In 2010, the 18th Knesset enacted a law requiring a referendum on any peace treaty with the Palestinians that includes concessions of sovereign Israeli territory. The current Knesset is now in the midst of efforts to upgrade the referendum law to the status of a Basic Law, with the apparent intention of protecting the legislation from judicial review or repeal…

Politically, the defeat of the Religious Zionist candidate, Rabbi David Stav, is a farce. The number of Religious-Zionist Knesset members is both greater than the relative weight of the Religious Zionist community in Israeli society and greater than the number of ultra-Orthodox Knesset members. There is no doubt that had Naftali Bennett, Israel’s Minister of Religion, thrown his full weight…

As we approach the end of the current Knesset session, behind the scenes, there are rumors of a struggle regarding the future of the ultra-Orthodox draft, with some parties arguing that the Haredi conscription law should be passed swiftly, in a legislative coup that skips the standard procedures, while others favor deferring the legislation to the next session. While this…

Elections in the United States and Israel; the Triangular Relationship – Washington, Jerusalem, and the American Jewish Community: Challenges and Opportunities. This post-election analysis by Avinoam Bar-Yosef, JPPI’s President, includes, among other issues: Obama and Netanyahu Together Again, Curse of the Second Term?  Moving Forward with New Administrations in Place  Generational Change in Israeli Leadership For the full paper: 2013 –…

A power struggle is currently underway on the Haredi street between a moderate majority and an extremist minority. Although this is an internal battle within the ultra-Orthodox community, it has critical consequences for all Israelis, since it will impact Israel’s economy, the unity of its society, and our national resilience. What is the issue at hand? The ultra-Orthodox majority wishes…

Once, she was called Ruth; today she is Natasha. Both of these women came to Israel to settle here and integrate into society. Ruth changed her identity, from Moabite to Jew, and her blood was mixed with our blood in the fields of Bethlehem—so much so, that according to tradition, both King David and the messiah of the future are…

The American Jewish Reform movement’s 1983 Patrilineal Descent decision declaring that the children of Jewish fathers have the same Jewish status as the children of Jewish mothers affected all of American Judaism, because more American Jews call themselves Reform than any other wing of Judaism. Many advocates, including the influential Rabbi Alexander Schindler, celebrated the decision as promoting “the full…

With the passing of Jack Kay, the Jewish world has lost one of its most committed community leaders and forward thinking philanthropists. A resident of Chevy Chase, Maryland and Palm Beach, Florida, Kay died on April 21 at the age of 87. Kay was chairman of the board of the Kay Management Company in Silver Spring, Maryland, and one of…

Has Israel been fulfilling its historic mission? There is abundant evidence that it has. Since the founding of the state in the aftermath of the Holocaust, Israel’s Jewish population has grown by more than 1000%. The prophetic vision of the Return to Zion has been realized, with the Jewish people’s historic homeland now home to the largest Jewish community in…