Political Involvement of Youth in the Sixties and Seventies in Israel

Session Submission Type: Panel Session

Abstract

This proposed panel session explores the political engagement and mindset of Israeli youth during the tumultuous years of the 1960s and 1970s, characterized by waves of protests that reshaped the country's landscape.
The three presentations within this panel explore the intricate dynamics between the political establishment and the younger generation, particularly high school students. They examine the active participation of youth in shaping political discourse, expressing a distinct and influential voice, while also scrutinizing the dual institutional stance: one that seeks to constrain youthful activism and another that aims to foster political engagement aligned with the goals of the established order.
The panel offers a comprehensive examination of these dual relationships through three distinct lenses: first, through the prism of national politics, analyzing the transformation within the Likud political party; then through the lens of the policy of political education in schools, influenced by the dominance of the labor movement in governance; and finally, from the perspective of urban youth.
The panel portrays the dialectics of youth’s political understanding and voice as influential factors in shaping Israeli society in the 1960s and 1970s.

Sub Unit

• Israel Studies

Chair

• David Rotman, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Individual Presentations

• Party politics: the influence of young people on the dominance of the Herut movement in Likud 1973-1977 - Ofira Gruweis-Kovalsky, Zefat Academic College

• Education for political literacy among Israeli youth in the 1970’s: The policy perspective - Tammy Hoffman, Kibbutsim College of Education

• The Political Protest of High School Students and “Educational Anxiety” in Israel, 1967-1977 - Anat Kidron, Tel Hai Academic college

Zoom Host

• Zoom Host 14