Program:
Light Lunch
Greetings and Introduction - Dr. Arye Carmon, President of IDI
Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State
- Mr. Israel Harel - Founder and Director of the Institute for Zionist Strategies
- Mr. Issam Makhoul – Chairman of Amil Touma Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies and former MK with the Hadash party
- Moderator - Dr. Arye Carmon, President of IDI
Religion and State- What is the ‘Jewishness’ of Israel?
- Rabbi Shmuel Jakobovits - Founder of the Torah Institute of Contemporary Issues
- Prof. Frances Raday - Professor of Law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Moderator - Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern- Senior Fellow at IDI
Concluding Remarks and Update on the Constitutional Process
- MK Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson, Chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee
Dr. Arye Carmon is the Co-Founder and President of the Israel Democracy Institute. As an independent think tank, IDI is dedicated to promoting and strengthening democracy and democratic values in Israel.
Mr. Israel Harel is the Founder and Director of the Institute for Zionist Strategies. He founded the Council of Jewish Communities in Judaea, Samaria and Gaza, which he headed until 1995. He is also the initiator of the Forum for National Responsibility and the Institute for Religious Zionism at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
Mr. Issam Makhoul is the Chairman of the Amil Touma Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies. He was elected to the 15th and 16th Knesset as a representative of the Hadash party. He serves as the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Israel (CPI) and is the former Chairman of the Union of Arab Students. Mr. Makhoul is a peace activist and protester against the Israeli occupation.
Rabbi Shmuel Jakobovits is the Founder and Dean of ‘Ura Kevodi’- Association of the Ultra-Orthodox for the Study of Contemporary Jewish Issues. He is also Co-Founder of the Yachad Council for Secular-Religious Relations, as well as Co-Founder and Chairman of “Dialogue between Worlds Project”, which brings together prominent Rabbis and secular thinkers to hold discussions on the crucial issues facing Jewry today.
Prof. Frances Raday is a Professor of Law at the Hebrew University of Jeruslaem. She served as an Expert Member of the UN Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women from 2000-2003, and was the founding Chair of the Israel Women's Network Legal Center. She currently chairs the Israeli Association of Feminist and Gender Studies.
Prof. Stern is a Senior Fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute where he heads the projects on Business & Democracy and Religion & State. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Yachad Council and is Co-Editor of the "Democratic Culture" Journal. Prof. Stern previously served as the Dean of the Bar Ilan Law Faculty.
MK Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson is a Knesset member in the Kadima party, where he serves as Chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. He is a renowned scholar of Jewish history and former Rector of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.