The Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies released its report on the American Jewish community's relationship with the state of Israel Aug. 25, maintaining that overall attachment to the Jewish State is still extremely strong. The report, conducted by Profs. Len Saxe (Heller) Charles Kadushin (SOC) and Theodore Sasson (SOC), as well as Ben Phillips, (GRAD), claims that "a majority of American Jews feel attached to Israel and the overall level of attachment has remained stable for nearly a quarter of a century." Kadushin referred requests for an interview to Sasson, and Sasson and Phillips could not be reached for comment by press time.

According to the report, 63 percent of the people surveyed reported an attachment to Israel, and 75 percent maintained that such an attachment is vital to their Jewish identity. The report explains that the data, "when compared to earlier surveys asking similar questions, indicate overall stability in American Jewish attachment to Israel over the past quarter-century."

The report explains that to collect this data, 50,000 households in the United States who identified as Jewish were surveyed about their views on Israel between June 15 and June 26.

In an interview with the Justice, Saxe explained that the decision to conduct this study occurred last spring, when reports in the media started circulating that the American Jewish community's attachment to Israel was on a fundamental decline. Saxe cited Peter Beinart's article, "The Failure of the Jewish Establishment," which appeared in The New York Review of Books June 10. Beinart claims in his article that younger American Jews are increasingly feeling less connected to Israel, which Beinart asserts is fueling an essential dissipation of the Zionist movement.

Saxe said that those working at the center were curious about the legitimacy of Beinart's claims, explaining that "we had a fair amount of evidence to suggest that that was not the case. But, we're empirical scientists, so we went out and tried to find out if it was true or not."

The Cohen Center report also contained data regarding information about the Mavi Marmara flotilla, the controversial incident last May in which Israeli soldiers boarded a Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip. According to the report, 72 percent of the people surveyed agreed with the Israel interpretation of the incident, while 9 percent agreed with the Turkish interpretation. The report also suggested that citizens' political beliefs are irrelevant to their support for Israel.

However, Saxe also said that the study was not intended to have political implications but was rather used as a test study for a broader report on Jewish identity that he said will be released at the end of the year.

"The goal is not to do political analysis-we're not political scientists; we're social psychologists, and also on the team are sociologists who are interested more broadly on issues of identity and particularly in respect to the Jewish community, . to the relationship between Israel, a homeland, to a diaspora community," he said.

In regards to the relationship between Jewish American citizens' age and their level of support for Israel, the report claimed that the younger respondents-those under 45-felt less of an attachment to Israel than the older generation but still considered the state fundamental to their Jewish identity. The report also states that attachment to Israel increased with age.

"In particular, for young American Jews, attachment is something that grows over time, that you start off being relatively hostile to Israel but your feeling of attachment identification and closeness grows over time," said Saxe.

Saxe also stated that young Americans' detachment from Israel could be mitigated through education.

"Those that are interested in studying closeness and attachment should look to ways of educating people and putting young adults and others in contact with . those who live in the homeland, that there's not a crisis and this is fundamentally an educational problem," he said.