• Peretz's remarks represent the growing rift between the Orthodox parts of Israeli society and politics, and the majority of U.S. Jews who are much more liberal, and most of whom identify with the Reform or Conservative denominations.

How it happened: The July 1 Cabinet meeting included a briefing by Dennis Ross, chairman of the board of the "Jewish People Policy Institute" and a senior official in the Obama, Bush, and Clinton administrations, on trends in Jewish communities around the world, in particular in North America.

• During Ross' briefing, the ministers discussed the growing rate of marriages between Jews and non-Jews in America.
• Peretz said the assimilation of Jews around the world and mostly in the U.S. was "like a second Holocaust," and added that due to intermarriages in the last 70 years the Jewish people "lost 6 million people." Peretz's spokesman confirmed this account.
• Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz pushed back on Peretz's remarks and said assimilation wasn't a critical problem. Steinitz added: "First we need to stop disregarding and looking down on Jews in America that see themselves as Jews not only religiously but even more culturally and historically."
• Netanyahu concluded the discussion by saying he is less concerned by political trends among U.S. Jews who are more liberal than by the demographic trends.
• Netanyahu added that growing numbers of U.S. Jews are drifting away from Jewish traditions, a trend that is hard to reverse.