Where Did The Peace Go? | On Campus & Online

Screening and Discussion |

Admission is free, with advance registration>

Ahead of the first elections since October 7, we will hold a special evening in collaboration with the Forum for Regional Thinking, focusing on the absence of a diplomatic resolution to the conflict from Israel’s political agenda. The evening will include a screening of a new documentary video series, followed by a panel discussion.

Hamas’s brutal attack on October 7 plunged the State of Israel into the most severe crisis in its history. The attack was not only the result of a military and intelligence failure, but also of a political failure that stemmed from years of managing the conflict without attempting to resolve it. Yet even now, nearly three years later, no political party is offering a genuine vision for addressing the problem that shapes our lives here. The only options politicians on both the right and the left seem to offer are living by the sword, managing the conflict, or endless war.

At this event, the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute will launch a documentary video series entitled “The Present Day,” presenting four different perspectives on the current situation. The series was directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Assaf Banitt (The Soldier’s Opinion). Through the personal stories of young Israelis, the films show the individual price they continue to pay as long as there is no decision to move beyond conflict management and toward a genuine diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

Following the screening, a discussion will address the absence of a diplomatic resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the political agenda ahead of the elections, the price Israeli society is paying for endless war, and the possibility of charting a path toward a future of reconciliation between Jews and Palestinians.

The screening will be followed by a panel featuring:

Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon, former Minister of Defense and IDF Chief of Staff

Ksenia Svetlova, former Member of Knesset, Middle East expert, and Executive Director of ROPES, an organization promoting regional cooperation

Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin, expert on public opinion, conflict, and negotiation processes

Moderator: Dr. Thair Abu Ras, Director of the Palestinian Programs at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and an expert on political behavior in the Middle East