Introduction:

David Ben-Gurion, founder and first prime minister of the State of Israel, believed that the citizens of the young State of Israel would succeed in establishing an enlightened society that would be based on the foundations of freedom, justice and peace, and would grant equal social and political rights to all its citizens regardless of religion, race or sex; a society that would guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture, and would safeguard the holy places of all religions.

The State of Israel, which is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its founding this year, is still a democracy in the making, which must labor and invest great efforts in creating and fortifying a democratic culture.

The Educational Program of the Israel Democracy Institute, which has been active since 2001, has set itself the goal of enhancing and expanding democracy education in Israel, in keeping with the vision of Ben-Gurion and the State’s founders who drew up and signed Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

The stability and quality of democracy depend on the extent to which the citizens of the state internalize the rules of the game and the democratic values. The school plays a critical role in creating such an internalization process. In the past years, IDI has prepared study materials aimed at helping the education system fulfill this important role. The basic premise behind the IDI textbooks is that they must be based on active, experiential learning that will lead the pupils to independent and critical thought, provoke interest and and a desire to delve deeper into these issues. The textbooks are studied in high schools throughout the country by different sectors of the population, and have won extensive praise.

This kit gives you, the readers, a look at the publications of the Israel Democracy Institute’s Educational Program. The goal of the kit is to give you, Jewish students in the Diaspora, a taste of two books:

1. Rights, Constitution and Consensus in a Jewish and Democratic State: This book deals with democratic concepts, human rights and a constitution. The series of lesson plans was prepared as part of the unique “Constitution by Consensus” initiative, which is being led by the Israel Democracy Institute. The goal of the process is to promote public and educational discourse on the necessity of a constitution in Israel, and ultimately to create a constitution that will be based on a broad public consensus.
   
   
   
2. The Heart and Soul of Democracy – Freedom of Speech and its Limits: This book is intended to help teachers and educators to inculcate in pupils the importance of freedom of speech and the ways to balance this value with other values. The book raises moral dilemmas pertaining to the conduct of the modern democratic state.

The Educational Program:

For the past seven years, the Educational Program of the Israel Democracy Institute has been working towards enriching Israel’s formal educational system in the fields of Civics and Democracy Studies in Israel.

The Educational Program was established during the process of Constitution by Consensus, an initiative of the Israel Democracy Institute, as an attempt to engage teenagers in the dilemmas of writing a constitution for the State of Israel. Nowadays, the Educational Program is involved in educating high school students about democracy, civil rights, equality and freedom of speech in order to cultivate involved and caring citizens. The program familiarizes educational figures and students with the dilemmas the State of Israel faces.
Our program operates in over 180 schools across the country. Over the years, it has become a prestigious and attractive program, both among decision makers and professional figures at the Ministry of Education and in the field of education.

We believe the educational system plays a major role in shaping the face of Israeli society and we, therefore, aim to place democracy and civics high on the Ministry of Education’s agenda.

By inviting the formal educational system to become an active participant in IDI’s Constitution by Consensus Project, the public debate about the significance of investing in democratic and civic education and the effect of such an investment on the quality and magnitude of a democratic regime has been enhanced and elevated.

Dafna Gruber, Director.
Dafna@idi.org.il