Israel

Provides a listing of articles on restorative justice developments in Israel. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

Liviatan, Ido and Nadler, Arie. "Intergroup Reconciliation: Effects of Adversary's Expressions of Empathy, Responsibility, and Recipients' Trust"

The present study explores the effects of expressions of empathy for the ingroup’s conflict-related suffering and assumed responsibility for causing it by a representative of the rival outgroup on recipient’s willingness for reconciliation. It is suggested that such positive expressions by an adversary will have positive effects on reconciliation only in the presence of a basic level of trust in the outgroup. In two studies, Israeli-Jewish participants were exposed to a Palestinian leader who either expressed or did not express empathy and/or Palestinian responsibility for Israelis’ suffering. After reading the speech, participants completed a questionnaire that measured their attitudes toward reconciliation with Palestinians. Results of both studies show that whereas expression of empathy led to more positive attitudes when trust was high, it tended to have adverse effects when trust was low. Similar effects were not found for assumed responsibility. Implications for research on intergroup conflict and reconciliation are discussed.

SHIKAKI, KHALIL and SHAMIR, JACOB. "Determinants of Reconciliation and Compromise Among Israelis and Palestinians"

This joint Palestinian–Israeli study stresses the importance of public opinion in reconciliation processes. It was conducted in the wake of the Arafat–Barak Camp David summit and intended to set up a baseline for sentiments of compromise and reconciliation among Israelis and Palestinians at the peak of the Palestinian–Israeli peace process. The study is based on surveys of representative samples of the Israeli adult population (n = 525) and the Palestinian adult population in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem (n = 1,259). It focuses on the role of expectations for lasting peace and democracy in shaping attitudes towards reconciliation and political compromise. Both publics felt that there is no room for further compromise on the most critical issues of the conflict; the majority in both samples believed that their delegations have made too much of a compromise already. A reliable reconciliation scale was devised from a range of steps listed in the reconciliation literature as prerequisites for successful reconciliation following protracted conflicts. Palestinians overwhelmingly supported reconciliation steps, which promise normalization and a chance for economic well-being. They were more reluctant to support steps towards political alliance and ethos-transforming steps. Israelis’ support for all reconciliation measures except for open borders was noticeably higher. Expectations were found to account for reconciliation and compromise sentiments beyond demographic and political-orientation variables for both the Israeli and Palestinian samples.

Bargal, David. "Structure and Process in Reconciliation-Transformation Workshops: Encounters Between Israeli and Palestinian Youth"

This article presents a detailed blueprint for conducting reconciliation-transformation workshops among Jewish and Palestinian youth. The workshops are based on interventions that deal with intragroup and intergroup dynamics. Conflict management workshops, which at one time utilized small group interventions to create a bridge between two conflicting parties, are no longer effective. The recent escalation of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has resulted in a vicious cycle of deaths and casualties on both sides. Thus, in the attempt to generate a dialogue between the two groups, reconciliation-transformation measures should be used as a means of reducing the cognitive distortions, anger, hostility, fear, grief, victimization, and humiliation that have developed. The workshop structure and process proposed in the article reflect the ideal design based on interdisciplinary knowledge and experience gained from efforts to build peace in other conflictual contexts such as those of South Africa and South America. (author's abstract)

Maoz, Ifat. "An Experiment in Peace: Reconciliation-Aimed Workshops of Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian Youth"

The goal of the present study is to examine workshops of Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian youth conducted in the post-Oslo era with the aim of promoting reconciliation and peacebuilding between the sides. The workshops were organized by an Israeli–Palestinian organization, in the framework of a peace education project. In these workshops, youth from pairs of Israeli and Palestinian high schools met for two days to discuss social, cultural and political topics. Each workshop included approximately 20 youths from each side that were led jointly by a Jewish-Israeli and a Palestinian group facilitator. The study examines four facets of these dialogue events, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods: (1) structure of activities and practices of transformative dialogue used in the encounter events; (2) attitudes and mutual stereotypes held by youth from both sides prior to the beginning of the workshops; (3) mutual perceptions and attitudes expressed by participants during the encounter; (4) effects of participation in the workshops on stereotypes held by the Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian youth (pre–post comparisons). "Author's Abstract"

Gabbay, Zvi. Justifying Restorative Justice: A Theoretical Justification for the Use of Restorative Justice Practices.

This article analyzes the philosophical premises of the two main theories of punishment that influence sentencing in most Western countries—retributivism and utilitarianism—and compares them to the basic values and practices of restorative justice. The article argues that if justice is given a deeper meaning and punishment is viewed more broadly, restorative justice practices do not contradict the basic principles upon which the current criminal justice system is based. Rather, restorative justice can be included in the criminal justice system to not only uphold the theories of that system, but also to help amend some of its deficiencies and further its goals. This article begins by exploring the deficiencies of the current criminal justice system and how restorative justice can address these deficiencies by including victims in the process and preparing the offender and community for his or her re-entry into society. The second half of the article argues that restorative justice practices are not only justifiable on a practical level, but that they also satisfy the theoretical requirements of the two major theories of punishment in Western societies—retributivism and utilitarianism. The article concludes with a discussion of how restorative justice differs from the “rehabilitative ideal”, popular in the early part of the 20th century, and whether restorative justice practices can provide enough uniformity and equality to be successful in the criminal justice systems of most Western countries.

Goldstein, Anat. Restorative Practices in Israel: The State of the Field.

Today penal systems and criminal codes are to a great extent a means of addressing the offense between the sovereign power and the offender. Criminal law of the modern-day state of Israel, like most modern systems, is based on retributive concepts of justice and reflects the norms of Jewish criminal laws in only very small measure.6 Yet alongside the country’s retributive criminal legal system, traditional population groups have long practiced restorative justice. Over the past 15 years restorative practices have also been introduced in the work of various Israeli government services. Traditional restorative practices can be found in each of the three primary yet diverse traditional populations in the state of Israel: a) Muslim and Christian Arab, Bedouin and Druze minorities, which comprise approximately 20 percent of the Israeli population, b) Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who comprise close to 8 percent of the population, and c) Jews who immigrated from Ethiopia, who comprise less than 1 percent of the population. In this presentation I will describe the traditional practices that are in use and will expand on the newly developed restorative practices in Israel. (excerpt)

Umbreit, Mark S and Ritter, Rina. Palestinian Offenders Meet Israeli Victim: Restorative Family Dialogue in Israel.

This article is a brief introduction to restorative justice, followed by a case study. The case study involves two young male Palestinian offenders, who were charged with attempted robbery and conspiracy to committing a felony, and their victim, who was a young Israeli woman.

Ritter, Rina and Umbreit, Mark S.. Arab Offenders Meet Jewish Victim: Restorative Family Dialogue in Israel.

A case example of restorative family dialogue involving young Arab offenders who committed an armed robbery against a Jewish victim in Israel who experienced the crime as an act of terrorism was found to be highly effective in resolving the conflict and building stronger relations between the two communities. While on a microbasis this bodes well for future relations in the region, numerous obstacles exist to widespread use of restorative justice dialogue in Israel and the occupied territories. (author’s abstract)

Spak, Simone. Using Family Group Conferencing in Child Protection Cases in Israel.

Simone Spak is director of Family Group Conferencing in Child Protection, a program of Ashalim (the Association for Planning & Development of Services for Children and Youth at Risk & their Families) in Israel. In this article, she describes a pilot project to use Family Group Conferencing in child protection cases.

Cook, Thomas C. Jr. A Personal Call to Peace: An Interview with Elias Jabbour.

This small book consists of transcribed interviews in 1992, 1993, and 2000 with Elias Jabbour, founder and director of the House of Hope International Peace Center in Shefar’am, Israel. Elias Jabbour is an Arab Christian, and the House of Hope is an Arab-initiated international peace center. In the interview, Jabbour talks about the mission of the House of Hope with respect to conflict resolution and peacemaking, the realities of conflict in the Middle East, and interfaith relations and dialogue.

Spak, Simone. Pilot Project for F.G.C. for Child Protection in Israel

In April 2001 the Service for Children and Youth in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Israel together with Ashalim, (The Association for Planning & Development of Services for Children and Youth at Risk & their Families) decided to launch an extensive pilot project of F.G.C. for child protection. Two previous attempts at implementing F.G.C. for child protection met with difficulties and failed. The current project invested in creating interest and trust in the F.G.C. approach as a suitable alternative method of dealing with child abuse and neglect. Eighteen municipalities all over the country were chosen to participate: cities and rural settlements in the center and the south of the country, small Arab towns in the north, and Bedouin settlements in the Negev desert. The unique aspect of this presentation lies in the application of F.G.C. in such a diversity of cultures and communities. This presentation focuses on the value of F.G.C. as a universal approach applicable in a wide range of family and cultural contexts.

Van Ness, Daniel W. Today salvation has come

In December 2001, Daniel Van Ness preached a sermon at Wesley Church in Perth, Australia. The text was Luke 19:1-10, in which is recounted the encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus, a Jewish tax collector in Israel for the Romans. As a tax collector, Zacchaeus was almost certainly corrupt and despised by his own people as a collaborator with the Roman occupiers. Yet Jesus befriended Zacchaeus and enabled him to repent and to change xe2x80x93 a transformation that led to Zacchaeusxe2x80x99 paying restitution and to restoration of community peace. Van Ness then describes Prison Fellowship Internationalxe2x80x99s Sycamore Tree Project. It is a project based on this New Testament story. In this project xe2x80x93 which involves a prepared curriculum that reviews biblical teaching on crime, confession, repentance, forgiveness, restitution, and reconciliation xe2x80x93 offenders meet and listen to victims of crime to understand the effects of crime.

Van Ness, Daniel W. Normalisation, Reintegration and Restorative Justice

Normalisation has much in common with the criminological theories of reintegration and restorative justice. Each is concerned with easing the entry or re-entry of previously-stigmatised individuals into the community as productive members. These movements are surfacing as a reaction to more formalised, offender-oriented (or patient-oriented) interventions, but they also challenge attitudes within the community. The emphasis on community reflected in each of these movements is not new; in fact, it is expressed in Jewish and Christian traditions and in the Old and New Testaments.

Groenhuijsen, Marc. Conflicts of victims’ interests and offenders’ rights in the criminal justice system- a European perspective.

In recent years, the interests of victims have risen to the fore in many respects in the criminal justice system. At the same time, Groenhuijsen remarks, it is not clear how the inclusion of victims’ interests in the criminal justice process relates to the legal status of offenders or people accused of a crime in that same process. Two sorts of answers to this issue have emerged. One, some hold that too much attention has been paid to the legal rights of the accused. Two, some hold that there is no conflict between victims’ rights and offenders’ rights; in fact, the rights of both coincide. In this context, Groenhuijsen argues that there is no simple, straightforward, “either/or�? answer. The two sets of rights need to be differentiated to find areas of commonality and elements of conflict that cannot be denied or easily resolved.

van Dijk, Jan. Crime and victim surveys

In the call for tougher policies on crime – harsh, deterrent punishment of offenders – many assert that crime victims, out of fear and anger, demand such policies. Does this assertion accurately characterize the perspective of victims? And, if this is the generally accepted perception of crime victims, does this perception obstruct the inclusion of victims in criminal justice proceedings out of concern that they are too emotional and vindictive? In this context, van Dijk examines international crime surveys to determine crime victimization rates, fear of crime and efforts at crime prevention, victims’ attitudes toward sentencing, victims’ satisfaction with the police, the need for victim support, and implications for further research and policy.

Segal, Eliezer. "Jewish perspectives on restorative justice."

In discussing Jewish perspectives with respect to restorative justice, Segal points to the central importance of Torah in Jewish life. Torah, meaning "instruction", refers to a complex set of commandments from God to the people of Israel. In a strict sense, Torah consists of the first five books of the Jewish Scriptures. In a broad sense, Torah consists of those books and the subsequent tradition of commentaries on them. Adherence or obedience to divine law or Torah is in many ways more important than adherence to doctrine. At the same time, certain key doctrinal ideas in the Scriptures form the foundation for the Torah way of life: humanity created in the divine image; the common origin of all humanity; peace; liberty; love for others; the dialectical interplay of mercy and justice; and the freedom of the will (allowing us to turn from evil). With all of this as background, Segal discusses certain key ideas and practices in the Torah and in Jewish life that bear upon the nature of wrongdoing and response to it: restoration; punishment; and atonement. For example, property crimes required restoration of the stolen or damaged property, or compensation for the property. In addition to financial penalties, possible punishments included exile, corporal punishment, and capital punishment. It is noteworthy that rabbinic law re-interpreted many possible forms of corporal punishment (the "eye for an eye" of Exodus 21:22-24) into a system of compensation, and it made capital punishment very difficult to administer. Nevertheless, the Torah did not see a fundamental inconsistency between the imposition of punishment and what we might consider the more restorative aspects of adjudicating wrongdoing in the Torah.

Abu-Nimer, Mohammed. "Education for coexistence in Israel: Potential and challenges."

Coexistence projects, as described by Abu-Numer, consist of efforts to educate participants to achieve peaceful coexistence between majority and minority groups. While the purpose is laudable, Abu-Nimer maintains that the projects have limitations and shortcomings. In this chapter then, he surveys certain types of coexistence initiatives carried out in Israel by Arabs and Jews. Limitations of the goals, processes, structures, and content of such projects are identified. This leads to discussion of the implications of these limitations on the concepts of peace, coexistence, justice, and reconciliation between Arabs and Jews in Israel. In view of all of this, Abu-Nimer suggests ways to adapt such initiatives.

Gal-on-Lechno, Keren. Family Group Conferences in Youth Justice in Israel.

Israel has been experimenting with Family Group Conferences (FGC) in Youth Justice for a number of years as an alternative for young offenders who have been blamed for breaking the criminal law. The initiators of the program in Israel are the Ministry of Public Security in cooperation with the Israel Police, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the Joint-Ashalim organization. When project planning began in 1998-9, a key requirement was to adapt the idea from its implementation overseas (based on the New Zealand model) to Israeli conditions and needs — our particular population mix, the structure of our law enforcement system and our care and rehabilitation systems. This task was entrusted to a steering committee comprising representatives of the Ministry of Public Security, the Israel Police (IP), the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Joint-Ashalim, and the Keshet Association. By late 2000 fieldwork began, at first in only a handful of police stations; by 2002 it had been expanded to the present number of twelve. (excerpt)

Ben-Baruch, Suzy. Restorative Justice for Young Offenders.

Israel chose to first apply this new approach to the justice system for young first-time offenders. Offering these youngsters a way back to a noncriminal lifestyle without carrying the label and stigma of a criminal record is very much in line with current Israel Police policy. The authorities furthermore calculated that the new approach stood a good chance of reducing the worrying and growing number of young offenders. The central institution of the new process is a Family Group Conference (FGC). The concept was first borrowed during the 1980s by New Zealand jurists, from that country’s indigenous Maoris who have employed it for centuries. Various formats of FGC have been effectively employed in other countries: England, Sweden, Canada, USA, South Africa and Australia. (excerpt)

Auerbach, Yehudith. The Role of Forgiveness in Reconciliation.

Cases of collective forgiveness and apology between nations and peoples have become a noticeable trend in recent years. After briefly describing this phenomenon, Yehudith Auerbach notes the need for more research on the feasibility of forgiveness and its role in reconciliation between groups. Forgiveness adds a spiritual and moral aspect to the psychological process of reconciliation. It is necessary for complete reconciliation, which rarely occurs. The author provides a framework of seven conditions for the success of reconciliation via forgiveness. These involve the religious-cultural context, relation to national interests, power asymmetry, status of leaders, authenticity, time, and the international environment. Each factor is examined in light of the Israel-West Germany case, an example of partial forgiveness that resulted in incomplete reconciliation.