All-Members Meeting: State-Minority Relations in Israel in 2017 | Dec 4

This meeting explored recent developments in state-minority relations in Israel including trends in legislation, the legal status of the Arab minority, government efforts for Arab economic development and public discourse.

The morning session began with opening remarks recorded by President of Israel Reuven Rivlin for this meeting, and was followed by our keynote speaker, the recently retired Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice, Salim Joubran. Justice Joubran discussed his experience as the first Arab citizen on Israel’s Supreme Court and serving as the only Arab judge on some of Israel’s most sensitive cases. He shared his insights into legal developments affecting Arab citizens of Israel and the character of the state.

Later, Brig. Gen. (ret.) Dr. Meir Elran, from Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, and Dr. Maram Masrawi, senior researcher and lecturer at the Minerva Institute at Tel Aviv University, and lecturer at Al Qasemi College joined the meeting for a panel discussion on state-minority relations and Jewish-Arab relations. Dr. Elran will speak about recent socio-economic trends affecting state-minority relations, and Dr. Masrawi will reflect on their impact on Jewish-Arab relations and discourse within Arab society.

The meeting concluded with a presentation and discussion of Task Force activities in 2017 and goals for 2018.

Event Details
Monday, December 4th, 2017
8:30am – 3:00pm

Keynote Bio
Salim Joubran, Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice (retired)
Salim Joubran served on Israel’s Supreme Court from 2004 until August of 2017. From June 12, 2017 until his retirement, he held the position of Deputy Chief Justice. He is the first Arab citizen of Israel to receive a permanent appointment as a Supreme Court Justice. Prior to serving on the Supreme Court, Joubran served as a judge on Haifa’s District court for 10 years, and Haifa’s Magistrate Court for 11 years before that. From 1970 to 1982 he worked as a laywer in private practice. During his years as a judge, Joubran was also a lecturer at the Law Faculty at the University of Haifa, governor of Israel Rotary (dist. 2490), and chairman of the Zeltner Fund for legal research sponsored by Rotary Israel and Tel Aviv University. He was also the first Arab citizen of Israel to chair the Central Elections Committee. Salim Joubran is an expert on criminal law with a law degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Panelist Bios
Dr. Meir Elran, Institute for National Security Studies, Senior Research Fellow, Head of the Program on Homeland Security and the Program on Socio-Military Relations
Dr. Meir Elran is a senior research fellow and head of the Homeland Security Program and a co-head of the Society–Military Program of INSS. Brig. Gen. (ret.) Elran served in the IDF as a career officer for 24 years in senior command and staff positions, primarily in the Military Intelligence Directorate. His last post was deputy director of Military Intelligence (1987-1989).

Brig. Gen. (ret.) Elran took an active role in the peace talks with Egypt and was an active member (as a reserve officer) of the military delegation to the peace talks with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Following his retirement for the military Elran served as the chief of staff of the Tel Aviv municipality and afterwards as a senior consultant for strategic planning for several government offices, including the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Internal Security, and the National Security Council. Elran’s main areas of academic research are homeland security, disaster management, and societal resilience in face of protracted terror. He is also engaged in research about the nexus between domestic social issues in Israel and its defense doctrine and practice. He has published numerous papers on these subjects and edited several memoranda and volumes, among these: The Second Lebanon War: Strategic Perspectives (with Shlomo Brom, published by Yediot Ahronot and INSS in 2007); Societal Resilience (with Alexander McLellan, published in 2012 by the Homeland Security and Analysis Institute in the US); and The IDF Strategy in the Perspective of National Security (with Gabi Siboni and Kobi Michael, published in 2016 by INSS). Elran holds a BA from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Political Science and Middle East Studies (1965), and an MA from Indiana University in International Relations and Russian Studies (1970), and a PhD in Political Science from the Haifa University (2017). Dr. Elran is also the head of the MA program for national security with the department of public policy at the Sapir Academic College.

Dr Maram Masrawi, Senior researcher and lecturer at the Minerva Institute at Tel Aviv University, and lecturer at Al Qasemi College.
Dr. Maram Masrawi is a lecturer and researcher at Tel Aviv University and at Al-Qasemi College of Education where she has also served as Dean of the Faculty of Education and Head of the Early Childhood Department. Prior, she held academic and supervisory positions at Ben Gurion University, David Yellen College and Ahva Academic College. An author and researcher, she has recently published a book, Politi-Religization of Bereavement in Palestinian Society: Gender, Religion and Nationality, as well as scholarly articles on issues of Arab culture, gender and identity in Israel with a special focus on motherhood, bereavement, and political commemoration. Dr. Masrawi was a member of Israel’s Council for Higher Education from 2012-2014 and a Mandel Fellow from 2005-2007. In 2015, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Sociology at the Free University in Berlin. She received her PhD in social work from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, an MA in Education from Lesley University (Massachusetts), and a BA in occupational therapy from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.