(1) The historical experiences of diaspora Jewish communities and Israel have diverged. Like siblings who grow up and move apart, we can still care about each other and be deeply involved in each other’s lives. It takes intentional effort, but the effort pays off for both sides.

(2) The work done by AIPAC and national and local Jewish community relations organizations bringing to Israel emerging leaders in government, business, and education is the basic groundwork for making Israel’s case to North America’s opinion makers.

When I first sought out other narratives of Israel, I was skeptical about how different the Palestinian stories were from what I grew up learning. But once I started to see any hint of truth in their stories, I was faced with a personal crisis. How could there be even a little truth in something so fundamentally different than what my community taught me? How can I trust the people who taught me something that can’t possibly be true?

After years of trying to reconcile my childhood education and the challenging truths I learned later on, I have finally found a space where I feel comfortable. I deeply care about Israel, and that care motivates me to wish to fix the flaws of the Jewish State.

However, I can easily see the perspective of my friends who have little to do with Israel. They felt too betrayed by their community for supporting an incomplete education. The solution is not to be scared to tell our children the broadest truth we know. If we are well educated and still connect with Israel, why should we expect any less of the next generations?