When Michael Oren, who served as Israel’s ambassador to the US and as deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, calls on the diaspora Jews to “come home” (Yedioth Ahronoth 06.05) because of rising antisemitism, this message quickly spreads far and wide. It has even reached San Francisco, where I was staying as part of a series of meetings with Jewish communities in 20 cities in the United States. It arrives and hits hard.

Oren ostensibly demonstrates concern for American Jewry and the diaspora, but most Jewish communities actually interpret this “concern” as abandonment, almost as betrayal. The former ambassador seeks to discuss the “implications for Israel” of the changes among diaspora Jews but entirely ignores the “elephant in the room,” which is the implications of the Israeli government’s policies for diaspora Jewry.

How would Israelis react if, after October 7th, American leaders told us that we should immigrate to the US because it is not safe to live in Israel? We would reject such a suggestion outright.

Yes, around the world there are more and........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)