The decline of Jerusalem

The most significant transfer of power in Israeli history is unfolding. Political institutions and elite are being overshadowed by mayors, philanthropists, business leaders, nonprofits and civil servants. This transformation allows us to become a healthier society of closely networked communities.

Olmert's downfall is just the most recent milestone of a process that has been going on for thirty years.

During the first twenty five years of its existence, Israeli society and economy was mostly centralized, state-owned and controlled. There was one powerful party, MAPAI, and an all-powerful government that ran the country in a top-down fashion. As late as the early eighties, the government controlled more than eighty percent (80%) of the economy, provided all public services and controlled most media outlets.

Where is the Israeli Center?

[This is the fifth of fifteen posts on Jewish philanthropy in Israel]

• Part I: Israel-Diaspora Relations
• Part II: Why should Israelis care?
• Part III: The decline of Jerusalem and the rise of others
• Part IV: Diminishing the marginal impact of Jewish Philanthropy

Israel-Diaspora relations

[This is the first of fifteen posts on Jewish philanthropy in Israel titled "Overhaul or Be Marginalized".]

This series of blog posts deals with non-Israeli Jewish philanthropy in Israel with the objective of making a contribution to its effectiveness and relevance.

When I started working on this project, my wife, friends and colleagues asked me why I care enough to spend so many hours on a topic that is out of the focus of my professional work. My answer was that I feel a debt to the community that has made my dream possible and that, en route, this may turn out to be a contribution, however small, to Israel's prosperity, to Israel-Diaspora relations and to world Jewry.