The Silver Platter: Israel, the Army and National Resilience

March 2008 | Adar II 5768

Welcome to the Purim issue of Shalem E-News, the Shalem Center's monthly electronic newsletter for friends, supporters, students and alumni. Shalem E-News provides an easy-to-scan digest of pertinent news, information and web-based resources. We hope you find it useful and encourage you to send us the email addresses of friends who you think might like to receive it. Please email us at e-news@shalem.org.il. If at any time you would like to unsubscribe to the E-News list please follow the instructions at the end of this email.

Sharansky, Palestinian Dissident Call for “Fundamental Transformation” of Arab Society
Chairman and Distinguished Fellow of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies, Natan Sharansky teamed up with Bassem Eid, Executive Director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed. The pair presented their common view that peace must be made conditional on freedom and “a fundamental transformation of Palestinian society,” and jointly criticized world leaders for their efforts to reach “quick and foolish solutions” to the Middle East conflict. To read the article click here:

Michael Oren to Spend Fall 2008 Semester at Georgetown University
Shalem Senior Fellow Michael Oren has been invited to serve as a visiting professor at Georgetown University for the duration of the Fall 2008 semester, and for further semesters over the next four years. Oren will teach courses on America in the Middle East, military history of the modern Middle East, and the history of Zionist diplomacy. The March 2 Washington Post featured Oren’s piece, “It’s the Middle East, Stupid,” which considers the possibility of a regional conflagration and its implications.

Azure: Israel’s Political System “Terminally Ill,” Root Cause of Leadership Crisis
Shalem Adjunct Fellow, Senior Columnist and former Executive Editor of the Jerusalem Post, Amotz Asa-El briefed journalists from world news outlets on the structure of the Israeli electoral system. In a briefing on February 5 held at Media Central in Jerusalem, Asa-El outlined arguments from his definitive piece in the current edition of Azure, Asa-El argues that by failing to create a relationship of direct accountability between legislators and voters, the Israeli system cultivates irresponsibility among lawmakers and alienates voters. To read Asa-El’s prescription for change click here: 

Shalem Event in Tel Aviv Weighs Israeli Battlefield Morale
Azure, the Shalem Center’s journal of Jewish thought, hosted a panel discussion March 13 on whether Israeli society’s determination on the battlefield is weakening. Tel Aviv University Professor Asa Kasher, journalist Ari Shavit of Ha’aretz, and Major-General (Res.) Yoram Yair joined Azure Editor-in-Chief Assaf Sagiv in “Security on a Silver Platter,” a broad discussion on the tension between public expectation and military necessity in Israel. Click here to read Sagiv's Azure essay on Israel's commitment to defending its citizens.

Foreign Affairs: The Enduring Power of Nationalism in World Politics
A far-reaching article appearing in the March-April Issue of Foreign Affairs re-examines a number of commonly held assumptions about nationalism. Jerry Muller, Professor of History at the Catholic University of America argues in “Us and Them: The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism” that nationalism “corresponds to some enduring propensities of the human spirit… and in one form or another it will drive global politics for generations to come.” Casting doubt on the notion that it is an invention of 19th century Europe and essentially an obstacle to world peace, Muller assembles evidence that “liberal democracy and ethnic homogeneity are not only compatible; they can be complimentary.” Click here to read “Us and Them”:

Harvard President Rudenstine: "Troubled state of Higher Education" in Israel
Former Harvard University President Neil Rudenstine recently spoke to the Jerusalem Post about strategies for improving “the troubled state of higher education” in Israel and around the world. Arguing that private philanthropy will play a key role, Rudenstine asked, "Where do the great ideas come from that guide our morals and principles? Where do the ideas come from that help us to consider the ways to organize our societies [if not from the humanities and social sciences]? How will we solve all kinds of ethnic, religious, national and gender conflicts? The answers will not come from the sciences." To read the article click here:

Head of Tel Aviv U. Philosophy Dept.: Israel is a “Proto-Fascist in Many Ways”
Professor Anat Biletzki, Chair of the Philosophy Department at Tel Aviv University spoke at MIT on “Human Rights and Politics in Israel-Palestine” in October 2007. Biletzki was critical of the idea of a Jewish state, which she distinguished from a “Jewish homeland.” As she explained: “Israel is not a democracy either within or without the Green Line [i.e., West Bank],” and is “proto-fascist in many ways,” though it should not be compared to Nazi Germany for “pragmatical-rhetorical considerations.” Biletzki continues: “We cop out by talking about 1967 and the ‘occupation,’ because then we don’t have to talk about what has been called ‘Israel’s right to exist’.” Click here to watch Biletzki’s MIT lecture:

Amnon Rubinstein: Israeli Academics Seized by "Frenzy of Hatred." 
IDC Herzliya law professor and noted public figure Amnon Rubinstein has authored an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post describing his experience teaching at Columbia University during Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s visit to the institution. Rubinstein recounts his surprise at the indifference of Israeli students, adding “later, I encountered other Israeli academicians at Columbia who added more fuel to the fire of hatred against Israel.” The situation in Israel, argues Rubenstein, is sometimes no better, with students in the grip of "anti-Israeli squadrons in the Israeli academia." Click here to read the article: 

 

Shalem Graduate Fellow to Publish Book on Heidegger
Shalem alumnus Louis Blond (Post-Doctoral Fellow, ’07), who is presently working with Shalem Associate Fellow Josh Weinstein on analyzing Jewish theological structures, will publish a new work on Heidegger. The book, which will be published by Continuum Press in 2009, examines the relationship of the influential and controversial philosopher to Nietzsche, and argues that Heidegger’s “post-ethical” thinking is “an audacious attempt to redefine the essence of human being”. For information on Shalem’s Graduate Programs click here:

Maghen on Harvard Blog: Iranian Propaganda Creates Atmosphere of Genocide
Shalem Senior Fellow Ze’ev Maghen, has made waves by publishing a response to the persistent Iranian incitement against Israel. In a post on the Harvard University Middle East Strategy blog, Maghen, who is also Chairman of the Middle East Studies Department at Bar-Ilan University, takes the Iranians to task for applying a lengthening list of offensive epithets to Israel, most recently Ahmadinejad’s likening of the Jewish State to “bacteria.” The rhetoric, argues Maghen, seeps in over generations, creating a dormant atmosphere “capable of supporting the eradication of an entire population.” Maghen warns, “here in Tel Aviv, we haven’t slept well for a while now.” Click here to read the article:

Does your Library Subscribe to Hebraic Political Studies?
Students and scholars at Cambridge, Chicago, Georgetown, and Brandeis Universities are among those now able to read Shalem Press's pathbreaking quarterly journal Hebraic Political Studies at their university library. HPS, which examines the political tradition embodied in Jewish texts and their influence in Western civilization, is entering its third year of publication with the first issue of Volume 3 due to reach library shelves later this spring. To have your library subscribe, please contact us at hpsubscribe@shalempress.org.il and we will send along a complimentary copy and discounted subscription form for your library acquisition specialist. To read more about HPS, click here: 

Shalem’s Jerusalem Seminar Celebrates Sixty by Shaping the Next Sixty
Shalem Center Provost Yoram Hazony and Senior Vice President Daniel Gordis addressed the Jerusalem Seminar for Shalem supporters and friends on March 9 on the subject of “A Free People in Our Land: The Power of the Idea Then, the Challenges to the Idea Now." Discussion included a presentation of plans regarding Shalem’s vision for a college devoted to preparing Israel’s next generation of leaders and thinkers. The March Seminar inaugurated Shalem’s celebrations of Israel’s sixtieth year of nationhood. For more information on the Jerusalem Seminar or on attending a future session, click here

Omer Moav Presents "Brain Drain" Facts and Fiction
Shalem Senior Fellow Omer Moav offered his analysis of the problem of Israel’s “brain drain” in an article appearing in the Israel Economic Review, and in his regular column in the new ‘Economist’ section of the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot. According to Moav, the exodus of Israeli academics is caused less by low salaries than by an unfair distribution of available funds. Seniority and fundraising capability, he argues, dictate salary levels to the determinant of the young and talented. “Reform must reward excellence,” he told E-News. To read a translation of his article click here: 

Yossi Klein Halevi Named Judge for Prestigious Prize in Jewish Literature 
Shalem Senior Fellow Yossi Klein Halevi was appointed one of nine judges for the 2008 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. The $100,000 annual prize was awarded this year to Lucette Lagnado for her account of her family’s exodus from Old Cairo to the New World and will be presented at a ceremony in Israel next month. Separately, Klein Halevi published a powerful op-ed on the cover of the March 2 Los Angeles Times. “The end of the 'guilty Israeli'” examines the fate of Israeli empathy faced with “Palestinian leaders who encourage their own people's suffering for political ends.” Click here to read Klein Halevi’s article:

70 New Students, 8 New Courses at Shalem’s Programs for Undergraduates and Graduates
Eight diverse new courses have been introduced for students at the Shalem Center. They range from “Shiite Religion and the Iranian Revolution,” “Ever Since Nietzsche,” “Topics in Israeli Socio-Economic Policy,” “Between Utopia and Normalization: Issues in Zionist and Israeli Identity,” and “A Peek Beyond the Curtain: The Expanded Biblical Story in Midrashic Literature.” Shalem’s unique courses draw nearly 200 students who are also enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs at Israeli universities. For information on Shalem undergraduate programs click here:  

The following web addresses provide an easy to access directory of all Shalem Center sites:
The Shalem Center: www.shalemcenter.com
Azure: www.azure.org.il
Techelet: www.tchelet.org.il
Hebraic Political Studies: www.hpstudies.org
Daniel Gordis: www.danielgordis.org

Michael Oren: www.michaeloren.com
IDF Lt. Gen.(Res.) Moshe Yaalon: www.mosheyaalon.com

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