The Israeli Congress
The House of Israeli Agreements
The Israeli Congress was established to provide a response to the central challenge of contemporary Israeli society: the ongoing tension between the state’s Jewish identity and its democratic identity. The key to mediating this foundational tension is a wide-scale public process of constructing points of agreement, utilizing a deep understanding of the many levels of Israeli society and using designated tools to mediate and resolve social conflicts
Researching
To reach points of agreement in Israeli society, we must know it deeply and well. The Israeli Congress, in collaboration with the Menomadin Center for Jewish and Democratic Law, conducts in-depth research and surveys to understand the positions and opinions of the Israeli public on a wide variety of issues, and acts upon them to form points of agreement.
Meeting
Based on the data and research, the Israeli Congress forms groups representing different sides of Israeli society – agreement councils. The goal: to get to know each other, discuss collected data and consolidate the issues requiring response and possible solutions.
Agreeing
Using social mediation tools provided by the Israeli Congress, the agreement councils form solutions to be shared with Israeli society, for the purposes of discussion and agreement, within the framework of activities by “The People’s Council” which are open to the public.
The Agreement Index
One of the foundations of the Israeli Congress’ activities is the conducting of ongoing in-depth research on Israeli society, expressed in the “Agreement Index”.
The Agreement Index is a research survey tool, used to examine the relationships between various groups in Israeli society based on the four primary schisms in Israeli society: the national schism, the ideological schism, the religious schism and the ethnic schism. The Index is also used to measure the public’s approach to current issues on the agenda, and the collected data enables the planning of activities to promote the construction of social points of agreement in Israel.
The Agreement Index examines four central points of division and unity:
- Generalized identity
- Relations between groups
- Collaboration to achieve mutual goals
- Agreements on issues under debate
The Agreement Councils
The Agreement Councils are at the heart of the Israeli Congress’ activities to build agreements. The Councils are conducted as discussion groups in which outstanding representatives of the various groups which make up Israeli society participate. The Councils are directed to build agreements and field activities which promote communication between the various parts of Israeli society.
Every Agreement Council is assembled on an individual basis for the purpose of debate concerning a specific subject, with the debate being managed via mediation tools and based on field data gathered by the Israeli Congress using Agreement Index surveys and various questionnaires.
The Agreement Councils convene in national or local formats, and are directed to not only build agreements but also conduct field activities which promote communication between the various parts of Israeli society.
The People’s Council – Agreeing on Our Future. Together
“The People’s Council” is a unique community of Israelis from all walks of life in Israeli society, which supports the activities of the Israeli Congress to build agreements. The community’s activities are held in the digital arena, using a designated platform combining spaces to express opinions, participation in questionnaires and surveys, registering for events and participating in activities designed to introduce all aspects of Israeli society. Additionally, the activities of the People’s Council accompanies the activities of the Agreement Councils, providing the latter with broad public validation.
Agreeing to be Introduced – the Learning Arena of the Israeli Congress
As a body operating within academia, the Israeli Congress acknowledges the importance of knowledge as a basis for mediation actions. We believe that only getting to know each other better can allow us to start building agreements about our shared lives here in Israel. Thus we have established “Agreeing to be Introduced”, the learning arena of the Israeli Congress. This arena allows experiential learning about different layers and sectors of Israeli society through online study units which use texts, video clips, questionnaires and games to provide a sample of every aspect of Israeli society.
