About the Project "Future Israel"

Themes Survey Project participants Our neighbors Library Our Fellow Travelers Discussions Letters Archives	... the greatest days of Israel lie not in her past but in her future Devin Sper The dissatisfaction with the state of affairs which has set in Israel and with a course of things is the dominant state of society characteristic during the last years. The distinctive feature of our civic position consists of that we are idealists and consider it possible to change this situation by developing and realizing corresponding ideas. A known way of achievement to this direction is a properly organized open discussion. We realize that while doing this we face with variety of the various points of view but we have methods to workout. We would like nevertheless to limit a spectrum of possible positions and we invite to participation of those who first trusts in a basic opportunity to affect our state's policy and affairs and secondly is ready to be limited to rational reasons on this subject. In such frameworks productive dialogue is possible and we hope among other to grow up the rules of our game in these frameworks. Among various explanations of the unsatisfactory state of affairs which have set in Israel we would like to concentrate on one connected with our insufficient attention to the future. We get here in a vicious circle: difficulties of a present situation engross all our attention all intellectual forces which lack for construction and the regular analysis of pictures of the future. The unanalyzed future becomes continuously the present and creates current problems for us. There is no other way to escape from this circle but breaking it off by the effort of will: to become engaged in the future seriously. It is obvious, that works organized for this should be separated even from a current political life firstly: "the meeting" between them should be prepared intentionally, relatively speaking, after some years. We do not confirm that we have a deficiency of representations about the future of Israel: there are such - and very different representations - maybe more than enough but generally they are characterized as a good wishes without any mechanism of realization. Besides we are not able to work with them we have no effective ways and forms of their correlation generating a new ideas and representations development on their basis more or less stable and perspective political economic social and cultural strategy of the state in changing world. In other words the mechanism of strategic planning is not designed as it is use to name (not too successfully in our opinion). We believe that the participation in a detailed portrayal of this situation in its discussion at conceptual and program levels and search of a strategic output became today the major task of the society and in the same time its way of consolidation and formation. This problem we call the Project «Future of Israel». The project is not connected with political parties and movements. It belongs to the society of Israel. It could not be saying that there is no understanding of its importance in the society at all. There are known many publications concerning to this them in mass-media directly or indirectly. However first this problem is not understood and formulated in appropriate way; secondly there are not enough opportunities of mass-media for constructive study of subjects and for detecting of the problem and its acceptable decisions. Nor journalist materials no information is necessary here but the direct and well organized dialogue of different approaches and sights representatives. Otherwise all these turn to be «the one gate game» - substitution of the communications by one way informing which we observe both in mass-media and at numerous conferences symposiums etc. The ideas and developments are represented separately outside of the connection with each other. No dialog is organized around them thus they do not collect more or less significant intellectual potential do not find any continuation. The science alone is unable to cope with a task also: the science does not have and can not have any task of transformation and the scientific researches in our opinion should be guided by inclusion in a wider practical context outside a science which does not happen. It could be ascertain also the deficiency of concepts and representations that was naturally developed under influence of the accelerated changes in our world (globalization transition to a postindustrial society etc.) and an absence in this connection the necessary methodological work giving new cognitive means adequate to a new situation. This deficiency could be found out in polemic materials constantly which leads to misunderstanding each other and oneself and aggravates a situation even more. By stopping here in numbering and the criticism of suitability for our task of available forms of public opinion existence and ways of expression we confirm that one of the first steps in the decision of a problem becomes the organization of "places" for the qualified public mass communication. Communication which would enable to overcome incompleteness of judgments and their bases to present and understand a situation as a whole to allocate and formulate problems and to offer finally to politicians and statesmen the worked out strategic ways of movement to the Future and to participate in their realization. As a matter of fact it is a question of the creation of public institute on conceptualization and programming of the Israel Future whose field of activity we recognize on "joints" of social institutes and society. We would like the present site to become one of such "places". It should not inform mainly on the facts and events concerning to specified subjects but accumulate and represent the original approaches developments, decisions ways of their realization and public discussion and examination of all these materials also. It would be expedient to use the site as "incubator" of new public institute: due to the course it could take any virtual form of reality and then to leave it and operate in a "usual" reality. The major advantage of the form offered is that it gives to participants of the common work the right for mistakes. In connection with told before we shall emphasize especially that the fact of the publication at us any material does not tell about our consent with ideas of the author but that in our opinion the material given is capable to initiate or maintain the public dialogue. We hope that participation in the Project would be useful for your professional work also. The rubrication of the Project can change in process of receipt of new materials. Offers on subjects of the Project see here. Translated into English by Uri Skomorovsky.	Events: The new publications   New information from prof. Figovsky
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