Do Appeals to the Diaspora Affect their Attachment to the Homeland? Findings from Jewish-Americans before and during the Israel-Hamas War

Abstract Due to the growing importance of diasporas in contemporary geopolitics, many states seek to cultivate diasporic attachment and encourage diaspora mobilization using strategic narratives. Are such appeals effective? We report results from a pre-registered two-wave survey experiment conducted among Jewish Americans before and during the Israel-Hamas war. Our intervention assesses the impact of three common appeals identified by prior work: threats to the homeland, shared historical memory, and discrimination in the diaspora’s country of residence. We find that none of these appeals influenced Jewish-Americans’ attachment to, support for, or intent to mobilize for Israel, even during a war in the “homeland.” Instead, baseline differences in these outcomes reflect deep-seated generational, denominational, and partisan cleavages within the Jewish American community. These findings suggest that intra-diaspora fragmentation and long-standing views of the “homeland” might dominate short-term rhetorical interventions. Consequently, strategic frames deployed by kin states and political animators may be less effective on diaspora audiences than intended.