In Israel, there is no legal separation between religion and state. The Orthodox Jewish, Christian, Druze and Muslim courts have sole jurisdiction over life-cycle events such as marriage and divorce, with no legally recognized civil options. The coalition-based political system grants disproportionate power to minority religious parties and sacrifices personal religious freedom to political horse-trading. More and more Jewish Israelis are alienated from their own religion as a result of its association with the state-sanctioned ultra-Orthodox authorities. Moreover, in a neighborhood where religious fundamentalism often goes hand-in-hand with ultra-nationalism, the growing extremism and separatism of Jewish and Muslim religious leaders threaten Israeli democracy and freedom – and the long-term prospects for peace.
Join the New Israel Fund, the leading organization advancing democratic change in Israel, for our first International Town Hall on May 18. From your home computer or at one of our viewing events, join some of Israel’s leading experts on fundamentalism and freedom, and on the choices Israel must make to guarantee its future as a liberal democracy. Join the growing community of those who think for themselves about Israel.
Naomi Chazan Incoming President of New Israel Fund’s board of directors and chairs its Shatil committee. She is Professor Emerita of Political Science at the Hebrew University and currently heads the School of Government and Society at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo. She served in the Knesset for 11 years, was Deputy Speaker of the Knesset from 1996-2003, and is an outspoken advocate for women's rights, civil rights, religious freedom, and peace.
Jafar Farah Director of the Mossawa Center: The Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens of Israel. Prior to founding Mossawa, Farah served as an investigative journalist for Ha’aretz, and has written extensively about issues of concern to Israel’s Arab minority.
Gershom Gorenberg A senior correspondent for The American Prospect and the author of two books, The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, and The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount. He has written articles for The Atlantic Monthly, The New York TimesMagazine,The New Republic, and Mother Jones, among others. He blogs at southjerusalem.com.
Uri Regev
Is an internationally renowned leader and advocate of the liberal movements of Judaism in his native Israel and around the world. He is president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, a global umbrella organization of the Progressive, Reform, Liberal and Reconstructionist movements, serving more than 1,200 congregations and communities in 42 countries on six continents.
