The Israeli Congress is a joint initiative of members from academia, the business landscape, and the public sector, with the aim of changing the public discourse and easing tensions amongst the Israeli society by leveraging methods of mediation and consensus-development as a way to settle social conflicts.
Strategic Philanthropy Project of the Menomadin Foundation: The Israeli congress. Prof. Arie Zaban, the President of Bar-Ilan University and Prof. Elyakim Rubinstein, Chairman of the Israeli Congress Advisory Forum.
The Challenge
The tension between the Jewish and the Democratic nature of the state of Israel is ever-present and deeply felt amongst the Israeli society. A survey conducted by the Israeli congress shows that the Israeli public wishes to overcome the deep societal rift yet does not believe that doing so is possible. The various population sectors in Israel are alienated and treat each other with suspicion and mistrust. The unique cultural mosaic that makes up the country gives rise to many challenges and complexities.
The Opportunity
The Congress aims to help Israeli society contain its complexities, maintain productive discourse within disagreements, and pave a clear way to manage and resolve social disputes by using methodologies of mediation and conflict resolution. We believe that these methodologies may serve as a model for discourse and communication between the various population sectors, will enable consensus-development on the key issues of disagreement, and will ensure the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and a democratic state. By forming Consensus Councils which are comprised of multi-sector representatives, we can allow for a deep discussion and mediation process which can then be used by the same representatives when they return to their communities and leverage the training they had received through the congress. In addition, the Congress aims to reach out to the wider community by the digital presence on social media.
