German-Israeli dialogue: How young media professionals develop new perspectives on security policy issues through the Sylke Tempel Fellowship.
What should a modern defence policy look like? What principles should guide it? Security issues have a major impact on society and people’s lives – and pose challenges for many nations in the face of multiple crises and conflicts. The German-Israeli Future Forum Foundation (DIZF) has therefore taken up the topic of ‘Values in Security Policy’: With the Sylke Tempel Fellowship, it supported seven young media professionals in 2023/2024 who, thanks to the financial support, were able to research the theory and practice of feminist foreign policy, security policy discourses in Israel and the role of women in the Israeli military, among other topics. Their articles were published in a special issue of the journal (IP). The DIZF also created opportunities for further training, mutual exchange and discussions for the scholarship holders with content-related and methodological workshops as well as the final event in Berlin at the end of June 2024.
The Sylke Tempel Fellowship
In memory of the German political scientist, journalist and publicist Dr Sylke Tempel (1963- 2017), Middle East correspondent and an outstanding voice in German foreign policy, the DIZF has been awarding the Sylke Tempel Fellowship since 2019. The one-year research fellowship focuses on current developments in Israeli and German foreign and security policy with topics such as ‘China’s influence on Israel and the Middle East’ or ‘The triangular relationship between Germany, Israel and the USA’. The programme is aimed at media professionals from both countries aged between 18 and 45. Co-operation partners are the American Jewish Committee Berlin (AJC), Women in International, Security Deutschland e.V. (WIIS.de) and the magazine Internationale Politik (IP).
‘The seminar by an investigative journalist was particularly exciting and informative for me,’ says scholarship holder Marcel Laskus, editor at . His research as part of the Sylke Tempel Fellowship took him to the Malkia kibbutz near the border with Lebanon – on 6 October 2023, one day before the Hamas terrorist attack. ‘The attack once again emphasised the relevance of the topic of security policy,’ he says. ‘Israel, which always gives national defence the highest priority, was suddenly vulnerable and badly hit.’ In Germany, on the other hand, the war in Ukraine has led many people to rethink their pacifist, pro-disarmament stance. ‘I’m interested in how countries and people deal with such shocks,’ says Laskus.
Laskus also dealt with this topic as part of the Sylke Tempel Fellowship: in his article ‘Israel’s left-wing legacy’, he explores the question of why the labour party Avoda is no longer able to assert itself with a progressive foreign and security policy in Israel. ‘The party was founded 56 years ago by Golda Meir, among others, and has built up the country, governed it for decades and strongly characterised it,’ explains Laskus. ‘However, since the failure of the Oslo Accords in the mid-1990s, people no longer attribute any competences to it in the area of security policy, so it is now on the verge of irrelevance.’ The fact that Avoda was able to enter parliament at all is mainly thanks to regular voters, some of whom Laskus interviewed shortly before the Hamas attack in Kibbutz Malkia. ‘Although the Hezbollah positions are only a few kilometres away from their homes, the residents were very relaxed at the time and firmly believed in peace with the Palestinians – that made a big impression on me,’ he says. ‘The events of 7 October 2023 shook the whole country, but in my opinion they left these people particularly stunned. I often thought about them after I returned to Germany.’
Scholarship holder Elianne Shewring has a different perspective on Israel and its ability to cope with the threat situation. The Israeli, who completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science in New Zealand and a master’s degree in international security at Massey University, has been based in Berlin since 2019 and works as a researcher for the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policy Mitvim. During her Sylke Temple Fellowship, she focussed on feminist foreign policy and its potential impact on the country’s security. ‘The topic is very close to my heart,’ she says, ‘and thanks to the fellowship, I had the opportunity to explore it in depth and articulate my own ideas.’ Another benefit of the fellowship was the many contacts she made: with other fellows and with Israeli security experts and researchers, whom Shewring interviewed. ‘This opens up new opportunities for collaboration and learning.’
In her article ‘Women, Peace and Security’, she concludes that the inclusion of women in security issues and political decision-making processes would bring enormous benefits and lead to robust solutions to pressing challenges. ‘Women tend to look at the root causes of conflicts and take into account broad aspects such as education systems and economic conditions,’ she explains, ‘and they consider the human factor in their decision-making, such as civil affairs or the impact of security policies on family life, children and marginalised groups.’ In her analysis, Shewring shows how structural and cultural barriers as well as patriarchal values hinder the development of an inclusive security policy. Her conclusion: ‘In order to achieve gender equality in this area, a comprehensive social change is necessary,’ she explains. ‘With my publication, I hope to initiate a corresponding discourse in my home country.’
Source and copyright: www.deutschland.de (in German)