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ByRachelZoll The Associated Press NEWYORK Wellbeforethis week's elections, Israel had already become a source of division for American Jews, who bitterly debated the ever-expanding Jewish set- tlements in Palestinian ter- ritories and the acceptable boundaries of dissent from Israeli policies. The outcome of the Is- raeli election will only deepen that polarization, experts say. Benjamin Ne- tanyahu's anti-Arab cam- paign rhetoric and his re- jection of a Palestinian state, they say, will further splinter American Jews into hard left and right camps, and intensify conflicts over what it means to be loyal to the Jewish state. "The trend toward frag- mentation and weakening the center — those trends are already in place and they're just going to gallop forward now," said Theo- dore Sasson, a Jewish-stud- ies professor at Middlebury College and author of "The New American Zionism." "It's going to make Israel an even more divisive issue in the American Jewish com- munity." American Jews gener- ally still retain a strong personal link to Israel. In a 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center, about 70 percent of American Jews said they felt very or some- what attached to Israel, re- gardless of any misgivings about the country's policies. Most scholars don't expect that emotional connection to weaken for now because of Netanyahu's victory. However, his last-minute attempt to turn out voters by warning Arab citizens were voting "in droves" ran- kled many American Jews, who are overwhelming lib- eral and deeply involved in advocating for civil rights. The World Union for Pro- gressive Judaism, which represents the liberal Re- form Movement, the larg- est branch of Judaism in the U.S., said in a statement, "No public figure should la- ment fellow citizens exercis- ing their right to vote freely, expressing themselves openly, and peacefully in accordance with the values of a democracy." Netanyahu's disavowal of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been met with alarm in the United States. Support for a two-state so- lution has been a central goal for most Jewish pro- Israel groups. Rabbi Steve Gutow, pres- ident of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the public policy arm for Jewish com- munity agencies around the country, released a state- ment congratulating Ne- tanyahu, then added, "we believe that progress can be made in creating two states for two peoples, and that the next government can make sure that all Is- raelis, Arab and Jew alike, feel a sense of security and belonging in the nation we care so deeply about." Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the Union for Reform Ju- daism, an association of 862 American synagogues, said in a phone interview that rejecting a Palestinian state "flies in the face of every de- mographic study of Ameri- can Jewry and what aligns with their values." But the hawkish Zionist Organiza- tion of America called the election outcome "a vic- tory for realism and secu- rity, and a defeat for poli- cies based on fantasy and appeasement." On Thursday, Netanyahu said in a TV interview he is still committed to Pales- tinian statehood if circum- stances improve. For decades, American Jews were willing to set aside partisan differences on Israeli policies to present a unified front to the U.S. government. But in recent years, pro-Israel groups on the right and the left have emerged that reject that consensus approach. The dovish pro-Israel lobby J Street which formed in 2009 expects 3,000 peo- ple at its national conven- tion next week. The con- servative group Stand With Us, which works with the Israeli government, has during a dozen years built branches in the U.S., Israel and Europe and become a leading voice against the boycott-divestment-sanc- tions movement against Is- rael. The organization be- lieves only Israelis, not American Jews, should de- cide Israel policy. These tensions run not only through Jewish or- ganizational life, but also within synagogue commu- nities and families. Ameri- can rabbis carefully weigh how they discuss Israel from the pulpit for fear of losing their jobs. Some avoid the issue altogether. The Jewish Council for Pub- lic Affairs has responded by starting a civility proj- ect, "Resetting the Table," that trains Jews in their 20s and 30s to promote respect- ful discussion on Israel and other issues. CULTURAL CONNECTION A erelection,splitoverIsrael widens among American Jews DANBALILTY—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets supporters at the party's election headquarters In Tel Aviv on Wednesday. By Ian Deitch The Associated Press JERUSALEM Days af- ter winning re-election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday backtracked from hard-line statements against the establishment of a Palestinian state in the face of a diplomatic back- lash. In the closing days of his campaign, Netanyahu said there could be no Palestin- ian state while regional vi- olence and chaos persist — conditions that could rule out progress on the issue for many years. The com- ments, aimed at appeal- ing to his nationalist voter base, angered the Obama administration, which views a two-state solution as a top foreign policy pri- ority. Netanyahu said in a TV interview Thursday that he remains committed to Palestinian statehood — if conditions in the region improve — and to the two- state vision first spelled out in a landmark 2009 speech at Israel's Bar Ilan University. "I haven't changed my policy," he said in a full interview with MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports," excerpts of which will be shown on NBC's "Nightly News" later on. "I never re- tracted my speech." At the time, he said he would agree to a demili- tarized Palestinian state that recognizes Israel as a Jewish state. The Western- backed Palestinian Presi- dent Mahmoud Abbas has recognized Israel as a state but refuses to recognize its Jewish character, and last year formed a unity gov- ernment backed by the Hamas militant group, which is sworn to Israel's destruction. In the interview, Ne- tanyahu also pointed to the presence of hostile Is- lamic groups across the region and said that any captured territory handed over to Abbas would be taken over by militants. Is- rael withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and two years later Hamas seized control of the coastal territory, oust- ing forces loyal to Abbas. "I don't want a one-state solution, I want a sustain- able, peaceful two-state so- lution, but for that circum- stances have to change," Netanyahu said. "And ev- ery territory that is va- cated in the Middle East is taken up by Islamist forces." "You can't impose peace. And in any case, if you want to get peace, you've got to get the Palestin- ian leadership to abandon their pact with Hamas and engage in genuine ne- gotiations with Israel for an achievable peace," Ne- tanyahu said. "You have to have real negotiations with people who are com- mitted to peace. We are. It's time that we saw the pressure on the Palestin- ians to show that they are committed too," he said. A day before the elec- tion Netanyahu told the Is- raeli nrg news website that a Palestinian state would not be established on his watch because of the cur- rent climate in the region. "Whoever ignores that is burying his head in the sand. The left is doing that, burying its head in the sand time after time," he said in the video inter- view. When asked if that means a Palestinian state will not be established if he is elected, Netanyahu replied, "Indeed." The remarks drew heavy criticism from Washing- ton, which said Wednesday that it was re-evaluating its options after Netanya- hu's hard-line comments. Relations between Netan- yahu and the Obama ad- ministration were already at a low point after Netan- yahu addressed Congress earlier this month on ne- gotiations with Iran. MIDDLE EAST Ne ta ny ah u ba ck tr ac ks o n Palestinian state stance By Alan Scher Zagier The Associated Press ST. LOUIS Marcus John- son Jr.'s parents figured a sunny day at the park was just what their son needed while recovering from heart surgery. Instead, the outing turned deadly when the 6-year-old was shot in the chest in an attack the par- ents said stemmed from a traffic dispute. A funeral for their boy was held Thurs- day, just over a week after the family visited O'Fallon Park on the north side of St. Louis following a doc- tor's appointment. The occupants of a car fired on the family's mini- van as it left the park. The boy's 15-year-old brother and a 69-year-old family friend were also wounded. The boy's father, Mar- cus Johnson Sr., said he re- turned fire in self-defense as the rolling shootout con- tinued for several blocks. Three other children — ages 8, 10 and 11 — were also in the vehicle. Police say the March 11 shooting remains under in- vestigation but declined to discuss specifics. Officer Don Re was less reticent in his personal blog, describing in detail his response to a "senseless death" when he was called to the hospital where an- other officer had driven the child in his patrol car rather than wait for an ambulance. "We were all hoping, but we also knew that it was going to take a miracle for that boy to live," he wrote. "He was not granted that miracle." "Why did this boy have to die?" he continued. "Was it disrespect? Drugs? A woman? Money? All stupid reasons to fire a gun any- where near another human being, let alone children, but here we are again, with an- other child lost to violence." The young heart patient's death rattled St. Louis, which has been enduring a crime surge. The 2014 ho- micide rate was one of the city's highest in nearly two decades. "There was a line drawn," funeral director Ronald Jones said, referring to an unwritten code of the streets that protected the innocent from violence. "Kids, family — they were off-limits." In an unrelated incident, a 1-year-old boy was shot in both legs Tuesday in an- other city park. That child survived. The elder Johnson, 33, said his youngest son was diagnosed with a heart ail- ment as an infant. He and his wife, Qiana Johnson, lost another child in 2012, a son who suffocated in his sleep at 4 months old. The dispute at the park apparently began when Marcus Johnson Sr. had a brief conversation with an acquaintance in a nearby car that stopped while the two chatted. A passenger in another vehicle got out of that car to express his displeasure, they said. "He just looked at us like he had the devil in his eyes," said Qiana Johnson, 34, a stay-at-home mother who is five months pregnant. "I saw the expression on his face and didn't feel com- fortable anymore." Marcus Johnson Sr. said his son was unrelentingly cheerful despite his condi- tion, which required daily medication to control in- flammation of his blood vessels and extra caution to prevent falls that could lead to bruising and blood clots. "He'd come in the room and smile," his father said through tears, the hospi- tal visitor's badge from two weeks ago still on his sweatshirt. "He'd light up the whole room." On Thursday, mourn- ers filled the sanctuary, overflowing into hallways of the funeral home. The crowd included many chil- dren younger than the one being remembered. Community support has been swift. After reports that the family needed $5,000 to cover funeral costs, an online fundrais- ing campaign by a St. Louis alderman generated nearly three times that amount. TRAFFIC DISPUTE Young heart patient's shooting death shakes St. Louis residents MARCUS JOHNSON SR. — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS This image shows Marcus Johnson Jr.'s funeral pamphlet. Select"Subscribe"tabinlowerrightcorner Complete information for automatic weekly delivery to your email inbox That's it! This FREE service made possible by the advertisers in TV Select Magazine Kindly patronize and thank them. Click on their ads online to access their websites! FREE online subscription to TV Select Magazine Digital edition emailed to you, every Saturday! 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