Some years ago, a book made the rounds which was called “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” – which basically said that each gender is accustomed to its own set of values and rules – and metaphorically speaking live on different planets.
The same can be said for American Jews vis a vis Israel. American Jews live in another universe where they think that the Palestinian Arabs, "settlements" and Iran are the things dominating Israeli discussions. In fact, after having spent the summer in Israel, I can say that I heard very few discussions on these issues.
In Israel, people (naturally) think about family, work and life. Common complaints these days? Traffic. Real Estate pricing. Schools. And other issues of day-to-day life.
If one listened to American Jews on Israel, one would think that the so-called “occupation”, Iranian nukes or the ongoing election cycle are the biggest issues facing Israel – but if you listened to Israelis, not at all. The reality is vis-à-vis foreign and military issues, there is very little difference between the major political parties in the upcoming elections. There’s no one on the Palestinian Arab side to speak with and Israelis uniformly believe Iran cannot or will not be allowed to obtain nukes.
In 2022 Israel was ranked the 9th happiest country in the world in the annual UN-sponsored World Happiness index. It came in 12th last year, up from 14th in 2020. Having spent time in Israel my entire life, I can say that it’s the first time I can remember that people simply don’t want to leave Israel.
