Religion in Israeli Society, Politics and Foreign Policy
January 17th, 2008
Berkley Center Conference Room
3307 M Street, Suite 200
Co-sponsored by the Program for Jewish Civilization
A Panel Discussion with Rabbi Michael Melchior, Rabbi Avi Shafran, and David Elcott, Moderated by Thomas Farr.
The state of Israel lies at the center of U.S. foreign policy concerns in the greater Middle East. Its strategic location, its volatile political-security relationship with the Palestinian Authority, and the determined commitment of its American supporters all lend to Israel a particular salience in any calculus of U.S. interests. Cutting across all these issues, however, is one that receives far less attention – the health of the Israeli state as a self-styled religious democracy. This symposium will explore the effects of religion and religious pluralism in Israeli domestic politics and foreign policy.
The panel discussion examined the effects of religion and religious pluralism in Israeli domestic politics and foreign policy. The discussion centered on several core questions:
1. To what extent is Israel a secular democracy, a Jewish state, or both?
2. How is religious freedom protected in Israeli law?
3. Is Israel today marked by an increasing religious pluralism?
Rabbi Michael Melchior, member of the Knesset, has served as rabbi of a Jerusalem congregation since 1986, and also holds the title of Chief Rabbi of Norway (since 1980). Melchior has served as International Director of the Elie Wiesel Foundation as well as an administrator of various human rights, immigration and educational organizations. Since 1996, Rabbi Melchior has been the chairman of Meimad, a modern-Orthodox party, which in 1999 became a faction of One Israel. He was elected to the Knesset in May 1999. From August 1999 until March 2001, Melchior served as Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, responsible for Diaspora and social affairs. Rabbi Melchior currently serves in the 17th Knesset as Chairman of the Committee for Education, Culture and Sports.
David Elcott, is a lecturer, organizational consultant and the author of A Sacred Journey: The Jewish Quest for a Perfect World. Elcott earned a doctorate in political psychology and Middle East studies with a specialty in Islam and Arab culture from Columbia University. He has worked with religious communal organizations and social justice agencies, as well as international corporations, to re-tool their missions and vision in response to the new conditions of 21st century life. Elcott has helped communities in the U.S. and Canada create leadership institutes and community-wide projects grounded in the Jewish principles of Tikkun Olam.
Rabbi Avi Shafran studied in Israel and at Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, received his rabbinical ordination from the latter institution and currently serves as Agudath Israel of America's director of public affairs and the American head of Am Echad, an Orthodox educational outreach effort and media resource. Before assuming his current position, Rabbi Shafran served as a Jewish studies teacher in secondary schools for nearly twenty years. He has written widely in the Jewish and general press -- including six years' worth of a weekly column that is syndicated to Jewish and general media worldwide -- and is the author of several books, most recently, Migrant Soul: The Story of an American Ger (Targum/Feldheim).
Thomas Farr, Center Fellow and SFS Visiting Professor, is one of the world's leading experts on the global politics of religious freedom. He served as the first Director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom from 1999-2003, and is now completing a book, World of Faith and Freedom: Why Religious Liberty is Vital to American National Security in the 21st Century, to be published by Oxford University Press.