The Young Leadership Forum: Finals of the 2011 Speech Contest

After months of competition, on Tuesday, June 13, 2011, IDI hosted the final of its Young Leadership Forum's second annual speech contest. Dedicated to the theme "Different but Equal – Building Solidarity in a Diverse Society," this year's contest was comprised of the following stages:

• Stage 1: Following a large publicity campaign promoting the competition across Israel's university campuses, a professional panel of judges selected the top 10 speeches.
  
  
• Stage 2: The 10 semi-finalists  were filmed delivering their speeches, and the video clips were posted on the popular Ynet news site. The general public, as well as a panel of judges, casted their votes for the top five speeches.
  
  
• Stage 3: The five finalists presented their speeches at the Israel Democracy Institute, before a panel of  distinguished judges.
  
  

The notable panel of judges and esteemed guests at the final of this year's competition included two members of Knesset, a former Supreme Court judge, representatives of the sponsoring organizations, and renowned academics:
 

• Ms. Orna Hozman Bechor, Director General, the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and Galilee; Director General, the Ministry of Regional Cooperation
  
  
• Dr. Arye Carmon, President, Israel Democracy Institute
  
  
• Justice (ret.) Dalia Dorner, Former Supreme Court Justice and President of the Israel Press Council
  
  
• Mr. Yon Feder, Editor in Chief, Yedioth Internet and Ynet.com
  
  
• MK Tzipi Livni, Head of the Opposition
  
  
• Vice Prime Minister, and Minister for the Development of the Negev and Galilee, MK Silvan Shalom
  
  
• Mr. Itzik Shmuli, Chair of the National Union of Israeli Students
  
  
• Prof. Yedidia Stern, Vice President of Research, Israel Democracy Institute

During the course of the event, which was hosted by the winner of the 2010 competition, the competitors and members of the audience were addressed by MK Tzipi Livni, Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, IDI President Dr. Arye Carmon, Student Union Chairman Itzik Shmuli, and Ynet Editor in Chief Mr. Yon Feder.

After a heated and competitive final round, the three winners were announced:

• First place: Ms. Bat Zion Ben David, a law student at Bar-Ilan University, who was awarded NIS 1,500 and a laptop computer.
  
  
• Second place: Mr. Gili Mansour of Ono Academic College, who received NIS 1,250 and a coffee machine.
  
  
• Third place: Ms. Noa Dakar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who won NIS 1,250.

A taste of the quality of the speeches in this year's competition can be found in the following English excerpt from the winning address:
 
"Deep down we knew that the boy with the sideburns, the girl with the bikini, and the woman with the veil were each part of us. We knew it—and it infuriated us. We hated being a part of them and we were ashamed that they were a part of us. Against the background of this deep and painful divide, Israeli solidarity seems like a distant dream. Or perhaps we are merely looking in the wrong place."

–  Bat Zion Ben David, winner of the 2011 Speech Contest

 View the 10 speeches that made it to the semi-finals on the Ynet website (Hebrew)

 View the three winning speeches on the Ynet website (Hebrew)

 Visit the Forum's Facebook page for additional information (Hebrew)