I have argued for some time that there is a fundamental difference between how a Jew sees him or herself in the Diaspora from self-identity in Israel.
Anshel Pfeffer in Ha'aretz writes:
"Israel, the Zionist project, was founded... to serve as a secular Jewish alternative to life in the Diaspora. And while it's far from perfect, for most Israelis, it is still a credible option. They are not blind to its shortcomings, but they are still content with living their Jewish lives here."
Pfeffer is right, but mostly he is wrong. That many early Zionists were secular and envisioned a secularization of Judaism is undeniable. However, many early Zionists were also deeply religious. To say that Zionism is an exclusively secular pursuit is simply wrong. To say that secular Israelis are living "Jewish lives" is equally wrong.
Jews in the Diaspora have no real way to define themselves as Jews except in relation to a religious context. Whether they are themselves religious and define their Judaism through their religious sensitivities or in opposition to religion, the Diaspora Jewish identity is essentially one of religion or its rejection.
Jews in Israel have a national identity that they can substitute for or which can sublimate religious identity. Israeli religious involvement suffers from the same forces that have driven religion largely out of the public space in Europe: an exclusivist and rigid view of religion leads most people to opt out of religious engagement altogether. Israelis may be very much interested in the questions that religion can address, but the right-wing's hold on all religious expression provides them with no outlet. Therefore, they are driven towards a nationalist view of Jewish identity that denies space to a religious outlook.
That Judaism means nothing more than Israeli citizenship for a majority of Israeli Jews is not a circumstance for celebration but one that should raise profound concern for all who cherish what it means to be Jewish.
