A RELIGION, NOT A RACE:

[M]any rabbis who attended the inaugural meeting of the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition in Washington, D.C., this week worry that the non-Orthodox movements are moving away from Israel, and they hope the new group can strengthen their peers' commitment to the country. The group's leadership points to the Reform movement, which was less supportive of Israel's offensive in Gaza last May than it was during a similar assault in 2014. And Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, the coalition's founder, cited an open letter critical of Israel that was signed by 90 rabbinic students during the violence last year as evidence of a problem.

"There was a time when it was understood to be a rabbi meant to be a lover of Israel," Weinblatt, who runs a Conservative shul in suburban Maryland, told the nearly 40 rabbis who gathered for the three-day meeting. "That has become less so today."

There are other reasons to think a shift may be coming in the larger American Jewish community, with 25% of Jewish voters saying in a July survey that they believed Israel was an "apartheid state" and 22% stating it was "committing genocide against the Palestinians" -- both figures that spike among younger Jews.

"I have seen this drift," Weinblatt, who runs a Conservative shul in suburban Maryland, said in an interview. "I've seen the predilection to be critical and it's a trend that's grown in the rabbinic group."

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