This study compares between two regional leaders of the peripheral town of Yeruham over three decades. Its findings show that leaders who operated under similar economic, geographical and cultural conditions, embodied very diverse types of leadership. The comparison manifested various perspectives and channels of influence: the community vision, the socio-political concept, funding strategies and most particularly the style and modus operandi with both the local population and the national concentrations of power. Factors associated with the character and image of the leader impacted directly on local development and on the quality of services as well as on shifts in the political culture of Yeruham's residents.

This study attempts to evaluate the degree of independence and entrepreneurship among a group of Arab Muslim women, rural and Bedouin, and their own viewpoints on issues relating to independence, entrepreneurship, economic involvement and their social and legal status against a background of a changing global economy.

This study examines the deliberations of the Nissim Commission as a window to understanding the trends and the development processes over a given period – 1995-2001. The study focuses on the development processes, their leading protagonists, the central motives guiding them and the development mechanism of agricultural land and open spaces in Israel. The analysis relates to the process itself and not to its outcome and proposes, among others, the prospects of forecasting the development process and expected trends.

In recent years personal liability in local government has become a major issue in central-local government relations as well as in the public discourse. Its main thrust is a focus on ingraining norms of good governance in the public sector in general and in local government in particular. This publication serves as a foundation for an academic discussion on the issue.

The idea to position Jerusalem as a center of educational services in the global economy is the main thrust of this policy paper. It is founded on the city’s own past achievement in higher education and on its future potential. Educational services around the world have increasingly become more “globalized” and students move across boundaries and often great distances in order to get the right kind of service in terms of quality and price.

With increased globalization the English language has assumed become the main language of instruction. Its predominant role in exporting educational services has spurred universities to offer teaching services in English to overseas students and thus avail them of this growing global market. In order to realize its potential for exporting higher educational services Jerusalem must do the same.

This study focuses on the migration to Jerusalem by young Palestinian-Israeli women from Arab localities in Israel and on their eventual choice to settle in the city rather than return to their native localities. The study examines the considerations that determine their initial decision to migrate to Jerusalem, usually for the purpose of studies or employment. The characteristics of these young women are examined, as are those unique characteristics of Jerusalem as a migration-absorbing city. Their choice to reside in neighborhoods within Jerusalem and shifts in their socio-economic status resulting from the move are also explored.

This study examines the distribution of the local property tax (Arnona) burden in Israel by analyzing the household expenditure surveys for the years 1997-2005. A new analytical approach reveals the advantages and flaws of the current taxation system in order to propose improving measures of the existing mechanism.

This study examines the perspectives of decision-makers in the city of Ashdod concerning public participation in cultural issues, against the background of various active models of participatory democracy in Israel and overseas. Activating a model of participatory democracy significantly enhances the involvement of citizens in the democratic process, to their own advantage. It is important to create a mechanism that will enable citizens to realize their needs and desires by applying their capacity to influence or take part in decision-making processes.

The choice of Ashdod, the fifth largest city in Israel, is not arbitrary in light of the numerous waves of migration which form its residential fabric and generate contrasting cultural needs.

This publication presents the complex reality of Jerusalem as a divided city analyzed by six contributors. Shlomo Hasson examines the territorial, social, economic, and political developments in Jerusalem and explores how they may affect possible solutions to the problem of Jerusalem. Shlomo Hasson and Rami Nasrallah explore the different possible futures that may be played out in the city due to the impact of local, national, and international developments. Rassem Khamaisi proposes the alleviation of the Palestinian plight through the realization of the right to the city. Amiram Gonen explores new ways of strengthening Jerusalem by creating new contacts between Israelis and Palestinians. Noam Shoval examines the morphology of the city and the impact of the security barrier on everyday life. Ifat Maoz presents survey data on public opinion regarding different solutions to the problem of Jerusalem.

This study examines collective educational rights within the framework of an in-depth review of the relations between the Jewish majority and the Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel. The study offers examples of minority educational systems elsewhere, highlighting similarities and differences between them and the Arab-Palestinian minority. The study also touches upon the investment in resources and the commensurate achievements as well as on the organizational framework of the Arab educational system in Israel.

This study pursues the roots of conflict in Haredi society against instituting general studies in Haredi High School Yeshivas. Whereas a silent consent exists for colleges and vocational frameworks which provide such education, the few Yeshivas promoting them are faced with an all-out war. These Yeshivas were established in recent decades to address the growing demand for training ultra-orthodox married men to earn a living, by integrating general education in their religious curriculum. The conflict is associated with ideological justifications, which present the introduction of such studies at this stage in life as prohibited from the very outset. Haredi leadership prefers to present this breach as a new phenomenon, born in Israel, and condemned. Dr. Lupu's study adds historic perspective to the conflict showing that it has plagued Haredi society since its "golden era" of Eastern European Yeshivas even prior to the inception of the State of Israel, and that integrating general studies in the religious curriculum was endorsed by some of the Torah sages in Haredi society.

This study presents the views and perceptions of Arab and Jewish residents on the separation fence built in proximity to or actually on the "Green Line," as a result of the brutal terrorist attacks conducted by Palestinian organizations against Jewish localities. The study is based on interviews with residents of Arab and Jewish localities near and west of the "Green Line". In these interviews the researchers sought the plethora of views, conceptions, feelings, experiences and their analysis as to the impact of the separation fence on residents.

In the last two decades the National-Haredi (ultra-orthodox) community has become a central part of the religious public in Israel. This research shows how the national-haredi community recently identifies with extreme right wing political trends and is often reviewed in the general media. Despite that, it has neither been clearly defined nor has it justified an in-depth examination of its cultural, social and spiritual characteristics.

This research is a first attempt of its kind to define the characteristics of this group, highlight significant milestones in its development and the way in which it influenced the religious public and its relationship with the Israeli public at large. It analyzes the transformations witnessed by the religious public which gave rise to this phenomenon, as well as endeavors to predict its future course.

In this publication Nasrallah sets out to explore whether or not a democratic Palestinian State is possible. To answer the question he analyses the events and processes within the PA since Arafat's death, and pays special attention to the rise to power of Hamas and its impact on the political and social system. Following this analysis he presents three scenarios: Total Collapse, National Consensus and Building a Viable State, and The Impasse. Relying on the three scenarios, Rami Nasrallah explores the barriers and opportunities strewn along the way to a viable Palestinian State.

This essay presents a vision of a strengthened Jerusalem that can hopefully endure any geopolitical scenario.  In order to achieve this goal several strategic steps are essential, all  to be accompanied by a growing involvement of the central government of Israel in the affairs of the city and its surrounding region, so as to not only allocate generously resources to support housing, employment and infrastructure but also generate planning tools that enable urban development. All the strategies suggested in this essay share the notion of connectedness.