Zeev Ben Shachar, Jerusalem U’s Director of Israel Education, is a man of diverse talents, as seen through his service as a commander in the IDF’s Sayeret Givati Brigade to his personal fitness and spinning classes. In addition to all of this, Zeev has been very involved in icnext. He has taught us and inspired us through his educational videos and personal conversations with our Cohort.
We kicked off our Cohort’s first day in Israel with an introductory conversation with Zeev. We briefly reviewed some history and different perspectives regarding the West Bank and the reunification of Jerusalem. He pointed out that while to some Israelis this has been solely about security, to others there have been strong ideological purposes; “finally, after three hundred years, we have liberated Jerusalem.”
We also learned about Palestinian perspectives, including the opinion that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is one of the main causes of terrorism in the area. Despite Yasser Erafat’s total rejection and lack of a counteroffer to a previous proposal in which 96% of the West Bank would be returned in exchange for peace, there are many who still hold this view.
Because one of the focuses of our Cohort is providing an update for Israel’s seventieth year of existence as well as hopes and goals for the young county’s next seventy years, we asked Zeev what hopes he had for Israel’s near future. His answer was inspired by his newly born son, Levi; “I don’t want us to need an army. I want Levi to grow up in a peaceful neighborhood”, but he also felt that it was important to acknowledge that “to achieve peace, we have to realize that it can’t happen right away”, that we have to be patient throughout the process. Zeev helped us to establish a “lens through which to experience Israel”, and set the tone for the rest of our Israel mission.