The second generation of Israelis in the U.S. are an important bridge linking Diaspora Jews and Israel, and must not be discounted, senior officials in the Israeli American Council say. IAC Chairman Adam Milstein and Chief Executive Officer Shoham Nicolet told Israel Hayom that their organization was noticing something new. "We see more and more second-generation [Israeli Americans], especially college aged, reaching out to us," Nicolet said. He explained that college students view the IAC as a way to reconnect with their own Jewish identities, even if they had never been to Israel, because they had been raised on Israeli values and culture at home. Nicolet attributes this growing interest to the fact that the IAC avoids taking political or religious stances on any of the major issues facing the U.S. and Israel. The organization also refrains from expressing a position on immigration to Israel. "The parents' generation obviously constitutes the primary interest in the organization, because they are looking for that connection to Israel. The second generation are connecting mainly thanks to their parents," he explains. Nicolet notes the added value of the Israeli community in the U.S., which he says is worth its weight in gold, and points out the battles currently underway in California and Nevada against the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. According to Nicolet, the IAC's success in getting laws passed against the BDS movement was, in large part, thanks to the Israelis who, he says, put a human face on the issue. According to Nicolet, seeing the Israelis affected by the movement helped legislators understand that boycotts and sanctions carried real ramifications for real people. While the IAC doesn't feel it revolutionized the expat Israeli community in the U.S., it certainly managed to fill a void experienced by Israelis in the U.S. who desire continuity and wish to perpetuate their Israeli heritage while simultaneously integrating into their new home. "We define ourselves not as Israeli Americans, but as Americans who come from Israel," Milstein says, adding that the organization aims not only to satisfy the need for a defined identity but also to leverage the strength of Israelis in the U.S. and use them as a shield against anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiments. "It is important to have a very strong State of Israel, and it is also important to have very strong Jewish communities [outside of Israel]. The objective is to strengthen one another," Milstein observes. Nicolet says that times have changed and today, U.S. Jewish communities understand that the Israelis among them only make them stronger. He notes that the disparaging attitude toward Israelis who leave Israel no longer exists.
