The second year of our fellowship program (2020) focused on the topic "Israel and Germany in the Year of the US Presidential Election: National Narratives, Identities and Foreign Policy". Cooperation partners included the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the European Leadership Network (ELNET), the foreign policy magazine Internationale Politik (IP) and Women in International Security (WIIS.de). It ran under the auspices of former Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in his role as chairman of Atlantik-Brücke e.V.
How do national and historical narratives and self-perception in the United States, Israel and Germany impact these countries’ foreign policy and relations to one another? How and why do supposedly fixed identities change over time? Are they reflected in election campaigns? If so, how are they expressed specifically in Israel, Germany, and the United States? How do national narratives and perceptions of each other shape bilateral and trilateral relations?
Six fellows addressed these and other questions.
The topics our fellows addressed in 2020:
- Beyza Arslan: Jewish-Muslim Relations in Germany, Israel and the USA
- Itamar Ben-Ami: Between Liberalism and Populism - The Transformation of Liberalism and Populism in the US, Germany, and Israel
- Benjamin Brown: Israel, the Jewish Diaspora and their role in International Relations.
- Hanno Hauenstein: Majority and Minorities - Pluralistic societies are all based on the diversity of minorities
- Steffi Hentschke: Heimish in the Holy Land - A research on the descendants of German Jews in Israel in the context of the US election year
- Noa Rekanaty: The Jewish Identity Post WW2 - Why America?
Online Conference: Israel and Germany in the Year of the US Presidential Election - National Narratives, Identities and Foreign Policy
On November 19, 2020, the closing conference of our annual fellowship program took place online.
The participants discussed issues that had become focal points in Israel and Germany in connection with the US elections year and that our fellows had addressed in their articles:
What political self-conceptualization underlies our societies? How are marginalized groups included in political processes? How do minority groups relate to each other? How are identities of families with a migration history formed? What influence does the Jewish Diaspora have upon Israeli foreign policy?
In addition, our two partner organizations Women in International Security Deutschland (WIIS.de) and Internationale Politik awarded the 2020 Sylke Tempel Essay Prize in the framework of the conference. Lisa Stappenbeck received the prize for her essay “Now more than ever!”.
Our panelists included:
Sigmar Gabriel, Shimon Stein, Sudha David-Wilp, Ulrike Franke, Nicola Albrecht, Ruthi Ofek, Kerstin Müller, Özgür Özvatan, Rachel Tausendfreund, Ralf Fücks, Rachel de Boor, Ahmad Mansour, Raphael Ahren, Nadav Tamir, Adar Primor and Eric Adamson.
Please find the complete conference program here.
