The Declaration of IndependenceCIE+
Explore the foundational text of the State of Israel.
Context and Consequences of Israel’s Proposed Judicial Overhaul (1:16:00)CIE+
As Israel turns 75 this spring, it is in the throes of a dynamic controversy over governance. Where might this ‘crisis’ or potential ‘political earthquake’ fit into Zionism’s history, and Israel’s tomorrows still to come?
Israel’s Proposed Judicial Overhaul: Events and Published Items, January 1-March 28, 2023CIE+
A chronology and selected commentaries on the first three months of the Netanyahu government’s effort to revamp the Israeli judiciary.
Netanyahu Advocates, Then Urges Pause in Judicial Overhaul in Speeches Four Days Apart, March 2023CIE+
Prime Minister Netanyahu offers two speeches to the nation within four days, first emphatically pushing ahead with the judicial overhaul process, then calling for a pause.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s Speech on Pausing Judicial Overhaul, March 2023CIE+
Citing deep disaffection among elements of Israeli military reserve units and expressing those concerns to Prime Minister Netanyahu privately, Defense Minister Gallant makes his opinion public, causing Netanyahu to fire him, resulting in hundreds of thousand of Israelis in the streets. Two days after Gallant’s speech, Netanyahu calls for a pause in pushing forward the judicial overhaul legislation.
Declaration — One School’s ApproachCIE+
Pressman Academy in Los Angeles, part of CIE’s Day School Initiative, has graciously shared its Megillat HaAtzmaut and accompanying, grade-specific lesson plans for exploring Israel’s Declaration of Independence at Yom Ha’Atzmaut. Reading of Megillat HaAtzmaut:…
Declaration Activity: A Look BackCIE+
This video, prepared as Israel approached its 73rd birthday in 2021, incorporates multiple perspectives on the previous year. Have members of your class, in small groups or collectively, create a similar video addressing the highs…
A “Constitutional” DemocracyCIE+
Israel, like Britain, is a parliamentary democracy, but, like Britain, Israel lacks a formal constitution. The following items show how the system works and include Israel’s proposed 1948 constitution and the Basic Laws that fill…
President Herzog’s Far-Ranging “People’s Directive” for Judicial Compromise, March 2023CIE+
President Herzog offers a compromise to the coalition’s proposed judicial overhaul in the forms of enacting a new Basic Law, and writing amendments to existing Basic Laws. Its detail suggests considerable behind the scenes discussion, and if only portions are enacted upon, this document could be seen in the future as a benchmark in Israel’s “constitutional” history.
President Herzog’s Speech on the Judicial Overhaul’s Impact on the Country, March 2023CIE+
After his urging compromise on the proposed judicial overhaul, President Isaac Herzog, in the starkest of terms, says Israel is approaching the “abyss of a civil war” as opponents and proponents head toward a showdown. He characterizes the proposed overhaul as “wrong, oppressive, and undermines our democratic foundations.”
President Isaac Herzog Appeals for Compromise on Judicial Overhaul, February 2023CIE+
In a rare address to the nation, President Herzog calls for deliberate compromise in the wake of the Netanyahu government’s proposed massive overhaul of the judicial system. The overhaul generated the largest public outpouring of opposition to a proposed government policy since Israel considered accepting German reparations in 1951-52.
18 Retired Israeli Supreme Court Judges Declare Opposition to Judicial Changes, February 2023CIE+
Amid the massive public protest of the Netanyahu government’s suggested changes to the judicial system, former Israeli Supreme Court judges join the attorney general in expressing opposition to the government proposals and call for a committee to review the judiciary and suggest a balanced plan for changes.
Attorney General Opposes Draft Revision of Basic Law: The Judiciary, February 2023CIE+
After Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara met with newly elected Justice Minister Yariv Levin about the Netanyahu government’s proposal to overhaul the judicial system, the attorney general crisply and cogently offers her opposition to that proposal.
President Herzog, December 2022: “Bahrain’s Warm Peace With Israel: What’s Next?”CIE+
President Isaac Herzog visited Manama, Bahrain, his fourth trip to a Middle Eastern country in 2022 (Abu Dhabi in January, Istanbul in March, Amman in June and Sharm el-Sheikh in November), all aimed at bolstering bilateral relations with Arab states. Talks in Bahrain focused on expanding trade and sharing, among others, Israeli solar and desalination technologies.
Are Ultra-Orthodox Parties Risking Losing the Allegiance of their Voters?CIE+
For many years the ultra-Orthodox were perceived as “captive voters” who would always comply with their rabbis’ instructions to cast their ballot for ultra-Orthodox parties. In today’s new reality such directives are no longer enough
Fritz Bauer, 1903-1968CIE+
Bauer was a German Jewish judge and prosecutor before and after World War II. He was arrested by the Nazis in 1933, lived in Denmark from 1936 to 1943, then escaped to neutral Sweden. He…
Mansour Abbas, 1974-CIE+
Abbas is a dentist who lives in the Galilee town of Maghar. Since 2019, he has served in the Knesset as the head of the Islamist party Ra’am. After Ra’am broke from the Joint List…
Ehud Barak, 1942-CIE+
As Israel’s 10th prime minister and last from the Labor Party from 1999 to 2001, Barak ended the occupation of southern Lebanon, participated in the 2000 Camp David talks, was rebuffed by Yasser Arafat in…
Naftali Bennett, 1972-CIE+
Israel’s 13th prime minister, Bennett was born in Haifa to U.S. immigrants. He was an IDF Sayeret Matkal commando and a software entrepreneur. He became the leader of the settler-supported Jewish Home party in 2012…
Esther Hayut, 1953-CIE+
Hayut is the Israeli Supreme Court’s president, a post she is due to hold until October 2023. The Jerusalem Post says she could be Israel’s most influential chief justice since Aharon Barak by reasserting the…
Isaac Herzog, 1960-CIE+
Herzog has served as the 11th president of Israel since July 2021. His father, Chaim Herzog, also served as president, and grandfather Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog was the chief rabbi of Ireland. A Tel Aviv native,…
Dalia Itzik, 1952-CIE+
The first female speaker of the Knesset from 2006 to 2009, Itzik was a teacher who began her political career as the chair of the Jerusalem Teachers Union for five years. She was elected to…
Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh, 1984-CIE+
A lifelong resident of the Druze village of Daliyat al-Karmel, Kamal-Mreeh in 2017 became the first non-Jewish woman to anchor a Hebrew-language news program on Israeli television. In 2019, as part of Blue and White,…
