Most Americans assume that American and Israeli Jews are similar. This is not the case. In 2019, President Donald Trump said that American Jews who do not support Israel are disloyal not to America, but to the Jewish people. His remarks sparked a media firestorm in America, but not in Israel. The relationship between the worlds two largest Jewish communities in Israel and the United States is a complicated one. It is consequential to Judaism, but it sheds light also on broader cultural issues at the forefront of American life, such as nationalism, Judeo-Christian relations, antisemitism, and the special relationship between Israel and the United States. This book answers the following questions: Is Judaism a religion or a nation? Why are American Jews ambivalent about Israel? Why are Israelis ambivalent about American Jews? Why do Christian evangelicals support Israel without hesitation or reservation?Why are most American Jews Democrats and Israelis Republicans? Why is antisemitism flourishing on the left? Why is American Jewry demographically stagnant, while Israeli Jewry grows by leaps and bounds? What is the future of American Jewry and its relationship with Israel?
