We offer our gap year students the following tours, seminars and interactive sessions to supplement their Israel experiences.
TOURS & SEMINARS
The Israeli Hope Program at the Israeli President's Residence
For the first time in decades, President Rivlin has opened the gates of the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, with the establishment of the Visitors and Workshops Center. Since its opening, tens of thousands of visitors from the many diverse sectors in Israeli society have been able to visit the nation’s house. Now, thanks to a unique partnership, Makom have become the first, and exclusive, providers of tours and educational programs in the President’s Residence for English speakers. Gap year students in Israel have been the first to experience this transformative program, which includes a tour of the Residence, including the room for state ceremonies, an interactive onsite workshop learning about the Four Tribes of Israeli Society - Arab, Charedi, Religious Zionist and Secular – and how President Rivlin’s Israeli Hope mission is transforming the way Israeli society will function over the coming decades. For more information about this program, please click here.
Jerusalem as a case study of the Conflict
This one-day seminar will be based on four major components.The first part will be an introduction and background session which will give the participants an outline of the geopolitical situation in Israel. This part will introduce the main issues facing the Israeli government and its people, the debates around some of those issues and crucially provide the participants with an initial understanding of how we got to where we are today. The second component will be the security, borders and conflict tour of Jerusalem which will provide the participants with an in-depth look at the complexities involved with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israel's place in the wider Middle East. The third component will be hearing from local Zionist Israeli and Palestinian Arab speakers to hear their personal narratives and perspectives on the issues that have been talked about throughout the day. The meeting will be interactive and give the participants the opportunity to ask questions and develop a dialogue with each speaker. The fourth and final component will be a closing processing session to reflect, discuss and debate the challenges and issues raised during the seminar. For inquiries, please reach out to us at makomisrael@jafi.org.
Gaza Border Region Tour
Students travel to Sderot to gain insight into the dilemmas and challenges facing the local residents of the city who live under the constant threat of rockets from their Gazan neighbors. The tour includes a security briefing about the key issues facing southern Israel, the rocket-protected playground, a bus tour of the Sderot Police Station and Gaza lookout point, and a presentation from a local Sderot resident and activist who shares her story with the students
INTERACTIVE SESSIONS
Conflict of Narratives or Narrative of Conflict?
The goal of this session is to give learners the opportunity to conceptualize the main themes of the conflict by learning the how Israelis and Palestinians understand the last century of dispute over their shared homeland to help learners come to their own conclusions.
21st Century Challenges for Israel society
What are the main challenges facing Israeli society in the coming decades? This session analyses societal trends, issues within the Jewish world, and long-term national security threats.
The US-Israel Relationship
Why are the United States and Israeli governments so close? This session will explore the many layers of the US/Israel Relationship and discuss where it may be headed in the future.
Religion and State in Israel
This session will focus on the narratives in Israeli society for and against the role of religion in government and the broader society and will examine its place in the Israel/Diaspora relationship.
Israeli Jewishness and Diaspora Jewishness: Are we one people?
Why is one people’s Jewishness rooted in ethno-nationalism and another rooted in liberal-religious values? Discuss the trends in how the two largest Jewish communities understand what it means to be a Jew in the 21st century and how that impacts the future of the Jewish people.
Israel and the Middle East: Challenges and Opportunities
On the one hand, the IDF is the most powerful army in the region and opportunities abound for Israel to expand its influence. At the same time, several significant threats – from Iran, Hezbollah and the consequences of the Arab Spring, provide significant challenges to Israel. This session looks at these challenges and opportunities.
Israeli Politics: I don’t get it
Breakdown the Israeli political system, debate its pros and cons, discuss where the political currents are flowing and what the Israeli political map may look like in the future.
