First Cohort Initiatives: Collaboration in Practice

Israel is experiencing a period of profound social strain. Public discourse has grown increasingly polarized. Trust in institutions has weakened. Jewish and Arab communities are navigating deep tensions, and children are growing up in an environment where disagreement often feels adversarial rather than constructive.

At the same time, research in developmental psychology makes clear that the foundations of civic behavior – empathy, fairness, cooperation, perspective-taking, and peaceful conflict resolution – are formed in early childhood.

First Choices responds to this moment with urgency and optimism.

Rather than entering the political arena, First Choices works at the root level: the formation of habits of mind and heart. The initiative is designed for children ages 5-8 and introduces foundational democratic values through short, humorous video stories portraying relatable, everyday situations.

Each episode illustrates principles such as fairness, empathy, respect, cooperation, inclusion, and peaceful problem-solving – not as abstract concepts, but as lived experiences children can recognize and practice.

In a climate where democratic norms can feel fragile, early education becomes a form of resilience-building. By strengthening children’s capacity for listening, dialogue, and shared problem-solving, First Choices invests in Israel’s long-term democratic culture.

In addition to the videos, educators and parents receive structured tools – virtual games, guided conversations, and practical classroom activities – to deepen learning. These materials promote active reflection and help children practice active listening, sharing and fairness, perspective-taking, collaborative decision-making and peaceful conflict resolution. This approach builds not only knowledge, but habits. 

Why This Matters Now in Israel

1. Polarization between left and right, religious and secular, and Jewish and Arab communities is increasingly reaching younger generations in Israel. Children are absorbing adversarial public discourse without being equipped with the tools to navigate disagreement constructively
2. Shared society requires early foundations. In a multilingual, multicultural society, democratic coexistence must be cultivated from the earliest years.
3. Resilience begins before adolescence. Civic education often begins too late. By age five, children are already forming understandings of fairness, belonging, and authority.
4. Education offers common ground. Schools and afterschool frameworks remain one of the few spaces where diverse communities can build shared norms.

First Choices is not about political positioning. It is about strengthening the civic and social capacities that allow democratic societies to function – especially in times of strain.

Current Status and Immediate Goals
We are currently producing two pilot videos that will be screened for children, parents, and educators upon completion. Each video will be produced in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, enabling implementation across diverse linguistic and cultural communities in Israel. Feedback from these screenings will be used to refine the content and guide development of a 20-video series. The next phase includes:

1. National Dissemination: Partnering with web and television broadcasters to ensure nationwide access and broad public reach across communities.
2. Field Study: Conducting a structured, nationwide study in kindergartens and afterschool programs to evaluate impact across diverse Jewish and Arab communities. The study will assess changes in understanding, behavior, and engagement with democratic values among both children and educators.
3. Digital Platform: Developing a dedicated First Choices website to host all videos and materials, including interactive educational games, educator resources, parent guides, discussion forums, among others.

This platform will allow scalable, accessible, cross-community engagement.

Long-Term Vision
Once validated and refined in Israel, First Choices will be adapted internationally.

The goal is to create culturally responsive versions for diverse societies facing democratic strain, positioning Israel not only as a beneficiary but as a contributor to global democratic resilience education.

The Team

Yarden Kedar, Ph.D.
Head of the M. Teach Program in Arts, Science, and Mathematics at Beit Berl College; Visiting Professor at Cornell University.
Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University.
Dr. Kedar’s work focuses on language acquisition, early childhood education, socio-emotional development, educational technology, and culturally responsive interventions. He has consulted for Israeli Educational Television and advised governmental and nonprofit organizations on early literacy and foundational developmental skills.

Naomi Shloush
B.A. in Social Work; M.A. in Management and Leadership in Education, Tel Aviv University.
Executive Director of Heznek 800, promoting tolerance, equality, and pluralism through informal education. Ms. Shloush has extensive experience designing and managing educational programs that support value-based learning and social-emotional development in early childhood.

The aspiration to educate for democracy and to promote its values within Israeli society is shared by many organizations and individuals. Today, a wide range of programs operate in the field; some even conduct internal evaluations to measure their impact. However, this also highlights a central challenge: in the absence of a shared language and standardized metrics, it is not possible to assess the impact of different programs in a comprehensive and comparative way.

We invite you to join the “Democratic Mirror” initiative, whose goal is to create a simple, fast, and standardized evaluation system. Through short questionnaires administered to participants at the end of sessions, we will, for the first time, be able to generate comparative data on the impact of different programs and their contribution to democratic values.

What do we measure?
The indicators in this initiative are based on the knowledge map for civic education toward liberal democracy: https://www.hinuchezrahi.org.il/

• Responsibility toward the democratic social contract
• Equality, liberty, and human rights
• Respect between groups
• Identity and ethos

How does it work?
At the end of a series of program sessions, participants will be asked to access a link containing up to 10 short questions that examine the connection between the program content and the promotion of selected democratic values.

What will you gain from participating?

• Immediate visual feedback: a practical tool that presents your program’s data in real time
• Transparency and knowledge sharing: the index data will be presented transparently to all participating programs. (In the future, it will also be possible to display the data on a dedicated online platform.)
• Research infrastructure: the accumulated data will serve as a basis for comparative research, helping to identify the most effective components for promoting democratic values across different target populations

Your participation in the initiative will contribute not only to improving your own program, but also to building a knowledge community and advancing democracy in its broadest sense.

Thank you for your cooperation and partnership,

Roey Perlstein-Dvir | Adi Simchovitz – Glickman | Liraz Manit

Roey Perlstein-Dvir
Civics educator, pol. sci. doctoral student, member of the Tamuz Urban Kibbutz in Beit-Shemesh

Adi Simchovitz-Glickman, Adv.
Co-founder of the “Israeli Law Day” initiative, dedicated to altering public dialogue and civic engagement with the rule of Law in Israel. over 15 years of communications experience, including senior roles at the Ministry of Justice, Walla! News, and NTA – Metropolitan Mass Transit System.

Liraz Maanit
Community Leader Mandel Center for Leadership in the North. M.A. in Public Administration from the University of Haifa, with research on local authorities in times of crisis.

Israel has experienced deep political and social tensions surrounding issues of democracy, identity, and freedom of expression. These tensions have intensified in the context of public disagreements and an ongoing security reality, and have increasingly permeated the education system. Educators are now facing growing challenges in facilitating open, complex, and at times sensitive discussions in classrooms and communities.

In response to this reality, the Practicum Initiative for Strengthening Democratic Resilience was established—an applied initiative that brings together academia, educators, and civil society organizations.

The initiative creates a professional and safe space in which educators can express their perspectives, engage in thoughtful, values-based dialogue, and act with educational responsibility in a constantly evolving context. The process integrates theoretical knowledge with hands-on field experience, focusing on identifying real-life challenges and dilemmas emerging from daily practice.

As part of the practicum, participants develop practical, actionable responses with academic and professional guidance, thereby strengthening their ability to act critically, ethically, and effectively. The outcome is the empowerment of educators as meaningful contributors to democratic discourse, alongside the creation of tangible value for organizations and communities.

The initiative is led by Nirit Osher, together with a team of five students: Hagai Lederer, Yul Levi Smolevitz, Liat Ben Avraham, Tal Cherni Darshan, and Adam Bord. It is further supported by its four founders: Lior Kornblut, Keren Beitan Shemesh, Avi Steinberg, and Dafna Reblin

Keren Beitan Shemesh serves as Director of External Relations and Community Engagement at Beit Berl Academic College, bringing over 20 years of experience in leading social initiatives and building partnerships between the public and business sectors. Previously, she served as Dean of Students at Shenkar College and later as CEO of the Israeli Skin Cancer Association, where she led national projects in the fields of education, health, and resource development.
Avi Steinberg is a social entrepreneur and a connector of communities and people, with over 20 years of experience in educational work. He previously served as an Educational Director at Masa – The Israel Journey, where he led initiatives and built connections between young Jews from North America, and in particular Canadian Jewry, and Israel. Today, he leads the Asper Youth and Young Adults Centers Network—an initiative of the Asper Foundation of Canada, operating within the Israel Association of Community Centers—and works to strengthen identity, belonging, and opportunities in peripheral communities.
Lior Kornblut is a co-founder of “Yalduta – The Organization for Change in Early Childhood,” and leads the development and implementation of educational approaches grounded in trust, community, and democracy from birth. As an organizational consultant, she leads change processes within education systems and local authorities, with extensive experience in building partnerships and leading large-scale social initiatives.

A rapid-response initiative providing legal, professional, and public support to educators facing pressure around democratic and humanistic values.

The Education Defense Clinic is a joint initiative designed to provide rapid, professional support to educators, schools, and students facing public, political, or institutional pressure around democratic and humanistic values in education.

In recent years, educators in Israel have increasingly encountered challenges when engaging with topics such as equality, human rights, pluralistic Jewish identity, and shared society. These situations often unfold under public scrutiny and require immediate, coordinated responses that combine legal, educational, and public dimensions.

The Clinic operates within Beit Berl Academic College and is led by a legal professional specializing in education law and public advocacy. It works in close partnership with Israel Education Watch, which leads the public and strategic dimension, and with the protection network of New Israel Fund, which provides legal and systemic support when needed.

Its core activities include managing crisis situations, providing legal and administrative guidance, developing practical toolkits, and leading proactive public engagement—particularly within teacher training environments.

By establishing a structured, accessible, and professional support system, the Education Defense Clinic strengthens educators’ ability to act with clarity, confidence, and institutional backing.

Itamar Kremer is an educator and social activist, and the founding director of Israel Education Watch, working to defend democratic and humanistic values in public education in Israel.

Mendi Rabinovitch is the CEO of Beit Berl Academic College and a former head of the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa. Together with Professor Yuli Tamir, President of Beit Berl Academic College and former Minister of Education, helped conceive the International Institute for Democratic Resilience as a platform for strengthening democratic resilience through leadership, education, and cross-sector collaboration.