Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society Conference
9:30 – Gathering
10:00 – Opening
Adv. Shlomit Ravitzky Tur-Paz, Director, Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society, Israel Democracy Institute
10:15 – 11:30
The 10th Annual Statistical Report on Ultra-Orthodox Society – What Have We Learned?
Chair:
Dr. Lee Cahaner, Research Fellow, Israel Democracy Institute, Editor of the Statistical Report
Presentation of the Annual Report:
Dr. Gilad Malach, Research Fellow, Israel Democracy Institute, Editor of the Statistical Report
Discussion:
- Shahar Ilan, Commentator on Haredi Affairs, Calcalist
- Gabriel Gordon, Researcher, Israel Democracy Institute
- Dr. Nechumi Yaffe, Vice President, Tatya Institute; Researcher, Tel Aviv University
- Rabbi Bezalel Cohen, Founder and Co-Director, Haredi Institute for Democracy
- Prof. Nissim Leon, Head of the Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Bar-Ilan University
11:30 – 11:15
Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute
in conversation with
Amit Segal, Journalist and Political Analyst, Channel 12 News, Israel Hayom.
11:55 – 12:10 – Break
12:10 – 13:30
A New Paradigm for the State's Relationship with Haredi Society
Chair:
Ronny Barboy, Head of the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program, Israel Democracy Institute
Presentation of the New Paradigm:
- Gilad Cohen Kovacs, Researcher, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program, Israel Democracy Institute
- Dr. Gilad Malach, Israel Democracy Institute
- Dr. Shlomit Shahino Kesler, Senior Researcher, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program, Israel Democracy Institute
Discussion:
- Neta Bar-Ziv, Employment Coordinator, Budget Department, Ministry of Finance
- Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg, Tel Aviv University, Formerly: Chair, National Economics Council; Chair, Planning and Budget Committee, Council on Higher Education; Member of Knesset, Executive Director, INSS
- Shai Calderon, Director of the Haredi Sector, Ministry of Education
- Dalit Stauber, Faculty Member, Mandel School for Educational Leadership; Former Director-General, Ministry of Education
13:30 – 13:55
Yohanan Plesner in conversation with
MK Avigdor Liberman, Chair of Yisrael Beitenu Party
13:55 – 14:25 – Lunch
14:25 – 15:45
Reducing Gaps in Arab Society: Is the Road to Integration and Equality Still Long?
Chair:
Adv. Anat Thon Ashkenazy, Director, Center for Democratic Values & Institutions, Israel Democracy Institute
Presentation of Arab Society Annual Report Data:
- Dr. Khader Sawaed, Head of the Arab Society in Israel Program, Israel Democracy Institute
- Dr. Muhammed Khalaily, Researcher, Arab Society in Israel Program, Israel Democracy Institute
- Dr. Arik Rudnitzky, Researcher, Arab Society in Israel Program, Israel Democracy Institute
Discussion:
- Dr Safa Aburabia, Program Director, Arab Community, Yad Hanadiv
- Raed Daka, Mayor, Baqa al-Gharbiyye
- Hassan Towafra, Former Head, Authority for Economic Development of Arab Society, Ministry for Social Equality
- Shahira Shalaby, Co-Director, Abraham Initiatives
- Noa Shukron, Coordinator for Interior & Local Government, Budget Department, Ministry of Finance
15:45 – 17:00
Shared Society: From Private Rooms to Shared Living Spaces
Chair:
Prof. Benny Porat, Senior Fellow, Israel Democracy Institute; Director of the Israel Matz Institute for Jewish Law, Hebrew University
Participants:
- Roni Alon, Founder, “Israel Between Jordan and the Sea”; Former Director-General, Ministry for Regional Cooperation; Former Strategy Director for President Rivlin
- Ronny Barboy, Israel Democracy Institute
- Mohammad Darawshe, Director of Strategy, Givat Haviva Center
- Rabbanit Malka Piotrokovsky, Halakhic Educator, Public and Educational Leader
- Rabbi Yosef Kaminer, Head of the Chochmat HaTorah Institute
- Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer, Senior Fellow, Israel Democracy Institute; Faculty of Law, Hebrew University
9:15 – Gathering
9:45 – 10:10
Prof. Suzie Navot, Vice President for Research, Israel Democracy Institute
in conversation with
The Tenth President of the State of Israel Reuven Rivlin
10:10 – 11:25
How Polarized Is Israel, and Should We Be Worried?
Chair:
Prof. Daniel Statman, Senior Fellow, Israel Democracy Institute; Department of Philosophy, University of Haifa
Participants:
- Dr. Tzili Elitzur Nae, Head of Consensus-Building, Menomadin Center for Jewish and Democratic Law; Faculty of Law, Bar-Ilan University
- Dr. Lior Yohanani, Viterbi Center for Public Opinion & Policy Research, Israel Democracy Institute
- Prof. Jeff Spinner-Halev, Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina; Author of the book: Respect and Resistance in Diverse Societies
- Dr. Ariel Finkelstein, Researcher, Religion and State Program; Head of the Local Authority Project, Israel Democracy Institute
- Dr. Keren Tsuriel Harari, Director of Methodological Development, a Chord Center and Researcher, University of Haifa
11:25 – 11:50
Micah Goodman, Author of “The Attention Revolution”, on the challenges of Israeli polarization
11:50 – 12:05 – Break
12:05 – 14:00
Politics, Media, Law, and Education – Arenas of Polarization and Moderation
Chair:
Adv. Shlomit Ravitzky Tur-Paz
The Media Arena:
- Noa Barak-Weschler, Director of Marketing and Media, Israel Democracy Institute
in conversation with
Aviad Glickman, Legal Affairs Correspondent, Channel 13 News
And
Yehuda Schlesinger, Political Commentator, Walla News; News Anchor, Channel 14
- Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, Senior Fellow, Israel Democracy Institute
- Tomer Avital, Social Entrepreneur & Independent Journalist; Author of Truth or Fake
The Education Arena:
- Dr. Tammy Hoffman, Head of the Education Policy Program, Israel Democracy Institute
- Dr. Neri Horowitz, Researcher of Haredi Society
The Law Arena:
- Prof. Suzie Navot, Israel Democracy Institute
- Iddo Porat, Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, College of Law & Business
The Politics Arena:
- Adv. Shlomit Ravitzky Tur-Paz in conversation with
MK Michael Biton, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset; Chair, Committee for Oversight of Barrier-Removal Processes; Blue and White, The National Unity Party
And
MK Ohad Tal, Chair, Religious Zionist Party
- Rachel Goldberg, Married to Captain Rabbi Avi Goldberg (z"l) who was killed in Lebanon in October 2023.
- Tzippi Khouri, “The Speech Project” – Promoting Clean, Constructive Discourse
- Dr. Chen Friedberg, Research Fellow, Israel Democracy Institute, Senior Researcher, Ariel University
14:00 – 14:30 – Lunch
14:30 – 14:50
Artistic Interlude
Dana Wohlfeiler-Lalkin, Founder and Chief Curator, Local Testimony – Annual Photojournalism & Documentary Exhibition
14:50 – 16:20
How the Different Sectors Contribute to Polarization and Cohesion
Chair:
Dr. Asaf Malchi, Senior Researcher, Israel Democracy Institute
Data:
Hodaya Ben Ari, Research Assistant, Center for Shared Society, Israel Democracy Institute
TED-Style Sectoral Talks:
- Prof. Rabbi Yehuda Brandes, President, Herzog College; Chair, National Religious Education Council; Author of The Hyphen and the Ellipsis
- Zehava Galon, President of the Zulat Institute for Equality and Human Rights; Former Chair, Meretz
- Dr. Gali Sembira, Director, Ono-Impact for Social Cohesion; Former Director-General, Ministry of Intelligence; Shaharit Institute
- Zeev Sklar, CEO, Telem – Strategic Initiatives in Haredi Society
- MK Mansour Abbas, Chair, Ra’am Party
- Alex Riff, CEO, “Lobby HaMillion”; Author of More Jewish Than You
16:20 – Closing Summary
Online Panel:
The "Fifth Tribe", the challenges facing American Jewry and the relationship between Israel and the diaspora during the war and beyond.
Eric Goldstein, CEO of UJA-Federation of NY, in conversation with
Yohanan Plesner, President of IDI
And
Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz , Director of IDI's Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society
