College and University Monitor

Join J Street CU and Columbia Association for Foreign Affairs as we host Professor Alberto Spektorowski of Tel Aviv University to discuss the global rise of illiberalism and Israel's role within it. All are welcome and no prior knowledge of the topic is needed. Dinner will be provided!

Recent years have witnessed a rise of nationalism, populism, and illiberalism across the world. Most recently, Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right politician who has widely been labeled as a fascist, was elected president of Brazil. Viktor Orban's Fidesz party has consolidated almost authoritarian power over the now semi-democratic Hungary. The Law and Justice party in Poland has exerted similar control over the country's political and media institutions while also engaging in Holocaust denial. The current Israeli government, itself the most far-right coalition in Israeli history, has forged connections with each of these illiberal personages and administrations in ways that seem puzzling in the context of its Jewish and democratic nature. How can we understand the factors at play in this rise of illiberalism and Israel's place within it? How are Jews reacting to this political trend and what are its implications for antisemitism around the world?