THE JABOTINSKY INTERNATIONAL CENTER

The creation of the Jabotinsky International Center will enable the Institute to expand its activities and influence in the international educational arena on behalf of the Jewish nation in Israel and the Diaspora. In addition to encompassing the existing activities of the Jabotinsky Institute in Israel-- and its extensive archives and historical museum-- this international center will function as a headquarters for combating contemporary anti-Semitism.

A recent milestone was reached when the Ramat Gan Municipality granted a four-and-a-half dunam (13 ½ acre) plot for the Jabotinsky International Center. This land, adjacent to Bar Ilan University and located in the center of Israel, has solved the problem of location. One of Israel’s most prominent architects, Dr. Michael Chyutin, has drawn up blueprints for the Center. The plan calls for an impressive, singular structure designed to enable the Jabotinsky International Center to carry out its activities and achieve its vital national goals.

The financial scope of the project is currently estimated at approximately $15 million. The complex will include an auditorium, study rooms, museum halls, a large library, and our renowned computerized archive that now holds more than one million historical documents.

Members of the building committee include: former minister Moshe Arens, Ariela Cotler, Roni Milo, Prof. Benzion Netanyahu, Haim Topol, MK Reuven Rivlin, former supreme court president Meir Shamgar, and the board of directors of the Jabotinsky Institute headed by Peleg Tamir and Muzi Wertheim, chairman of Coca Cola Israel.

1. International Headquarters for Combating Anti-Semitism

The purpose of the center will be to stand at the forefront of the international battle against contemporary anti-Semitism. The Headquarters will synchronize the activities of all bodies in Israel and abroad currently dealing with anti-Semitism, and inaugurate a department to disseminate information and public relations efforts aimed at fighting anti-Semitism. Plans also include the construction of a special museum to display evidence and testimony of anti-Semitic activity in the past and present.

The growing wave of anti-Semitism in recent years has created an urgent need for the establishment of such a center. It is almost impossible to find a day or place anywhere in the world that is not marred by anti-Semitic incidents, whether desecrations of cemeteries, declarations condemning the Jewish people, or threats to the State of Israel.

This issue must concern each and every one of us, in all parts of the world. When the leader of Iran repeatedly threatens to destroy Israel, we as Jews and human beings cannot allow the world to be silent. The terrible experience of the recent past – the extermination of six million Jews in the Holocaust – bears a lesson we must heed now, as the exact phenomena occurs in our time. Like then – on the eve of the Second World War – when Ze’ev Jabotinsky evoked heartfelt cries to his people to act against the anti-Semitic beast to save themselves, we must not dismiss the omens before us today.

The Jabotinsky International Center has started its activities by putting a newsletter on the internet aiming to foster a proactive approach to combating anti-Semitism by:

• Increasing public awareness of anti-Semitic developments.
• Showcasing and supporting the work of organizations and individuals dedicated to the fight against hatred.
• Providing informational resources to educators, decision makers and all others seeking insights and facts.

For more information about the project - click here .

2. Department of Communication and National Hasbara

Most every Israeli university or college maintains a special department for communication and journalism, where the emphasis in academic studies is on the technicalities of journalism. Meanwhile, in the world at large, the international media is rarely sympathetic to Israel and the Jewish people. Israeli “Hasbara” (public relations) efforts have proved an inefficient failure. The goals, therefore, of the Jabotinsky Institute Department of Communication and Hasbara will emphasize not only the "how" of communications, but mainly the "what." Here spokesmen will be trained in the art of clearly and effectively communicating the national message. Graduates will spearhead the Israeli Hasbara effort, fighting anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment in all realms of the media.

3. The Yitzhak Shamir Archive

This archive, within the framework of the Jabotinsky Institute, will house the personal papers and documents of seventh Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, while serving as a center to encourage research on Shamir and his deeds.

Yitzhak Shamir, honorary chairman of the Jabotinsky Institute, succeeded Menachem Begin as the last leader of the pre-state era.