About The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs is a multidisciplinary, independent, non-profit think tank for Israel policy research and education, bringing together the best minds in the political, strategic, diplomatic and legal arenas in Israel and abroad. Research includes contributions from its 55 Fellows.

The Center was founded in 1976 by the late Prof. Daniel J. Elazar , a political scientist and specialist in the study of federalism and political culture. Since 2000, the Center has been led by former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Dore Gold. Under his direction, the Center’s research has focused on engaging the public through conferences, in print, and online about Israel’s security needs and international standing.

Who We Are

• Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, Chairman• Prof. Yakir Plessner, Vice Chairman• Prof. Shmuel Sandler, Secretary• Prof. Efraim Torgovnik, Treasurer• Prof. Rela M. Geffen, Assoc. Secretary-Treasurer• Prof. Arthur Eidelman• Zvi R. Marom

See also Key People

Steering Committee of the Board of Fellows

The challenges that Israel faces today are not only military.

They extend to the United Nations, International Criminal Court, mass media, universities, and non-governmental organizations.

Often, the assault on Israel is aimed at its very legitimacy as a Jewish state.

Israel's growth and survival are dependent on its winning the war of ideas.

Winning the War of Ideas

While the bulk of Jerusalem Center material is produced in English, much is made available in foreign languages in order to be more accessible to the international community.

We publish materials and maintain websites in:• English – www.jcpa.org ; UK - www.mesi.org.uk• Hebrew – www. jcpa.org.il• French – www.jcpa-lecape.org• German – www.jer-zentrum.org• Arabic – www.infoelarab.org

Our material is accessed more than one million times eachmonth worldwide.

An International Think Tank

Institute for Contemporary Affairs – a forum for discussion with the foreign media and diplomats in Israel about Israel’s defense and national security challenges

Global Law Forum – engages in innovative, evidence-based scholarship, countering the inconsistent application of legal standards in the international law community, particularly regarding Israel and the Middle East

Defensible Borders Initiative – an effort to ascertain that Israel's rights and requirements for defensible borders are placed squarely on the global diplomatic agenda as part of forming a durable peace in a volatile Middle East

Jerusalem in International Diplomacy – analyzes the legal and historic rights of Israel and Jerusalem and the security threats of the potential division of Israel’s capital

Institute for Global Jewish Affairs – investigates recent developments in Jewish communities throughout the world and the rise in global anti-Semitism

Daily Alert – a highly-acclaimed daily roundup of top Israel news stories from mainstream English and Hebrew media sources

Our Programs

Founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation of the United States in 2001, the Institute, directed by Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, provides a forum for discussion of Israel’s strategic, defense and national security challenges.

ICA provides analyses on leading issues in Israel and the Middle East for the diplomatic corps and foreign media representatives based in Israel. In addition to providing a public forum, ICA publishes Jerusalem Issue Briefs and Jerusalem Viewpoints.

Briefings are delivered by military officials, academics and politicians such as:

INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY AFFAIRS

Dr. Bernard Lewis Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan,Commander of the Israel Air Force

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser

Southern Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Preparation of a legal document jointly with leading Israeli and international scholars and public personalities on the initiation of legal proceedings against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for incitement to commit genocide and participate in genocide. This program also features major policy studies by security and academic experts on Iran’s use of terror proxies and allies in the regime’s war against the West and its race for regional supremacy.

IRAN AND THE NEW THREATS TO THE WEST

These publications revitalize public discourse of legal issues concerning Israel and the Middle East by producing up-to-date materials explaining the international law dimensions of current regional controversies.

Topics addressed by the Global Law Forum include:• Charges of Apartheid• Legality of the Gaza Blockade• Gaza Fact-Finding Mission (Goldstone Report)• Settlements and Occupation• Universal Jurisdiction• Proportionality in Modern Asymmetrical War

GLOBAL LAW FORUM

Using previously unpublished documents, Jerusalem Center President Dore Gold explored the influence of Saudi Wahhabism on 9/11 in the New York Times bestseller Hatred’s Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism (Regnery, 2003)

GLOBAL TERRORISM

In light of a widening range of threats to Israel's security, in 2010 a group of senior Israeli generals came together to outline an unprecedented set of basic principles for a defense policy focused on Israel maintaining defensible borders. This project outlines the security infrastructure for any future agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

The initiative included a conference, an informational video viewed hundreds of thousands of times online, and a book distributed to top politicians, academics, and journalists.

• All material is available online at www.defensibleborders.org/security

DEFENSIBLE BORDERS INITIATIVE

This highly acclaimed newsletter produced for the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations since 2002 provides excerpts of top Israel-related news stories for thousands of Jewish leaders and decision-makers.

The daily newsletter (Monday – Friday) can be sent straight to your inbox and is also available online at www.dailyalert.org.

For busy readers, top excerpts are published in the Daily Alert blog.

DAILY ALERT

Dr. Dore Gold analyzes the legal and historic rights of Israel in Jerusalem and exposes the dangers of compromise that will unleash a new jihadist momentum in his book, The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City (Regnery, 2007).

Justus Reid Weiner looks at Illegal Construction in Jerusalem: A Variation on an Alarming Global Phenomenon (2003).

Researcher Nadav Shragai assesses imminent security threats to Israel’s capital resulting from its potential division and offers alternative strategies for managing Jerusalem’s demographic challenge in his monograph Jerusalem: The Dangers of Division (2008).

JERUSALEM IN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY

INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL JEWISH AFFAIRS

Established in 2008, the institute directed by Dr. Mansfred Gerstenfeld comprises several programs:

• Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism Project – conferences, seminars, and publications discussing restitution, the academic boycott, Holocaust denial, and anti-Semitism in the Arab world, European countries, and post-Soviet states

• Changing Jewish Communities – building upon the studies of Prof. Elazar and investigating recent developments in Jewish communities worldwide

• Jewish Political Studies Review – a scholarly journal focusing on Jewish political institutions and behavior

This comprehensive, 10-year project has studied the application and impact of privatization policy and other financial innovations in Israel. Sponsored by the Milken Institute, the project includes nine published volumes in Hebrew and English.

NEW MODELS FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH IN ISRAEL

The Jerusalem Center has been a resource for some of the most influential international publications and decision-makers.

For once, Israel’s critics and cheerleaders agree on something: the Jewish state risks greater international isolation. Pro-Israel groups such as NGO Monitor and the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs say a new assault is on the way. – Sept. 13, 2007

Our experts are widely interviewed and quoted in international media outlets, such as:• The New York Times• The Washington Post• The Wall Street Journal• Fox News• Sky News• MSNBC• BBC• Al Jazeera• CNN

Media Impact

Our fellows are often invited to present their research at conferences and legislative briefings. Some recent examples include:• Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, D.C., 2010• Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, 2010• British House of Commons, 2009 and 2007• U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee staff meeting, 2009• Repeat appearances at AIPAC policy conferences

Our research is also referenced by politicians and their aides in forming policies. Some recent examples include:• Annapolis Summit, 2007: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the heads of Israeli think tanks, including the Jerusalem Center, for their input on moving the peace process forward• Australia, 2007: Just before his election, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd embraced the Jerusalem Center’s initiative calling for the indictment of Iranian President Ahmadinejad for incitement to genocide

In the International Arena

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