Israeli Election HQ – Post-Election Webinar feat. Dahlia Scheindlin
Wed, Apr 7, 2021, 12 noon to 1:15 pm Pacific Daylight Time
Register here.
Two live webinars (3/31 and 4/7) analyzing the Israeli elections and their meaning for Israel’s future.
About this Event
With Israelis facing the fourth national election in just two years, and amid a continuing coronavirus pandemic and uncertain economy, voters are fatigued and wondering where the country is headed. The UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies has two post-election events (March 31 and April 7) analyzing the elections and their meaning for Israel’s future.
Background
Israel’s national “unity” government took office in May 2020, led by Prime Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Blue & White. The shaky alliance followed three inconclusive national elections and the most protracted political crisis in the country’s history. Yet, the government collapsed again after the Knesset – Israel’s parliament – failed to approve a national budget. Israelis go to the polls for the fourth time on March 23, 2021. Official results from that election will be published on the day of our first program, March 31.
Analyzing the 2021 Israeli Election: Results and Prospects
Wednesday, March 31, 2021 (11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Pacific Time)
This event is free but requires registration to obtain the Zoom login. Participants can choose a ticket on Eventbrite or RSVP below.
RSVP to Event: https://ucla.in/384Dsbg
An expert panel will analyze the most recent national election in Israel and address a range of issues, based on the results, including what the election means in terms of Israel’s political stability.
The panel will discuss the many challenges facing a new government: the coronavirus pandemic, getting the Israeli economy back on track, and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In addition, they will look at political participation trends and how they compare with other recent elections.
About the Speakers
Oded Haklai is a professor in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University in Canada. Haklai teaches and researches the politics of nationalism and ethnicity, Israeli politics, state-minority relations, and population settlements and ethno-territorial disputes. He also has held visiting fellowships at the Moshe Dayan Center in Tel Aviv University, the Truman Institute for Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. He is the author of Palestinian Ethnonationalism in Israel (2011), recipient of the Shapiro Award for best book in Israel Studies. Menachem Hofnung teaches at the Department of Political Science of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a visiting professor at the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies for the 2020-21 academic year. He served as the academic director of the Joint Graduate Program in Public Policy and Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and academic director of the Gilo Center for Democracy and Civic Education. He is one of the editors in the forthcoming handbook by Hazan R., Dowty H., Hofnung M., Rahat G. (editors), Oxford Handbook of Israeli Politics and Society (early 2021). Liron Lavi is a research fellow at the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science in 2017 from Tel-Aviv University, where she studied the role of time in elections and democracy in Israel. Lavi’s research interests include elections, democracy, representation, and political communication. During her doctoral research, Liron was also a Visiting Graduate Researcher at the Nazarian Center and UCLA’s Department of Political Science. She is co-founder/managing editor of the Nazarian Center’s Currents: Briefs on Contemporary Israel – a bi-annual series comprised of timely, research-based analysis of important contemporary issues, trends, and dynamics in Israel. Dov Waxman (Moderator) is the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair of Israel Studies at UCLA, and the director of the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Previously, he was a professor of political science, international affairs, and Israel studies, and the Stotsky Professor of Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies at Northeastern University. In addition, he taught at the City University of New York and Bowdoin College. He has also been a visiting fellow at Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Oxford University. His latest book is, The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: What Everyone Needs to Know (2019).
Israel’s Four Recent Elections: Policy, Ideology and the State of Israeli Democracy
Wednesday, April 7, 2021 (12:00 PM – 1:15 PM Pacific Time)
This event is free but requires registration to obtain the Zoom login. Participants can choose a ticket on Eventbrite or RSVP below.
RSVP to Event: https://ucla.in/3buEJdO
What can we learn from Israel’s four recent elections? How do the four elections bring to light fundamental changes in Israel’s policy and ideology, and what does it say about the state of democracy?
Israeli political analyst and pollster Dahlia Scheindlin will discuss what it means for both Israel’s domestic and foreign policy.
About the Speaker
Dahlia Scheindlin is an international political consultant and public opinion analyst based in Tel Aviv. She is one of the leading pollsters and political analysts in Israel associated with progressive causes and peace/conflict research. She has advised eight national campaigns in Israel and has worked in more than a dozen other countries. Scheindlin conducts research and policy analysis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, regional foreign policy, democracy, human rights and civil rights, minority issues, religion and state, domestic political analysis, comparative conflict and comparative politics. She is a co-founder and columnist at +972 Magazine; a fellow at The Century Foundation; policy fellow at Mitvim – the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies; and she co-hosts The Tel Aviv Review podcast. She is a frequent lecturer, analyst and media commentator. Scheindlin holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Tel Aviv University.
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.
