President Isaac Herzog, Assembled Speeches and Abbreviated Remarks, 2016-2021CIE+
Fifteen of President Isaac Herzog’s speeches and interviews from 2016 to 2021 show his desire for tighter ties between Israel and the Diaspora.
Explainer: The Presidency (6:18)CIE+
On June 2, 2021, Isaac Herzog was elected over Miriam Peretz to a seven-year term as Israel’s 11th president. When he takes office in July, succeeding Reuven Rivlin, he will become the first second-generation Israeli…
Happy Israel Independence Day 2021! (20:21)CIE+
CIE asked friends and experts in the field of Israel Studies to discuss the challenges and successes of the State of Israel in this past year, and to reflect on the coming year. Below, we…
The Return of Palestinian PoliticsCIE+
Palestinian legislative elections are scheduled for May 22. Whether or not the vote takes place, finally scheduling elections was nothing short of remarkable. Palestinian politics has been in gridlock, with elections suspended since the terrorist group Hamas won a parliamentary majority in 2006. However, PA President Abbas could still postpone the elections.
Preliminary Election Results for 23 Knesset ElectionCIE+
One of the most striking elements to emerge from the preliminary results is that the current Knesset is going to be much more fragmented. If only eight party lists were elected to the Knesset a year ago, thirteen factions succeeded in entering the parliament in this round.
2019-2021 ElectionsCIE+
Israel entered a period of political instability when its governing coalition fell apart in December 2018 over the issue of Haredi military service. The articles, activities and other digital resources below provide insights into how and why Israel’s Knesset elections in April and September 2019 failed to produce a new government, leading to a third election within a year on March 2, 2020. The urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic helped break the political logjam with a unity government featuring a rotation agreement for prime minister between Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, but that government failed to survive into 2021. For the fourth time in less than two years, Israelis are electing a new Knesset on March 23, 2021.
The Israeli Political SystemCIE+
Elections, Parliament, Political Culture, Prime Ministers, Parties and the Voting Public Israel has a parliamentary system of government with some unusual features in the elections and the creation of multiparty ruling coalitions, as explained by…
Results of Israel’s ElectionsCIE+
Israel’s 25 Knesset elections and three direct elections for prime minister have resulted in 14 different people serving as prime minister, in addition to one person, Yigal Allon, who served only on an interim basis….
Nachman Shai: Veteran Labor Voice seeks Return to KnessetCIE+
Former three-term Knesset member is motivated to run in the March 23 elections to create a better Israel for his children and grandchildren, provide a voice for the vital senior population, topple Prime Minister Netanyahu, and restore the Labor Party’s legacy.
Fall of Liberal Zionism: CIE Board Members Yaron Ayalon and Nachman Shai (3-part series, 1:15:50, 1:07:34, 1:04:38),CIE+
CIE board members Nachman Shai, a former Knesset member and a Labor candidate in the March 2021 election, and Yaron Ayalon, the director of the Jewish studies program at the College of Charleston, discuss the decline and possibilities for revival of the once-dominant political left in Israel in a series of three online conversations held in the first three months of 2021.
The Israeli Supreme Court as an Engine for Social Change (22:29)CIE+
Speaking Feb. 14 to Jewish teen leaders, former Israeli Supreme Court clerk Gal Levy Ben Haim explains the Israeli judiciary and its role in society, using cases about LGBTQ and women’s rights as examples.
Shlomo Avineri – “Democracy in Israel: Past, Present, and Future”CIE+
Hosted by the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at UCLA All rights reserved to Professor Avineri and the Nazarian Center Transcribed by the Center for Israel Education, Atlanta, Ga. January 15, 2021. Transcript Dov…
Hannukah: Predictions, Politics, the Pandemic, and AccountabilityCIE+
Do you think any of the Maccabees would have guessed that the one jar of oil would have kept the menorah burning in Mod’in for eight days rather than one? If one had predicted yes or no, there probably would not have been either good or bad consequences in the years after 165 BCE.
Ben-Gurion, Begin, Rabin and Lesser-Known Israeli Leaders (56:37)CIE+
A panel of educators studies Israel’s past and present for examples of people who showed how to make tough decisions, take people where they need to go and sometimes defy the crowd.
Explainer: ‘You Are Alone’ — Israel’s Princes and Princesses of the Jewish People (6:50)CIE+
How do Israeli leaders balance the demands of serving their state and protecting the Jewish People worldwide?
Yitzhak Rabin: Israel Leadership in a LifetimeCIE+
Yitzhak Rabin’s life story, in the words of former Knesset member Nachman Shai, is “the story of the State of Israel.” He fought to create and defend it in 1948 and 1967, represented it in Washington, led it twice as prime minister, liberated Jews from captivity in 1945 and 1976, and embraced an opportunity for a chance at a longtime peace with the Palestinians in 1993. Rabin possessed essential qualities of an admired leader: credible, authentic, honest, visionary, and strategic. In addition, Rabin was taciturn, incisive, and suffered no fools. For a lifetime, he put the Jewish people on his shoulders as defender and diplomat.
Explainer: How Yitzhak Rabin Showed Leadership (2:42)CIE+
Former Knesset member Nachman Shai, who reported on and worked for the Israeli prime minister, reflects on what Israel and the world lost when he was assassinated.
American Jews and the 2020 Election – Context and Consequences, Lauren Henderson, Patricia Murphy, Lynn Sweet, Alan Abramowitz, Ken Stein, (1:13:00)CIE+
A four-person panel of journalists and scholars focuses on multiple aspects of the 2020 U.S. presidential and congressional elections in this 75-minute video recorded Sept. 3, 2020.
Joint Statement of the U.S., UAE and Israel, 2020CIE+
President Trump announces the diplomatic breakthrough under which Israel halts its plans to annex parts of the West Bank and the United Arab Emirates agrees to full diplomatic relations with Israel without any Israeli land concesssions.
Proven Success in Israel Education: Context, Sources and PerspectiveCIE+
Using original sources and employing perspective are keys to substantive Israel education. Failure to use either, handicaps and prejudices learning about Israel. When documents and texts or a broad overview of the literature in a field are not employed, there is a strong possibility that the educator either has a personal political agenda or, is covering up for their own lack of knowledge of what they are teaching. This premise is true for teaching any country’s history and through the lens of any discipline. I reside in the discipline of history.
Religion and State in Israel, Professor Michael Berger (video, 1:02:00)CIE+
June 30, 2020 Even as Israel, like America, guarantees religious freedom, it has been connected from its inception to Judaism, the religion of the Jewish people. Nevertheless, that connection has been fraught with tension, from…
Leaders in Israel Who Made Historic Decisions: Tracing Their Journey (1:05:13)CIE+
What lessons can we learn from some of Israel’s leaders about Jewish sovereignty, peoplehood, and compromise? Panelists Rachel Fish, Nachman Shai and Gil Troy highlight some key individuals, including David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin, and Henrietta…
Israel’s Declaration of Independence Activity GuideCIE+
Israel’s Declaration of Independence is the source document of the Jewish state. Here we present a number of engaging learning activities for unpacking the document and helping learners interpret and make meaning for the past and present
Yom Ha’Atzmaut — Israel’s Independence Day: Suggested Links for Teaching and LearningCIE+
Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948. Every year since, we celebrate the rebirth of the modern Jewish state on the 5th of Iyar which was the date of independence on the Hebrew calendar. The resources provided here will assist you in bringing your community together to celebrate this joyous day.
