13 Data for Decision-Making Since the establishment of The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA) in 1991, its fellows have offered Israel’s military and civilian leaders policy-relevant research on matters of security and foreign policy. This year, BESA began work on a new, proposed method for influencing decisions: two one-of-a-kind indexes. The BESA National Security Index will offer objective and quantifiable measures for determining Israel’s resilience in the face of diverse scenarios, from cyber-attacks and earthquakes to waning trust in authority. The data will help policymakers identify and address trends that threaten Israel’s well-being from without and within. The National Energy Security Index will quantify the ongoing status of Israel’s energy projects and the future energy needs of the state. By identifying bottlenecks and opportunities, the Index will help policymakers formulate an overarching strategy to help Israel reach its ambitious energy goals for 2030. Emphasis will be placed on ensuring the resilience of Israel’s electricity grid, maximizing the economic and geopolitical benefits of its natural-gas discoveries, and providing data-driven recommendations for accelerating promising new energy technologies. …PLUS 22 NEW ORGANIZATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE LOOKSTEIN CENTER FOR JEWISH EDUCATION In light of the worrying rise in antisemitic incidents in countries around theworld this year, the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education at Bar-Ilan increased its efforts to help Jewish educators respond in effective ways. These included publishing a special issue of its educational journal dedicated to the subject and running free training programs for teachers, administrators, and community leaders. Moreover, as theCOVID-19 pandemic continued to disrupt learning worldwide, the Lookstein Center leveraged its global network of partnerships to disseminate engaging content to educators and parents. From full digital courses to short films and instructional games, Looksteinmaterials were used by thousands of children on six different continents to deepen their knowledge of Jewish history, values, and identity. Finally, the center continued its efforts to empower Jewish studies teachers to grow professionally and acquire new pedagogic tools. Along with training programs attended by nearly 1,000 educators, the center launched a new, Russian-language certificate program for building pedagogical skills and deepening Jewish knowledge, attended weekly by participants fromBelarus, Kyrgizstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine. The Lookstein List 32 countries in which the center runs programs 400+ partnerships with Jewish schools 26 training programs for teachers 939 teachers trained and 3 journals published in 2021 15,386 readers of Lookstein journals 9,981 students enrolled in Lookstein programs
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDU2MA==