Conference Call Wednesday: Who are the settlers & what do they want?

Since Prime Minister Netanyahu declared a 10 month freeze on settlement building in the West Bank, outrage has been voiced by the various sides of the debate, with the settlement movement staging a protest with thousands of rioters last week near the Prime Minister's residence, and supporters of a two-state solution claiming that Netanyahu's freeze does not go nearly far enough in advancing the negotiations process. To add to the chaos of the settlement situation, Israeli news is centering on the struggle with Hesder Yeshivas, as several rabbis have ordered their students to disobey army orders to evacuate outposts and enforce a freeze in building, and a group of radical Israeli settlers are being blamed for setting fire to a mosque in the West Bank village of Yasuf as part of the "price tag" for Netanyahu's decision. The Israeli government also approved a plan yesterday that would classify several West Bank settlements as "National Priority Zones", meaning that they would receive millions of shekels from the government to encourage growth.

Professor Steven L. Spiegel will be moderating a conference call on this highly relevant and divisive topic with Dr. Shlomo Fischer on Wednesday, December 16th at 11:30am ET. If you'd like to listen to their conversation, please email Rachel Cooper at rcooper@ipforum.org with a phone number where you can be reached at the time of the call.

Dr. Fischer is the Founding Director of Yesodot - The Center for Torah and Democracy. He teaches in the School of Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has worked in the field of education for 25 years. As Founding Director of Yesodot, Dr. Fischer has focused on religion, democracy and tolerance as he works to advance education for democracy in the State Religious school sector in Israel. He has been a fellow at Tel Aviv University and the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. His research interests include the nexus of religion, politics and class in Israel, contemporary religion and Jewish historical sociology. He has authored many publications, several of which deal with the challenges facing religious Zionism today.