Beit Avi Chai presents "A Fateful Issue": On Major Decisions that Shaped Israel
This five-part series looks at five decisions that shaped the face of Israel when it was founded and their significance for Israeli society today.
Including video clips, photocopied documents, and testimonials by guests
Editor and moderator: Prof. Zeev Tzahor
Session 1: Declaring a State
Monday, May 6, 8 PM
Three days before the end of the British Mandate, against the backdrop of the fighting with the local Arabs and the threat of an invasion by Arab armies, it was a life-and-death question: Should we declare a state? The decision that was taken led us to where we are today.
With: Prof. Motti Golani, University of Haifa, Prof. Avi Bareli, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Session 2: Free Immigration
Monday, May 13, 8 PM
After the establishment of the state, it was decided to open Israel's gates to all Jews throughout the world, without restrictions. This brave decision was accompanied by many questions that addressed fundamental issues such as culture, health, and society, and especially what image the state would have.
With: Prof. Devorah Cohen, Bar-Ilan University; Dr. Avi Picard, Bar-Ilan University
Session 3: Status Quo
Monday, May 20, 8 PM
The tension between the Zionist movement and the leading rabbis and Hassidic rebbes produced a series of compromises that came to be known as "the status quo." Who is a Jew? What authority should be granted the rabbinate? These and other issues remain on the public agenda to this very day.
With: Prof. Yedidya Stern, vice-president, Israel Democracy Institute; Prof. Kimmy Caplan, Bar-Ilan University.
Session 4: The State of Tel Aviv or a Society of Pioneers?
Monday, May 27, 8 PM
The early Zionist pioneers sang "From Dan to Beer Sheva" and preferred the periphery. How did it come to be that the Negev, the founders' favored district, lost its primacy to Tel Aviv?
With: Prof. Gidon Bigger, Tel Aviv University; Dr. Ze'ev Zivan, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Session 5: Majority Rules?
Monday, June 3, 8 PM
Israel has never adopted a constitution and no party has ever won an absolute majority in the Knesset.
In this complex situation, how was Israel's system of government shaped? How does this system influence our lives today?
With: Prof. Danny Gottwein, University of Haifa, Dr. Arye Carmon, president and founder of the Israel Democracy Institute.
Admission: NIS 30; students: NIS 20; NIS 120 for the series.
This is a Hebrew-language only event.
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