Prof. Uriel Reichman, who serves as president, founder and chairman of the board of directors of Reichman University, participated last night (Tuesday) in the inauguration of the "Freedom and Responsibility" Research Institute at the university, which was symbolically held on November 29 under the title "November 29 - Israeli Democracy Update".
During the event, Prof. Reichman described the damage to the personal security of Israeli citizens as a result of declining governance, opposed incitement and delegitimization against Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the judiciary, and even expressed concern about the future existence of the state if it did not address Israeli society's internal problems.
In his opening remarks to mark the special date on which the Institute for Freedom and Responsibility was launched last night, Prof. Reichman said that "the meeting of the UN General Assembly on November 29 came two years after one of the most serious events in the world and in the history of the Jewish people." When at the back of the page the work on the general declaration of human rights was on the table and it was the background with which the declaration of the establishment of the Jewish state came out.
Therefore the expressions in the decision itself and the values of equality, peace and concern for the holy places of all, are values that came from the expectation of the General Assembly, not only creating a home for the persecuted Jewish people but also expressing hope for a new spirit after the horrors of World War II.
This background appears in our declaration of independence because it expresses the principles of Zionism that originate in Herzl, Jabotinsky and Ben-Gurion. "
President Herzog congratulates Prof. Reichman on the inauguration of the "Freedom and Responsibility" Research Institute // Photo: Reichman University
Prof. Reichman also expressed concern about the future existence of the state, if we do not address the internal problems that could hurt national resilience much more severely: "The State of Israel has great threats from outside but without internal resilience and the ability to live together. Lebanon, for example, because of brotherly hatred and division has turned from Paris of the Middle East into a failed state. We can and must rely on the basic principles on which the state was established. "And for many of us, the true self-definition exists and that is the declaration of independence. The principles of equality, concern for all are the principles that underlie the declaration of independence and have accompanied us ever since.
Prof. Reichman added with concern the difficult social situation in Israel of 2021 and the responsibility of the academy and especially of Reichman University as an independent and independent institution to operate: Instead, we stand here today with concern about what is happening in the country and with your permission I would like to point out phenomena of hatred, violence, division, and at the same time our role as an academic institution established independently and not subject to government or state budgets and therefore able to voice His voice freely and fully. An institution whose ethical rules we wrote that our university is a Zionist university in the spirit of the principles of the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel. We are in a difficult situation: on the one hand we see a loss of power , Very severe effects occur.We are in a situation where traveling at least two cars is required so we can deal with kidnapping and assault attempts; We witnessed Bedouin entering IDF camps and accumulating weapons, shooting at residents and communities, a situation of sponsorship fees and harassment of residents. "
Reichman added that for him in the country that Herzl dreamed of, it is impossible to come to terms with riots against Jewish citizens: Thinking of a pogrom of non-Jewish Israeli citizens on Jews in the Jewish state, this is the minimum that Zionism has come to guarantee and must not accept this phenomenon. Jewish violence got out of hand, whether it was Jerusalem gangs or price tag groups. For example, over 200 physical assaults that have occurred in hospitals in the past year,And we are also witnessing an increase in the murder of women and other phenomena that the mind does not tolerate. "
Much of Prof. Reichman's remarks were devoted to the importance of protecting the Supreme Court institution, with discussions in the background continuing to select new judges for the Supreme Court: "Reichman University stands behind the court system. We see it as our duty as a university to protect the great work of Israeli law created over 70 years by a large group of great judges including Prof. Aharon Barak, a senior faculty member at Reichman University. "Incitement against the Supreme Court and the entire judiciary. Reichman University is an independent university committed to the values of original Zionism as expressed in the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel.
Prof. Reichman also criticized the incitement and de-legitimization against Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and state institutions: "Anyone who goes in this direction is acting contrary to our common fundamental values and may lead to the collapse of the government's infrastructure and the functioning of the state."
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