This JPPI special report brings Diaspora input on the character of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state into an important initiative of Israel’s Ministry of Justice. The goal is to consider legislation on Israel’s Jewish and democratic nature at a time when different ideological groups within Israel hold conflicting views of how these components should be prioritized.

I found myself on an emotional roller coaster this week following the Court’s sentencing of Ehud Olmert, former mayor of Israel’s capital and former prime minister of Israel, being tossed from side to side by sadness, pride, and apprehension. My sadness was on a personal level. I know Ehud Olmert. We are not friends, but we embrace when we meet.…

Israel is celebrating 66 years of independence, an independence acquired with the blood of thousands of young men and women who gave their lives for the nation while serving in its armed forces and other security agencies. This is why we observe Israel’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Israel’s Independence Day on two—consecutive and very emotional—days. Every year on…

This year, as in other years, the highest rated event in Israel will not be a contemporary event, whether a political event, a sports event, or a cultural event. Rather, it will be a traditional event that commemorates the past: the Seder. Like dozens of previous generations, on the eve of Passover, some 85% of Jews in Israel will gather…

Current intensive migration trends, which many societies and states are experiencing as a result of economic globalization, have not by-passed Israel. Emigration from Israel is unique in that its principal treatment comes from the parent country, Israel, and much less from the destination countries. The main reason for this is that, in Israel, emigration is viewed as a contradiction of…

This paper presents the motivation behind, mechanism employed, and preliminary findings of JPPI’s project, Jewish and Democratic: Perspectives from World Jewry. Parts of this paper originally appeared in a background document prepared for moderators and participants in JPPI seminars conducted in early 2014 in Jewish communities around the world.

The October 2013 Pew report and other studies raise major questions as to whether this pattern of activity can continue, at least in its current form. These questions are less concerned with the concrete attitudes and positions the Jewish leadership and the Jewish community are currently advocating, and more concerned with the type of Jewish identity that underpins such advocacy…

2014 is likely to be a decisive year for the issue of Iran’s nuclear program and for the fate of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. These two subjects pose challenges for the triangular relationship: Israel, the United States, and the American Jewish community. The interim agreement with Iran, and the Vienna talks on a permanent settlement that followed, provoked extremely harsh responses from Israel. At the same time, diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinians are nearing their April 2014 deadline and Israel faces mounting pressure and weighty decisions as the presentation of the American framework approaches. !e coming months, therefore, have the potential to bring new tensions between Washington and Jerusalem that may trouble American Jewry and could strain the “triangle,” a cornerstone of Israel’s and the Jewish people’s power. The main issues – efforts to halt Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon, and to achieve a breakthrough in an Israeli-Palestinian agreement –…

Should the State of Israel recognize “Israeli” as a nationality rather than defining citizens as Jewish, Arab, and Druze? In an article published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, II Vice President Prof. Yedidia Stern and Jay Ruderman assert that it is imperative for the State of Israel to continue distinguishing between citizenship and nationality. For Americans, the definition of national…