Program and Events

Guests Lecture Series

  • Mon
    23
    Jan
    2023

    Film Screening of the movie “Game Changers” and panel discussion.

    6:30 pmTopkino, Rahlgasse 1, 1060 Vienna
    Film screening of the movie “Game Changers” in cooperation with the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), the Permanent Missions Israel in Austria, and the Federal Republic of Germany to the UN (Vienna). Panel discussion with film Director Noam Sobovitz, Political Scientist and Historian Dr. Georg Spitaler, University Vienna, and the Ambassador of Germany to the UN (Vienna), Götz Schmidt-Bremme. Moderator: Martin Nesirky, Director UNIS.
  • Tue
    16
    May
    2023

    Panel Discussion: "The Future is Now: Democracy in Israel"

    7:00 pmVienna School of International Studies (Diplomatic Academy Vienna)Favoritenstraße 15A, 1040 Vienna

    The Center for Israel Studies Vienna, in cooperation with the Vienna School of International Studies (Diplomatische Akademie Wien) and the Friends of the New Israel Fund Austria, with the support of "Österreichische Gesellschaft für Politische Bildung"  invites you to a panel discussion on the topic

    The Future is Now: Democracy in Israel

    Date: Tuesday, 16 May 2023, 19:00h  (7:00 p.m.)

    Venue: Auditorium of the Vienna School of International Studies, Favoritenstraße 15a, 1040 Vienna
    Registration: office@center-for-israel-studies.at

     

    Words of Greeting: Gesandte Mag. Martina Schubert, Vice-Director, Vienna School of International Studies and
    Drin Eleonore Lappin-Eppel, Chairperson of the Friends of the New Israel Fund Austria

    Greeting and Moderation: Mitchell G. Ash, Professor Emeritus of Modern History, University of Vienna and President of the Center for Israel Studies Vienna

    The panelists:

    Natan Sznaider, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, School of Politics and Society, currently Senior Fellow at the International Research Center for Cultural Studies, Vienna, author most recently of Fluchtpunkte der Erinnerung (2022)

    Orly Noy, Chair of the Executive Board, B’tzelem, Jerusalem, activist and widely published author, most recently of „ Do Israeli Protesters Really Want Democracy? “ (March 27, 2023)

    Sagi Barmak, Director of the Adam Smith Center for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, author of commentaries on contemporary Israeli politics, most recently: “Israeli Parliamentarism has Lost,” Makor Rishon (27 March 2023)

    Although Israel lacks a written constitution, its democracy is maintained through balanced institutions. The reform of the Judiciary proposed by the current coalition government aims to shift the balance in favor of the Parliament (the Knesset), which will be able to appoint judges to the Supreme Court and also to nullify its rulings by simple majority vote. This move and other proposals of the coalition have led to protests by hundreds of thousands of people who view it as a threat to minority rights and the rule of law, and thus to Israeli democracy itself.

    The panel will address the social and political background of the crisis and the contested meaning of "democracy" in Israel. Do the protests signal the end of the political dominance of a secular Israel and the rise of a religious majority? What it is that the protesters are – and should be – defending? Are the protests a chance to clarify what democracy in Israel actually means?

     

     

     

  • Thu
    07
    Dec
    2023

    Panel discussion: “Israel at War. Civil Rights, the Role of International Law and the Future of Democracy.”

    7:00 pmAula, Universitätscampus(Altes AKH), Hof 1, Spitalgasse 2, 1090 Wien

    Invitation I Einladung I הַזמָנָה

    Panel Discussion

    “Israel at War. Civil Rights, the Role of International Law and the Future of Democracy.”

     

    Welcome Address and Moderator :
    Univ Prof (em.) Dr Mitchell Ash

    Panelists:
    Amichai Cohen, Israel Democracy Center Jerusalem (IDC)
    Dorit Geva, Central European University (CEU)
    Karen Saar, Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)

    Venue: University of Vienna, Aula am Campus, Altes AKH, Hof 1, Spitalgasse 2, 1090 Wien

    Date: 7 December 2023
    19:00h

    please register: office@center-for-israel-studies.at

    In cooperation with the Department of Political Science, University of Vienna
    with the support of the New Israel Fund, Austria