Background Papers
Israeli Election: Initial Lessons
The most recent Israeli elections, like all election campaigns, can be analyzed on the tactical, short-term level or in regard to longer-term trends. On the tactical level, the elections did not result in a decisive victory to any of the political camps. This deadlock could lead to a fifth election cycle, or alternately, to the piecing together of an ideologically…
ישראל
ישראל
Should Moral Considerations be Brought to Bear in Foreign and Security Policy? Attitudes of Israeli Jews
Main findings of the Report A large majority of Israeli Jews feel that Israel is a moral country and that the IDF is a moral army. A large majority believes that in foreign and defense policy, interests and moral considerations must be balanced. However, the more prevalent tendency is for a balance that prioritizes interests over morality. There is a…
Identity
Identity
The View Through Big-Data: An Initial Analysis of 15 Million Tweets by AIPAC and J Street Followers
Main Findings Twitter followers of AIPAC and J Street are equally likely to have bios that contain the word “Jewish”, while AIPAC supporters are significantly more likely to have “Israel” in their bios. Around the same percent of AIPAC followers (48.1%) and J Street followers (39.5%) mention Israel at least once in their previous 200 tweets. J Street followers are…
יהודי ארה"ב
יהודי ארה"ב
The Jewish Camp of the Nine Percent
The Pew Research Center’s new study of American Jews offers a wealth of data. Some of its findings are headline-making and can be expected to dominate the news, while others are more obscure. It is often the more obscure information that is truly important and interesting. Here I suggest examining one particular finding. The researchers examined the degree of connection…
Science and Technology
Science and Technology
On Genetics and Jewish History
Conference on Genomics – From Disease Prevention to Treatment, Population, Medicine and Society, Haifa, Technion and Clalit Health Fund, 2-5 Oct. 2018 During the first international conference on this subject, which took place in Haifa in 2016, I deplored the gap between the fast advancing genetic sciences and Jewish historiography. Historians should have discovered the human genome as a new…