The “Four Tribes” of Modern Israel

Yair Sheleg on Religious-Zionist Jews

23 December at 20:30

In 2015, President Ruvi Rivlin gave a speech which many regard as the defining message of his tenure. He referred to the “four tribes” of modern Israel – secular, ultra-orthodox, national-religious and Arab. Lamenting the tensions and divisions between them, he called for a renewed national mission of healing these rifts and learning to live together in mutual respect.

In this new Begin Center English lecture series we will hear from experts on each ‘tribe’, hearing their analysis and ideas for how to move forward in the spirit that the President calls for.

A researcher, journalist, author, and publicist, Yair Sheleg has been an astute observer of the religious-Zionist world for many years. He served as a reporter for the newspaper Nekuda and was a member of the editorial board of Haaretz. He is currently a member of the editorial board of Makor Rishon and the author of a weekly column, and a researcher on the 'Religion and State' program at the Israel Democracy Institute. In 2000, Sheleg published his book: "The New Religious Jews: Recent Developments among Observant Jews in Israel", which documents major processes in all facets of religious society.

Yair Sheleg is one of Israel's leading experts on the religious-Zionist community as both an academic researcher and as an outspoken member of the community himself.