Arutz Sheva spoke with Shira Ruderman, director of the Ruderman Family Foundation at the Haaretz Judaism, Israel and Diaspora Conference in Jerusalem on Thursday.

The Ruderman Family Foundation is a private foundation active in Israel and the United States and strives to strengthen the relationship between Israel and the American Jewish community.

"This conference brings together 2,000 people with diverse backgrounds," Shira said. "The message is that we have to be pluralistic but in a sense of diversity and not necessarily in a religious sense. I think this is the message that you see here today. People are extremely moved and feel responsible to be part of the conversation."

"The state of Israel is a joint venture of world Jewry with the Jews who live here in Israel. I think it's a very natural change that now that we have an established country that's very stable and successful that we can act as the responsible party to the communities that have good challenges at times and uncomfortable challenges at times."


Is there a rift or is it mainly headlines and political statements?

"I would say that we cannot have conversations based on arrogance, we cannot have conversations only at times of crisis and we cannot have insulting conversations. As long as we have conversations that are respectful and show partnership and responsibility, we can bring bridge the gap that we have today. Because we do have a gap and we have a lot to work on."