Israel from the Inside with Daniel Gordis
Israel from the Inside with Daniel Gordis
Liberalism versus religious conservativism, the individual versus community—what really underlies the battles tearing Israel asunder? (an excerpt)
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Liberalism versus religious conservativism, the individual versus community—what really underlies the battles tearing Israel asunder? (an excerpt)

With compromise in the air, we hear Dr. Tomer Persico with an analysis of what is truly dividing Israel, and how it is—and at the same time is not—similar to what has unfolded in Hungary or Poland.
Dr. Tomer Persico (Courtesy: Noam Feiner)

Compromise is in the air. It is far from a done deal, because on the political level, someone has to blink first, and it’s not clear who that might be. Still, The Kohelet Policy Forum, which has been a key leader of the drive for judicial overhaul, is now calling for a compromise. Moshe Koppel, chairman of the KPF, has openly called the ending of judicial review, which was part of the Levin/Rothman proposals, a “stupid idea.” Betzalel Smotrich, the Finance Minister (yes, the same one who called for the Palestinian village Huwara to be “erased,” but was then forced to apologize), hinted to the heads of Citibank that a compromise was on its way.

Even if a compromise is reached, which I hope it will, Israel may have averted momentary disaster, but the deep divides that have now been so clearly revealed will remain. Understanding those divides is the purpose of today’s episode.

Dr. Tomer Persico is a social activist advocating for freedom of religion in Israel. A leading thinker about secularization, Jewish Renewal and forms of contemporary spirituality, Persico writes the most popular blog in Hebrew on these subjects and has published articles in the Washington Post and Haaretz (English) as well as numerous other Israeli newspapers and periodicals.

He is a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. He was the Koret Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewish and Israel Studies at U.C. Berkeley, where he was also a Senior Research Scholar in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He lives in Jerusalem.

As gripping as the daily headlines in Israel are, it is also critical that we seek to understand at 30,000 feet what is really happening to Israeli society. The political players are simply expressions of deeper forces pulling Israeli society apart. What are those forces, and no less critically, what would it take to forge a united Israeli society once again?

Dr. Tomer Persico recently published a piece (in Hebrew) in Ofakim (Horizons), the publication produced by the Shalom Hartman Institute, in which he analyzed the ways in which what is happening in Israel is similar to the wave of political populism that has swept through Hungary, Poland and (to a degree) the United States, but also the ways in which what is happening in Israel is also different. Israelis, says Dr. Persico, are now caught between two very different identities—and one of the ways of understanding the battles in the Knesset is to see them as the battles not between parties, but different sorts of Israeli identity.

The link above will take you to a brief excerpt of our conversation; the full conversation, along with a transcript for those who prefer to read, are being made available today to paid subscribers to Israel from the Inside.



Please note: due to the Passover holiday, when many people will be traveling and otherwise occupied, Israel from the Inside will not be posting columns or podcasts during the weeks of April 3rd or April 10th.


Impossible Takes Longer, which addresses some of the above themes, will be published this April. It’s available now for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.


Music credits: Medieval poem by Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Gvirol. Melody and performance by Shaked Jehuda and Eyal Gesundheit. Production by Eyal Gesundheit. To view a video of their performance, see this YouTube:


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Israel from the Inside with Daniel Gordis
Israel from the Inside with Daniel Gordis
Israel from the Inside is for people who want to understand Israel with nuance, who believe that Israel is neither hopelessly flawed and illegitimate, nor beyond critique. If thoughtful analysis of Israel and its people interests you, welcome!