Jabotinsky
Foundations of Political and Zionist Thought
About the Program
The Jabotinsky Program offers a profound intellectual journey for individuals driven by a sense of mission, Zionism, and intellectual curiosity, seeking to deepen their understanding of the foundations of political and Zionist thought and explore how these core principles engage with the realities of the modern State of Israel.
In a select group of up to 30 participants, students meet for 12 intensive sessions with leading lecturers, in classes that combine clarity, depth, and inspiration.
Admission to the program is subject to a screening process and is intended for candidates who demonstrate seriousness, commitment, and a love of knowledge.
A Unique Intellectual Journey
The Jabotinsky Program offers a unique intellectual journey, combining a systematic study of the foundations of political and Zionist thought with discussion of the pressing challenges facing modern Israeli society.
Over the course of 12 intensive sessions, each three hours long, participants engage in assigned readings of selected texts in advance, and take part in interactive classes that include guided group discussions, close reading, guest lectures, and the analysis of historical and contemporary issues.
The program goes beyond presenting abstract ideas, seeking instead to sharpen the connection between theory and practice, between tradition and vision, between thought and policy. Participants undertake intensive learning through the study of great works, in open discussion that hones arguments and builds a conceptual framework enabling them to understand and engage in the intellectual struggles of the modern era with maturity and depth.
The program emphasizes the shaping of a personal worldview, providing tools to understand political and cultural concepts, to recognize the ideological struggles that have shaped and continue to shape Zionism, Jewish culture, and the future of the State of Israel. Classes foster critical thinking, civic responsibility, and a living connection to the Jewish people’s spiritual and political tradition.
Study Tracks
The program is divided into three main tracks, each focusing on a different yet complementary axis of thought:
Political Thought: Order, Liberty, and Continuity
This track traces the philosophical foundations that laid the groundwork for the free West: human nature, the concept of liberty, the role of law, the purpose of government, the place of tradition, and the dynamics of social change. Through the study of Aristotle, Burke, Tocqueville, and Hayek, students examine core questions:
- Is man inherently a social being, or is society the product of conscious agreement?
- How can liberty be reconciled with the need for order and political stability?
- What is the nature of popular sovereignty, and what are its limits?
- How can political order grow and renew itself from tradition, religion, and collective identity?
- Why might preserving historical institutions be essential for ensuring lasting liberty?
The track examines the preconditions for liberty — both personal and national — and considers how moral and legal stability provide the necessary foundation for meaningful freedom. Discussions address the tension between innovation and cultural continuity as a key to understanding the challenges facing democracy in the 21st century.
Zionist Thought: Identity, Purpose, and Renewal
This track delves into the question of the Jewish people’s identity and purpose in the modern era, tracing the intellectual movement that gave rise to Zionism as a national-cultural effort to reestablish Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.
Through the writings of Herzl, Jabotinsky, Ahad Ha’am, Yehezkel Kaufmann, Israel Eldad, and Ronen Shoval, students explore the layers of thought underlying the Zionist enterprise and consider how the bonds between people, tradition, land, and liberty were reimagined.
Key questions include:
- Is Zionism an organic continuation of Jewish history, or a conscious revolution against tradition?
- How did Zionist leaders understand the essence of Judaism and the meaning of returning to history?
- What is the role of national culture and sovereign life in shaping renewed Jewish identity?
- How can ancient roots be balanced with a modern vision for the national future?
- What insights can we draw from the founding generation for the identity and mission of the State of Israel today?
The track focuses on the creative tension between conservatism and revolutionary spirit within Zionist thought, and on shaping national consciousness in a changing world: how to forge a free people from the fragments of exile, and how to turn historical memory into a present-day political and social mission.
Modern Challenges: From Ideas to Real-World Implementation
This track shifts from foundational ideas to the practical question: how are political concepts realized in lived reality? Students explore the tension between theoretical principles and the demands of day-to-day policy, examining how political, economic, and security systems translate general values into concrete institutions and actions.
Law: Legal Order as a Basis for Liberty
Explores the rule of law and separation of powers — how principles of justice, liberty, and limited government are implemented, and at times distorted, within free legal systems. Students compare natural law, legal positivism, and the historical school of law, and analyze the unique character of the Israeli legal system, shaped under exceptional conditions and influenced by Anglo-American, continental, and Jewish traditions.
Economics: Free Markets, Institutions, and Human Liberty
Examines the link between a free economy and a free society: how economic institutions foster not only material wealth but also civic responsibility and personal liberty. Using Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, students consider the dangers of replacing economic freedom with centralized control, the role of free prices, and the current threats to prosperity and liberty in Israel.
Politics and Policy: Liberty, Majority Rule, and Responsible Governance
Analyzes the structure of democratic power and the principles of political order in a free state: balancing popular sovereignty with checks and balances that protect individual liberty and cultural continuity; preventing tyranny of the majority without undermining democratic legitimacy; and understanding the role of stable institutions in ensuring both political stability and democratic flexibility.
Strategy and Security: Ideas in the Complexity of International Reality
Investigates how concepts of sovereignty, liberty, and nationalism withstand the test of action in a world of strategic challenges. Students examine the foundations of Israel’s national strategy, analyze shifts in the international order, and consider how a Jewish and democratic state navigates global uncertainty while defending itself without compromising its core identity.
Reading Materials
During the program, students study key works of political and Zionist thought, including:
- Aristotle – Politics
- Edmund Burke – Reflections on the Revolution in France
- Alexis de Tocqueville – Democracy in America
- Friedrich Hayek – The Road to Serfdom
- Theodor Herzl – The Jewish State
- Ahad Ha’am – Selected essays from At the Crossroads
- Ze’ev Jabotinsky – Letters to a Volunteer; Nation and Society
- Yehezkel Kaufmann – Selected excerpts from The Religion of Israel
- Israel Eldad – Biblical Meditations
- Ronen Shoval – If You Will It: A Star from Israel – A Manifesto for Renewed Zionism
- Selected writings from the Hebrew revival and national renaissance (H.N. Bialik, Uri Zvi Greenberg, S.Y. Agnon, Natan Alterman, Moshe Shamir, Yitzhak Lamdan)
Program Instructor
Dr. Gideon Hazan
PhD in Political Science; specialist in traditions of political thought and Zionist philosophy.
Guest Lecturers
Dr. Ronen Shoval
Head of the Argaman Institute and Dean of the Center for Israeli Liberty.
Dr. Sagi Barmak
PhD in American History; founder of the Exodus Program; expert in political economy; Head of the Adam Smith Program at the Argaman Institute; Editor-in-Chief of Hashiloach.
Dr. Raphael BenLevi
PhD in International Relations; research focuses on the intersection of worldviews and strategic security thinking; Captain (Res.), IDF Intelligence Directorate.
Dr. Shaul Sharf
Lecturer in Law at the Peres Academic Center; Senior Fellow at the Begin Center for Law and Zionism; Editor of the legal journal Reshut HaRabim.