The Menomadin Center for Jewish and Democratic Law develops legal and academic infrastructure to facilitate synergy between the components of Israeli identity and impact the public discourse.

The Center, which operates within the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University, works to advance research, train change agents, and develop solutions to enrich and support the State of Israel’s Jewish and democratic identity. Programs include extensive educational and public activities based on academic research and collaborations with different communities. The activity includes public figures and a variety of researchers, led by the head of the Center, Prof. Shahar Lifshitz.

The Center’s vision sees the potential in the Jewish and democratic identity of the State of Israel as a source of solidarity and prosperity.

The Challenge

Israel is a Jewish and democratic state. While this is part of Israel’s law and founding documents, in recent years, we have witnessed intensified public confrontation between two extremes—one that perceives the values of democracy as a threat to the state’s Jewish identity and one that identifies every Jewish expression as a threat to the state’s democratic identity.

The Opportunity

The Menomadin Center for Jewish and Democratic Law specializes in collaborations between different communities and identities in Israeli society. It uses research-based methodologies to formulate solutions based on a critical and inclusive discourse. The Center is committed to addressing the needs, preferences, beliefs, and concerns of different communities in Israeli society.

Along with the Israeli Congress, which seeks to bridge the ongoing tension between Israel’s Jewish and democratic identity through a broad public process of building agreements between the various groups in Israeli society, the Center’s focus is theoretical, normative, and policy-oriented questions.

The Center offers courses and research groups to students and researchers, runs educational programs in high schools nationwide, and works with government leaders, the judicial system and civil society.