A group of sixty Israelis, men and women, some of them religious and others secular, some left-wing and others identified with the settlement movement, some academicians and others wearing IDF uniforms, published a document this week that it believes will safeguard the future of Israel as a Jewish, democratic state. Known as the Kinneret Covenant, the document of principles was issued in the spirit of Israel's Declaration of Independence.

"As part of our commitment to the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish-democratic state, and with a feeling of responsibility and deep concern for Israel's future and the character of society in Israel, we have gathered together, citizens of Israel, members of the Jewish People, in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence, and adopted this covenant," states the preface of the Kinneret Covenant.

The Kinneret Covenant was prepared by an organization

"With a feeling of responsibility and concern for Israel's future, we adopted this covenant" - the Forum for National Responsibility

known as the Forum for National Responsibility, under the auspices of the Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies and with the participation of the Avi Chai Fund. The forum launched its activities a year ago, with the stated goals of finding a renewed common identity for Israelis; closing schisms in society; narrowing social gaps; and repairing society's failures. The forum's mission has met with mixed, but mostly positive reviews, and was judged in one media report as being possibly "megalomaniac" in its dreams of solving all of Israeli society's ills and its rewording of the declarations of Israel's founding fathers.

"As part of the work of the Forum, we prepared a social covenant, which we called the 'Kinneret Covenant,'" explains Uzi Dayan, the head of the National Security Council and Forum Chairman. "The first draft was prepared by a group of people with very different opinions and outlooks," but all had a desire to build a "common future."

None of the signatories on the Kinneret Covenant are actively involved in politics today in Israel. Signatories include Prof. Yuli Tamir, philosophy lecturer and former Minister of Immigrant Absorption; Bnei Brak Mayor Rabbi Mordechai Karelitz; playwright Anat Gov; journalist Ari Shavit; moderate West Bank spiritual leader Rabbi Yoel Bin Nun; Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Efraim "Effi" Eitam; former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit; Uzi Arad, formerly Binyamin Netanyahu's strategic adviser and now head of strategic studies at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya; and former Air Force chief Herzl Bodinger.

Other Israeli officials and celebrities have announced their support for the Kinneret Covenant, including President Moshe Katsav, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna, songwriter Naomi Shemer, singer Aviv Geffen and actor Haim Topol.

"An attempt to build trust"
"The Kinneret Covenant is above all an attempt to build trust," says Eitam. "This is a document of partnership, not a document of compromise. We were able to define everything without which there is no people and no state." Looking back at the efforts of the ideological Left and Right to win the battle for Israeli public opinion, Eitam says, "Each side tried with all the means at its disposal to impose its agenda on the other, and did not succeed. The left with its lunatic rush to Oslo; the right, with the settlements." Eitam says that what participants discovered in their deliberations preparing the document was "something we all knew in our hearts: that we are all brothers."

Tamir said she was satisfied with the end product, but was upset that the document did not relate directly to the Arab citizens of Israel. "With the Arabs I have a different dialogue," she says. "I don't expect them to be concerned about the Jewish character of the state. I am the one who is concerned about that, and rightly so. My idea is for the Arabs to conduct a parallel closed dialogue among themselves. And then a true dialogue will emerge between them and us. There is nothing wrong with that."

Ha'aretz reported last week on the creative process that led to the writing of the Kinneret Covenant. Discussions took place in a Tiberias hotel, along the shore of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).

"The mission seemed nearly impossible. Serious doubts loomed. What, after all, were the chances of framing a statement that would include sufficient Jewishness, roots and God for Karelitz, together with sufficient civil rights, freedom of expression and secular spirit for Anat Gov? Was it possible to arrive at an agreed formula on the future of the territories and the settlements that would be acceptable to Yuli Tamir and not make Yaakov Amidror (head of the National Defense College) pack his bags and leave in a huff?"
Ha'aretz January 4, 2002

Anat Gov described the process as a kind of "reaffirmation of the Declaration of Independence and an examination of which parts of the declaration were actually implemented and which were not."

Regarding the future, Tamir says, "Everyone will translate his personal commitment into operative moves. We will say to the political system: Listen, there is a parallel reality in which people communicate with each other in a completely different way. Without cynicism, and with a lot of mutual respect and empathy, and with readiness to listen to each other. Our contribution will be the example, the model."

"A continuation of the Declaration of Independence"
Ha'aretz presented two opposing views on the Kinneret Covenant, and its possible contribution to Israeli society. Prof. Ze'ev Segal, an expert in constitutional law and a Forum member, says, "This document is a kind of continuation of the Declaration of Independence, which was the credo of Israeli society in 1948 and was accorded an important status by the High Court of Justice as reflecting the nation's vision.

"The credo of the Kinneret Covenant is the denoting of the moral foundations for the existence of Israeli society as a freedom-seeking democratic society, which believes in respect for human rights and respect for the rights of the minority," Segal says, envisioning the document's role as "a kind of tool to assist the High Court of Justice when it deals with issues that oblige value-based decisions."

But the Kinneret Covenant has its detractors as well. Shulamit Aloni, founder of the Movement for Civil Rights and former Minister of Education says, "These are empty phrases. The Declaration of Independence is formulated immeasurably better, and it doesn't require any amendment." Aloni questioned whether the Forum members "consider themselves more skilled than the founding fathers."

Aloni adds that the Forum doesn't commit itself to anything with the Kinneret Covenant. "We have enough rhetoric already," she says, asking why the document doesn't guarantee equal rights or relate to civil marriages and autonomy for the Arab minority.

Aloni was also upset with the IDF's formal presence as members of the Forum. "To put it mildly, the fact that these officers are sitting there, along with the bombastic, pretentious wording, combined with non-commitment to anything operative and the absence of Arab citizens make me extremely apprehensive and suspicious about the project," she says.

© 2001-2002 Koret Communications Ltd. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.