estimated at between 10 and 20 percent.
Most American Jews are still liberal, and see themselves as supportive of Israel, certainly, but also caring deeply about a wide range of domestic concerns, from the economy to human rights, and deeply distrustful of Republican candidates who speak about their fervent Christian beliefs.
According to a recent American Jewish Committee survey of American Jewish attitudes, 53 percent of American Jews disapprove of Obama’s policies toward Israel; among Orthodox Jews the disapproval rate is 81 percent.
Overall, 45 percent of American Jews approve of Obama, a 23 percent drop-off from 2008, but 6 percent higher than Americans in general; among Orthodox Jews, who represent 9 percent of the AJC sampling, Obama’s disapproval rate is 72 percent.
As society has become more open, religious families are increasingly conservative, culturally as well as politically. It’s true of Americans in general, and it certainly holds among Jews.
A number of surveys show that with Orthodox women averaging between 3.3 and 7.9 children (the more observant, the more children) as compared to 1.86 for other Jewish women, it won’t be too long before the Orthodox become the majority of an American Jewish community that will continue to decline in overall numbers.
Whether or not anything can be done to stem the growing divide within and among our people, at least we should be more aware of it, and talk about it. There are discussion groups between Jews and Christians, and Jews and Muslims; how about a few more between Orthodox Jews and the rest of the community?
