The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona will present a symposium on “The U.S.-Israel Relationship: On the Verge of a Paradigmatic Shift?” on Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 1 to 9 p.m. The event, with experts from the East and West Coasts and the UA, will take place at the UA Student Union Memorial Center, South Ballroom.
Each of the three panels will include two 45-minute presentations, followed by a 30-minute discussion session.
The first panel, “Foreign Policy and Domestic Political Change in America, as it Relates to the U.S. Relationship with Israel,” will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Peter Beinart, professor of political science and journalism at City University of New York, will speak on “The Past and Present of American Zionism,” and Gil Ribak, Schusterman Fellow in Judaic Studies at the UA, will discuss “Interdependence or Growing Alienation: The Ambivalent Relationship Between Israel and American Jews.”
There will be a coffee break from 3 to 3:30 p.m., when the second panel, “Foreign Policy and Domestic Political Change in Israel, as it Relates to Israel’s Relationship with the U.S.,” will begin. Steven Spiegel, professor of political science and director of the Center for Middle East Development at UCLA, will present “Change in the U.S.-Israel Relationship: It Ain’t Paradigmatic and It Ain’t What You Think Either.” His partner on the panel will be Itamar Rabinovich, Global Distinguished Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University and a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, who will speak on “The Peace Process as a Determinant in U.S.-Israel Relations.”
There will be a dinner break from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
The final panel, “Future Trends in U.S.-Israel Relations,” from 7 to 9 p.m., will feature David Makovsky, Ziegler Distinguished Fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute, and Alon Pinkas, former consul general of Israel in the United States, currently a foreign affairs analyst on Fox Television. Makovsky will present “The Impact of the Arab Spring on U.S.-Israel Relations: A Preliminary Assessment,” while Pinkas will focus on “The Interplay of Foreign Policy Interests and Domestic Determinants.”
Registration for the seminar is $18. Patron and VIP tickets are available. For more information, contact The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at 626-5758 or sbs-judaic@email.arizona.edu, or visit judaic.arizona.edu/symposium_2011.
