Yohanan Plesner is the president of the Israel Democracy Institute and a former Member of the Knesset.
Yohanan Plesner
By Yohanan Plesner
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Community The Nation-State Law Commits To Strengthening Jewish Peoplehood In The Diaspora — But Not In Israel
Since its passage in the Knesset on July 19, Israel’s Nation-State Basic Law has managed to stir up anger and debate not just inside Israel but also around the world. In a recent appearance of mine on the BBC, the interviewer prefaced her question to me by insinuating that the idea of constitutionally defining Israel…
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Community Israel’s Nation-State Bill Would Undermine Jewish Democracy
I first heard of the Nation-State Bill about eight years ago, when I was a Member of the Knesset. I was stopped in the hallway by a fellow M.K. from my party who asked me to support a bill affirming that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people. My initial reaction was that this…
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Opinion Diaspora Jews Deserve A Seat At Israel’s Table
Tensions between the Israeli government and Jewish leaders worldwide remain high, despite a move by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two weeks ago to shelve a controversial bill that would have made the Chief Rabbinate the only body authorized by the government to perform conversions in Israel. The crisis over the new conversion law broke out…
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Opinion How Israeli Society Has Changed Since The Six-Day War
As we mark the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War, Israel is still living with the legacy of those fateful days, when the future of the young Jewish State seemed to hang in the balance. While many point to 1967 as the high-water mark of “liberal Israel,” after which public sentiment hardened, the reality is…
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