The State of Israel will be celebrating 77 years of independence after the longest war in its history.
The future of Israeli democracy has never looked so uncertain. Yet at the same time, Israeli society has achieved extraordinary levels of civic and patriotic solidarity in the face of this, and the Middle East has been radically transformed by Israel's military achievements.
Paul Gross will try to make sense of these different lenses through which to view Israel after its 77th birthday.
Paul Gross writes and lectures on Israeli and global politics. His writing can be found in a number of publications in Israel, the UK, and the US; and he has appeared as a political commentator on Israeli English-language news channels. In the months before 7 October, he was involved in the mass protests against the government, as one of the leaders of the “Olim for Democracy” movement. Paul moved to Israel from the UK in 2007 after working for the Home Office on legislation tackling religious discrimination, and for the Embassy of Israel in London as the Ambassador’s speechwriter. He has a Masters in Middle East Politics from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS).