Course B1 - Contemporary Israel

Professor David Newman, Professor Steve Rosen and Shmuel Ben Tovim

8th February: What is The Settlement Freeze?
Presented by Professor David Newman
Prime Minister Netanyahu's announcement of the ten month settlement freeze in the West Bank has resulted in staunch opposition on the part of the settler community and their supporters. They view this as Israeli capitulation to international pressure. For his part, Netanyahu has been speaking in two languages – on the one hand a settlement freeze, on the other limiting it to ten months and also granting Preferred Development Status to some other settlements. The concept of settlement freeze is not a new one, but it has never really been implemented. So what exactly do we mean when we use this term, and how relevant is it to any hope of a renewed peace process?.
15th February: Are USA-Israel Relations in Danger?
Presented by Professor David Newman
During the first year of Prime Minister Netanyahu's administration, new tensions have entered the special relationship between Israel and the USA. Netanyahu has taken the Israeli Government towards the right, while the new Obama Administration has taken the USA position on the conflict to the left. Few Israeli leaders are as atuned to the American psyche as is Netanyahu, and the new tensions have raised questions concerning the role of the USA in any attempt at a renewed peace process in the coming years. Is it possible that this will bring about a changed relationship between the two countries, or is it just a temporary glitch in what remains a strong relationship?
22nd February: Three Questions about Archaeology
Presented by Professor Steve Rosen
CLC is delighted to welcome one of the most renowned and respected Archaeologists in Israel today. He will give personal examples from his own work with pictures, especially in the Negev. He will answer the questions that he gets asked most often, namely:
  1. How do we know where to dig?
  2. How do we know how old it is?
  3. What is the most exciting thing you ever found?
Of course, he will be happy to address additional questions.
1st March: The Israeli Economy in the Aftermath of the Global Crisis
Presented by Shmuel Ben Tovim
In conjunction with the Zionist Federation

David Newman is Professor of Political Geography in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben Gurion University. He appears frequently on major news channels such as the BBC, CBS and Sky News and is a regular lecturer at CLC.

Professor Steve Rosen was born in New York, raised in the San Francisco Bay area, studied Mathematics and Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley, and did hisadvanced degrees at the University of Chicago. He has been living in Israel for more than 30 years, first doing his doctoral research there, then working for the Negev Emergency Survey as a Survey Archaeologist, and now working at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev where he has been for more than 20 years. He is the author of three books and over 100 professional papers dealing mostly either with stone tools or with the archaeology of the Negev. He is the editor of the Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, and a member of the Archaeological Council of Israel. He is also an Honorary Professor at UCL, where his wife is a Professor.

Shmuel Ben-Tovim, the Minister of Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Israel, was formerly involved in banking and private businesses in Israel. He served as a non-executive director in major PLCs. Other positions he has held include: Israel's Trade Commissioner to the USA, Mayor and leader of the Kfar Shmaryahu Council. He was born in Israel in 1950 and took an MBA at the Hebrew University. He served as a Major in the IDF.