Challenges to Democracy and the Struggle over Israel's Soul

Rami Hod, the Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Distinguished Fellow at the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center, will analyze the current challenges facing Israel's democracy, including the critical role of education in shaping democratic values.

Thursday, January 23, 2025
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Royce Hall, Room 314

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Organized by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies.

About the Talk

The attack on October 7 and the ongoing wars, along with alarming democratic backsliding at home, have brought Israel to a critical crossroads. Rami Hod will examine the internal processes reshaping Israeli society—issues often overlooked in the public conversation about Israel. He will address the erosion of democratic values in public education and its far-reaching consequences for democracy, the socio-economic policies favoring sectors aligned with the government at the expense of others, and the connections between these internal dynamics and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rami will identify the key challenges facing Israeli democracy and present potential solutions.

About the Speaker

Rami Hod is currently the Executive Director of the Berl Katznelson Center (BKC), a “Think-and-Do Tank” that builds the ideas, policies, and leadership of liberal Zionism in Israel. While providing regular commentary to Israel’s mainstream media and major publications, Hod has concurrently established the National Taskforce to Safeguard Israel’s Public Education, initiated the 100 Days Plan for Israel's Democracy—a comprehensive blueprint of major policy programs for Israel after the Netanyahu government’s judicial overhaul—and served on the public Directorate of Israel’s National Social Services (Bituach Leumi) Council, which consults the Social Services Minister on key policy issues. He holds an MA in Sociology from Ben Gurion University in the Negev.

Hod’s research as the Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Distinguished Fellow at the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center focuses on the fundamental inequality underlying Israel's education system, and how it plays a crucial role in the erosion of the country's democratic values. In the heated discourse surrounding the recent judicial overhaul attempt in Israel, much attention is given to the country's longtime democratic backsliding, but Hod asserts that the role of Israel’s education system therewithin is hardly discussed

DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions of our guest speakers and the content of their presentations do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Hosting speakers does not constitute an endorsement of the speaker's views or opinions.