American and Israeli experts on Israel's culture, economy and political climate shared their personal perspectives on Israel's 50th birthday last night at the Rockefeller Center.
Hebrew Studies Professor Lewis Glinert, the moderator, opened the panel discussion by criticizing the current American and world mindset that takes Israel's independence and existence for granted.
Sidra Ezrahi, comparative literature professor at Hebrew University and a visiting professor at the College for next year, highlighted two Israeli social trends she sees as possible threats to the country's future.
The need to regenerate the Jewish population after the Holocaust, a pattern Ezrahi labeled Social Darwinism, is leading to more exclusive and retrograde forms of Orthodoxy, she said.
Ezrahi also called this trend "re-ghetto-ization," and said its biggest enemy is the current peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. She said radical Islamic sects are this trend's biggest ally.
The dreams of Israel as a utopian country also hinder the state today.
"The Jewish genius from Joseph to Sigmund Freud was always in the ability to dream," she said. The physical realization of Israel causes a declining in dreaming.
The solution is in Israel's secular culture, she said, praising theater, literature, art and popular music.
"The reinvention of imagination will help break down exclusivism," Ezrahi said.
Former Deputy Under-Secretary of State Dov Zakheim related his experience in foreign relations with Israel and the Arab world.
He stressed that Arabs are people too, and that just as Israel is battling increasing radicalization and orthodoxy, the Arab community is too.
He said to help Israel, American Jews must stop fighting among each other and learn Hebrew. "How can you understand Israel if you don't speak the language?" Zakheim said.
Danny Rubinstein, an editorial writer at Ha'aretz, an Israeli newspaper specializing in West Bank towns, echoed Zakheim's belief that people must learn the languages of the Middle East region, adding the importance of learning Arabic as well.
Rubinstein said the answer to the peace process is simple and recognized by both sides -- the partition of land between Israelis and Palestinians.
"The big question is why don't we start to implement it tomorrow morning?" he said.
The answer is that neither Israelis nor Palestinians like the idea of partition, Rubinstein said.
Current battles over minor points in peace agreements are not important but the crucial concern is if negotiations are stalled if fear exists between the deliberating parties.
Bernard Avishai, political thought professor at Adelphi University, discussed the Israeli economic sector as a potential influential force in the peace process.
Israel is "probably the most dynamic economy in the world today," Avishai said. "The economy today is driven by brainpower and Israel is proven to have one of the biggest reserves of brainpower."
Factors attributing to this upward mobility include solid public education, the army as a finishing school and the investment of multinational and industrial corporations in the economy.
Comments from the audience centered around the need for social justice and awareness of the Palestinian issue in Israeli life.
Ezrahi cited her daughter's filming the Palestinian jails as an example of young people leading social justice while Avishai felt the United States must show the Israelis the way.
Social justice, he said, is a result of democracy, including a sense of compassion and the separation of church and state.
A dialogue between Americans and Israeli Jews is needed, Avishai said.
The John Sloane Dickey Center for International Understanding sponsored the panel discussion.
