Dr Yossi Beilin

What was the motivation behind the idea to offer free tickets to young Jews to visit Israel? Why did that idea tackle a harsh opposition amidst the Jewish Federations in the US, by the Jewish Agency, and in the Israeli Knesset? How were the Jewish billionaires convinced to support the idea?

How did Birthright-Israel become the biggest and the most successful Jewish project in the 21^st century? What are the achievements of the project and what is the criticism against it?

Peace with the Palestinians

Creating a confederation as an enabler to the Two State Solution. That structure should allow Israeli settlers in the West Bank, who will find themselves to the east of the future Israeli-Palestinian, to remain in their homes as Israeli citizens and Palestinian residents. The same number of Palestinian citizens will be permeated to live in Israel as residents.

Recruitment of Yeshiva Students

Rather than trying to enact laws which will perpetuate the status qua, in which the Yeshiva students don’t serve in the army, and don’t participate in the labor market, there is a simple way to change the “Security Service Law”, and change the situation. The idea is to use the article, in that law, which allows women not to serve in the army because of “religious way of life or because of conscience reasons”, and to apply is to men. There will be full and equal conscription (which will include the ultra-orthodox Jews and the Israeli Arabs), and the exempt youngsters will be allowed to join the labor market.

Matrimonial Laws

Israel is the only democracy in the world, in which the only effective matrimonial laws are religious. Since changing this situation is unrealistic politically (because of the religious parties), the proposal is to construct a system which will bypass the religious processes (an institutionalized trip abroad to marry in civil marriages and so on).