Inspired by heathlander
Dedicated to Red Auerbach

Questions sometimes arise about American Jewish attachment to Israel. In Arab and Jewish Americans agree, I discussed a Zogby poll commissioned  by Americans for Peace Now and the Arab American Institute, which uncovered considerable agreement between the two communities. (See Tables 9 and 10.)

This diary discusses American Jewish Attachment to Israel (pdf), a recent study from social scientists at Brandeis University. One interesting discovery is that, "[t]o the extent that American Jews participate in the broader political culture, the increasingly pro-Israel orientation of the American public likely provided support for specifically Jewish feelings of attachment."

The study also undermines the claim that younger American Jews are becoming less attached to Israel.

Exit polls show Senator Barack Obama having substantial support from American Jewish voters. But questions continue to be asked about how he relates to issues of concern to the Jewish community, especially the security of Israel. Some questioning no doubt stems from his limited national record. But it also surely reflects a campaign to define him as "anti-Israel" by some political adversaries and opponents of a "two states for two peoples" peace settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.

This diary attempts to show, based on Senator Obama's own words and polling data about American Jewish opinion, that,

a President Obama would be a true friend of Israel because he recognizes its need for lasting security and that, a necessary component of Israeli security is a peace settlement with the Palestinians based on two states for two peoples; and

Barack Obama's views coincide with the mainstream of American Jewish public opinion.

There is good sign that major American Peace Groups are now making a move to further and more aggressively promote a just peace in the middle east by combining efforts.

Americans for Peace Now and the Israel Policy Forum are tentatively discussing a merger?

JTA has learned that top representatives of both groups met in New York Tuesday to informally discuss merging into a single organization that would advocate for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and greater U.S. engagement in encouraging such an outcome.

The outcome of Tuesday's meeting was that each organization's board would consider in the near future whether to enter into more formal discussions.

An op-ed article in today's Boston Globe by the executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine and the spokesman for Americans for Peace Now demonstrates that Arab and Jewish Americans can work together for an historic compromise, "a grand deal that a majority of Israelis and Palestinians have repeatedly said they support," namely, "an end to Israeli territorial claims in the West Bank and an end to Palestinian claims inside Israel."

"The question is not whether a two-state solution is attainable. The question is whether Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans will exercise the political will to make it happen." If Arab and Jewish American organizations can work together to achieve an end-of-conflict, two-state peace between Israel and Palestine, surely we here at DKos ought to be involved with them.