It’s time to strengthen links across the Jewish diaspora

The trip to AJC provided clarity on how an American Jewish organisation navigates the political sphere with not only a bipartisan approach, but, from their perspective, a non-partisan one. While Trump and Mamdani have radically different manifestos, being able to appeal to both men is equally important for Jews – especially ones from New York. How should they balance engaging Mamdani in dialogue to guarantee their community’s basic safety and security, while simultaneously appealing to Trump for continued support for Israel’s war efforts?

Libbi Myers (left) with a friend in New York[Missing Credit]

During my time in the US, I learnt an immense amount about how Jews across the world are manoeuvring their own independent and collective challenges, many of which personally resonated. It was fascinating that, despite the incredible number of resources available to American Jews, many of their worries remain as familiar as our own.

However, what stood out to me most of all was the pure disconnect between the Anglo and American Jewish communities. The dialogue between our political or advocative organisations barely extends to ordinary community members.

Understandably, both sides have remained focused on confronting their own battles at home, forgoing the help and support so readily available to them from across the globe. This sentiment goes further than applying to just British and American Jews, but to almost all diaspora communities.

But improving global Jewish relations is not the sole responsibility of political or policy-related institutions. A visit to the Hillel headquarters (the American Jewish campus organisation) in Washington proved just this, where, through a frank discussion between American and British Jewish students and their representatives, we arrived at the realisation of the disservice we were doing to our own communities by practising such severe social isolation.

So, I propose that at a time when international communication is so sophisticated, reinforcing our transnational Jewish relationships should be a priority when it comes to responding to increasing antisemitism and consolidating our sense of collective identity.

Despite Israel being the nucleus of the Jewish people, maintaining socio-political connections between Jews across the world is, at its simplest, another way of bolstering Israel’s standing on the global stage. Beyond this, I echo the foundational concept which Judaism sits on – the significance of Jewish kinship.

Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh: all of Israel is responsible for one another.

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Libbi Myers is a former UJS leadership fellow and recent graduate of the University of Nottingham.