Webinar with Doron Shultziner, May 2, 2023
Webinar Outline
Introduction of Speaker: 0:00 – 2:10
Presentation: 2:11 – 32:01
Discussion: 32:02 – 59:14
Webinar Description
Over recent months, Israelis from many parts of society have united and mobilized to oppose a power grab by the incumbent government against the judiciary. How did this popular movement against democratic backsliding form, what are the impacts and implications of its strategies and tactics, and what broader lessons can be learned?
This webinar highlights the main strategies and tactics that have helped channel the fears over the government’s actions into effective political pressures. The webinar illustrates the importance of the weekly mass protests every Saturday alongside a “national disturbance day” to keep the matter on the public agenda and to influence public opinion against the government’s so-called reforms. This webinar assesses how this strategy enabled various groups to participate in line with their specific characteristics and geographic heterogeneity.
In addition, the webinar highlights the major protest tactics that have been most effective in pressuring the government, such as direct pressure on specific politicians, the mobilization of experts (e.g., legal scholars, economists, political scientists), women’s groups, and IDF veterans and pilots, as well as international players. Furthermore, it discusses the importance of social media in organizing protests and disseminating information, along with the role of traditional media channels.
About the Presenter
Doron Shultziner received his B.A. from the Political Science Department and the Middle Eastern Studies Department in the Hebrew University (2000), and his M.A. (Summa Cum Laude) from the Political Science Department at the Hebrew University (2004). He received his Ph.D. from the Politics & IR Department at the University of Oxford (2008). Later he worked as a post-doctoral fellow and visiting lecturer at Emory University. He returned to Israel in 2009 and worked as a post-doctoral fellow until 2012. He then became the academic director of an Israeli think tank for Zionist, democratic, and liberal thought. Prof. Shultziner joined the Politics & Communication Department at Hadassah Academic College in 2014.
Prof. Shultziner’s main areas of research are democracy and democratization, politics and law, theories of social movements, media coverage of protest activity, and partisan media bias, as well as multi-disciplinary approaches to political behavior. Prof. Shultziner is the head of the Politics & Communication Department at Hadassah Academic College Jerusalem since 2018. He is also one of the founders of Mali-Center for Enterprising Citizens, a nonprofit that advances social entrepreneurship.
