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Next Sunday November 27th, The Big Tent for Israel Conference will be held in Manchester. Its goal: To mobilize British Jewry against the assault onIsrael’s right to exist.

I am honored to have been invited to participate in this event, which was inspired by our report on London as a hub of delegitimization. Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, Daniel Taub, will be the keynote speaker. Other speakers include the Histadrut’s Yakov Triptou, Palestine Media Watch‘s Histadrut  Itamar Marcus,  BICOM‘s Lorna Fitzsimons, CIF Watch‘s Adam Levick, and Beyond Images‘ Andrew White. The event’s organizers include the Jewish Leadership Council, the Board of Deputies, UJIA, and the Zionist Federation.

In the past two years, the Government of Israel and Israeli and Jewish civil society organizations have adopted a new focus on combating the assault onIsrael’s legitimacy. This has resulted in multiple initiatives launched and considerable resources invested worldwide.

The Jewish community establishment and Israel’s friends and allies in the UK – which include fringe groups, and grassroots movements – provide an example of a community mobilized to fight for this cause. The ‘Big Tent’ event follows the “We Believe in Israel” initiative that brought approximately 1,500 people together to support ofIsrael just last May.

Indeed, the emergence of the pro-Israel network has led to a number of concrete victories on different fronts forIsraeland its allies. The ‘Big Tent’ event may prove to be a significant benchmark in the process of turning the tables on this ugly phenomenon of delegitimization.

 

See also:

In order to encourage a public debate on the need to establish a new social contract, that will regulate the relations between Government and citizens, and on the approach towards inclussive growth and comuunity building, we travelled across Israel to meet individuals and communities. To date, we have led and taken part in more than 30 meetings, including presenting our work in the tents camps across Israel (Tel Aviv, Be’er Sheva, Rehovot, Lod, Haifa, Mitzpe Ramon, Holon), participating in conferences (such as the ‘civil leadership’ and ‘Israel 2021′ conferences) and meeting with students’ groups and social movements.

We are committed to continuing this journey to ensure that each one of us has a fair opportunity to contribute to our country’s growth and to enjoy the fruits of this growth.

For more details see our: media coverage summary, google map and facebook page(Hebrew only).

This September, a number of events – namely, the UN vote on the recognition of a Palestinian state, the Third Durban Conference, the beginning of the new academic year, and the High Holidays – will coincide to place Israel firmly in the public spotlight. In the background, the assault on Israel’s legitimacy continues to penetrate into the heart of some Jewish communities, to the point that rather than serving as a source of unity, Israel is turning into a deeply polarizing issue.

The anticipated heightened focus on Israel presents an opportunity to launch a targeted Israel re-engagement effort. The goal: To re-engage Jewish communities with Israel in new ways and to use the concepts of ‘broad tent’ and ‘red lines’ to reconnect across the dividing lines.

This Call for Action is informed by the recent segmentation study co-funded by the Brand Israel Group (BIG) and the Conference of Presidents, the results of which were analyzed by BIG. For the full Call for Action document, click here.

This policy paper outlines the concepts of ‘broad tent’ and ‘red lines’ which were created by the Reut Institute as key concepts and pillars of the systemic global response to the delegitimization campaign.

The concepts of ‘broad tent’ and ‘red lines’ were formed in response to our diagnostics of the strategy of the assault on the State of Israel’s legitimacy, and particularly of the BDS movement.

We believe that following these principles would prove to be effective in turning the tide against the delegitimizers, helping Israel and its allies to recapture the center ground, isolate and marginalize the delegitimizers, and re-engage with groups that had been hitherto pushed away.

In this op-ed Roy Keidar and Eran Shayshon look at the recent Boycott Law in the context of de-legitimization.

“The assault on Israel’s legitimacy should disturb the sleep of anyone who cares for the State of Israel. Indeed, the urgent sense that action must be taken against the de-legitimization phenomenon is both understandable and justified. However, assumptions that the boycott law and other similar laws provide the answer to this challenge, are wrong and may well backfire.”

For the full op-ed click here.

In a paper published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), Tal Becker examines the scenarios likely to unfold at the UN this September, the regional and domestic factors, and the various implications of potential UN recognition of Palestinian statehood. While he notes potential threats, he also considers potential opportunities such as preservation of the two-state paradigm.

This connects further to Reut’s perspective that while September holds potentially threatening consequences, it will also present an opportunity for Israel re-engagement. The September campaign, which will coincide with the 3rd Durban Conference, the high holidays, and the beginning of academic year, will put the focus on Israel. We can seize upon this confluence as an opportunity for re-engaging with Israel and unifying our ranks against the assault on Israel’s legitimacy.

An article by Paul Krugman (New York Times, 19/05/11) identifies the first signs of recovery in manufacturing production in the USA. These signs are manifested in a rise in manufacturing jobs and a reduction in the manufacturing trade deficit. The Regional Development team at the Reut Institute identified similar early signs in Barcelona. Continue Reading »

Today the Reut Institute published a document focusing on London as a hub of delegitimization which suggests operational principles to catalyze a systematic approach in the city and in other global hubs. This document is the first attempt by the Reut Institute to suggest an operational framework to local pro-Israeli forces to meet the challenge of the assault on Israel’s right to exist. Continue Reading »

In light of the political-security team’s continued focus on fighting delegitimization in hubs, last week’s Jewish Chronicle ran several articles about Reut’s work in London. Continue Reading »

In his book Future Tense, Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks writes: “Though Israel managed remarkably the transition from powerlessness to power, it did so at the cost of Jewish strength in the past; communities, charities, voluntary associations and community-based schools. . . While the state grew strong, society grew weak.” Continue Reading »

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