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Emmanuel Navon

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Emmanuel Navon
Dr. Emmanuel Navon
Born
Emmanuel Mréjen

(1971-01-21) January 21, 1971 (age 53)
NationalityIsraeli
EducationSciences-Po, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (MA)
(PhD)
Occupation(s)Author, lecturer, foreign policy expert
Notable workThe Star and the Scepter
Websitenavon.com

Dr. Emmanuel Navon (Hebrew: עמנואל נבון; born Emmanuel Mréjen January 21, 1971) is a French-born Israeli political scientist, author and foreign policy expert who serves as CEO of the Israeli office of ELNET[1] and who lectures at Tel-Aviv University.[2] He is a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS) [3] and a senior analyst for i24news.[4]

Biography

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Early life and education

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Emmanuel Navon was born in Paris, France, as Emmanuel Mréjen. As a child, he attended the international bilingual school (French/English). He graduated from Sciences-Po, majoring in Public Administration. During his studies at Sciences-Po, he interned at the French Foreign Ministry and at the French Ministry of Finance. In 1993, he immigrated to Israel and subsequently hebraized his last name to Navon. In Israel, Navon enrolled in the Israel Defense Forces and pursued his graduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning a master's degree and a Ph.D. in international relations. During his studies at the Hebrew University, he consulted to the Israeli Foreign Ministry on the reform of the United Nations and joined the Shalem Center as a doctoral fellow.[5]

Career

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Navon began his career as consultant for Arttic (a consultancy specialized in R&D funding), helping Israeli companies obtain funding from the European Commission and join European consortia. Between 2003 and 2005, he served as CEO of BNIC, an NGO that trained Israel's business leaders in public diplomacy.[6] Between 2005 and 2010, he was a partner with the Navon-Levy Group, a consultancy that promoted Israeli agricultural projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2011 and 2016, he served as head of the Political Science and Communication Department at the Jerusalem Haredi College (affiliated with Bar-Ilan University).[7] Since January 2023, he serves as CEO of ELNET's Israel office.[8]

Academic positions

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Navon has been lecturing at Tel-Aviv University's School of Political Science, Government and International Relations and at the Abba Eban Graduate Program for Diplomacy Studies since 2002.[9] In addition, he taught between 2012 and 2022 at Reichman University's Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy.[10] He teaches and has taught classes on Israel's foreign policy, on foreign policy decision-making, on the history of diplomacy, on European diplomacy, on globalization, and on the global politics of oil and energy.[11]

Between 2013 and 2023 he was a senior fellow at the Kohelet Policy Forum and in 2017 he joined the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS) as a research fellow.[12] In his 2006 policy paper for the Herzliya Conference, Navon described Israel's public diplomacy as "soft powerlessness" and warned about international de-legitimization campaigns.[13] In his January 2017 policy paper for the Kohelet Policy Forum (co-authored with Avraham Diskin), Navon recommended the adoption of open lists and political alliances in Israel's voting system.[14]

Media and public speaking

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Emmanuel Navon addresses the CIISS

Emmanuel Navon is engaged since 2012 by i24News as a senior analyst for international affairs.[15]

Navon is widely cited by international media outlets and has made appearances addressing an international audience in three different languages. In English media his opinion has been cited by The Wall Street Journal,[16] the Washington Post,[17] Bloomberg,[18] Sky News,[19] The Financial Times,[20] and The Fiscal Times.[21] He has been interviewed or debated Israeli foreign policy with other figures in English media broadcasts such as on the Voice of America,[22] and Al-Jazeera.[23] French language media outlets similarly turn to Navon for his position on Israeli issues. He has been cited by France 24,[24] Le Figaro,[25] Libération,[26] Le Point,[27] France Culture,[28] Les Echos,[29] RFI,[30] L'Obs,[31] Radio Canada,[32] La Libre Belgique,[33] and Le Monde.[34] Hebrew language or English language Israeli media also have turned to Navon for his policy positions. His perspective has been quoted by the Knesset Channel,[35] the Army Radio,[36] Ynet,[37] the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation,[38] and The Jerusalem Post.[39] Navon has also appeared on Chinese media China Central Television[40] and Xinhua.[41]

Navon's op-eds have appeared in Newsweek,[42] Le Monde,[43] Le Figaro,[44] The Jerusalem Post,[45] Globes,[46] The Marker,[47] Israel Hayom,[48] Makor Rishon,[49] Yediot Aharonot,[50] and Maariv.[51] He regularly publishes on Israeli politics for The Times of Israel (in English)[52] and is a former contributor to Mida, an Israeli current affairs and opinion web magazine.[53]

Navon is a frequent guest speaker in North America and Europe on behalf of organizations such as the Jewish Federations of North America, Hillel International,[54] and ELNET.[55]

In March 2011, a lecture Navon delivered at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) was disrupted by pro-Palestinian students, and Navon had to be escorted by security guards.[56] In November 2012, RTBF journalist Eddy Caekelberghs cut short a live interview after Navon accused him of contributing to Hamas' propaganda.[57] In 2019, Navon was invited by the Haute école pédagogique (HEP) du canton de Vaud to present his approach to the Palestinian refugee problem, after an outcry caused by HEP's original plan to only invite speakers identified with the Palestinian narrative.[58] In July 2020, Navon clashed on Turkish TV channel ANews with a journalist who had claimed that the West Bank was stolen by Israel. "That land was not stolen, as opposed to the land your country stole from Cyprus and from Syria" Navon replied.[59]

Ideas and controversies

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International Relations

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Navon is critical of international relations theory and describes the "great debates" as a sham.[60] His dismissive attitude toward IR theory has been rebuked by international relations scholars Duncan Bell and Brian C. Schmidt.[61][62] Duncan Bell's rebuke of Navon's critical approach to IR theory is often quoted in academic literature.[63][64][65][66][67][68]

Navon is a defender of free-markets and of globalization.[69] He advocates the use of Israel's technological edge to contribute to energy independence,[70] a position for which he was criticized by Prof. Yehezkel Dror.[71] A supporter of the preservation of NATO and of the EU, Navon is suspicious of Russia and had opposed Brexit.[72] Navon approves of Israel's "divide and rule" policy towards the European Union (i.e. developing special ties with the Visegrád Group so as to block unanimous votes by the Council of the European Union on Israel and the Middle East), yet he also warns that "Israel should not overplay that card" because "for all its failings, a unified European market aligned with the U.S. is more in Israel's interest than a divided continent ruled by pro-Russian mercantilists."[73]

Arab-Israeli Conflict

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Navon describes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as "Catch 22" situation.[74] He thinks that the preservation of Israel's Jewish and democratic character requires territorial changes but does not believe that an agreement can be reached with the Palestinians. He also dismisses unilateral territorial withdrawals (such as the 2005 Gaza disengagement) as too risky.[75] Navon claims that the two-state solution "keeps working in theory and failing in practice."[76] Navon is of the opinion that Israeli settlements are not illegal, that the Palestinians' claim for a "right of return" to Israel is groundless in international law and incompatible with a two-state solution, and that only Israel has guaranteed religious freedoms and protected the holy sites of the three Abrahamic religions in Jerusalem.[77]

In November 2005, Navon rebuked Israel's "New Historians."[78] In April 2010, he criticized the JCall initiative for overlooking the responsibility of the Palestinian leadership in the deadlock of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.[79] In October 2016, Navon responded to Hagai El-Ad's call for Security Council action against Israel's presence in the West Bank.[80] In 2020, Navon expressed his support for the Trump peace plan and for the extension of Israeli sovereignty to parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Navon rejects the claim that partial Israeli annexations beyond the "green line" are incompatible with international law and with a two-state solution.[81]

Following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Navon declared that "Israel must, and will, teach its enemies a lesson which they, and the world, will never forget."[82] During a debate on the Israel-Hamas war with Diana Buttu and Daniel Levy, moderated by Mehdi Hasan for Al-Jazeera's "Head-to-Head" program, Navon declared that "Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Arabs are free," that "Zionism is a national liberation movement that freed its land from Arab-Muslim colonialism," and that "Palestine is a British colonial invention."[83]

Nationalism and Democracy

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Navon has argued that the Jews are a religion and the Jewish people form a nation. For this reason, the Jewish people are entitled to national self-determination.[84] He writes that Zionism is a national liberation movement and the legitimacy of the Jewish nation-state equals that of all nation-states.[85] Navon writes that nationalism in general, and Jewish nationalism (Zionism) in particular, are compatible with democracy and civic equality. Navon supported the Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People but stated that the principle of civic equality should be explicitly enshrined in Israel's quasi-constitutional basic law.[86][87]

Navon is critical of post-Zionist and anti-Zionist Jews such as Peter Beinart, Mike Marqusee and Eitan Bronstein Aparicio. He has rebuffed their arguments in several book reviews.[88][89][90]

Judicial Activism and Electoral Reform

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Navon is critical of Israel's judicial activism and of Aharon Barak's self-proclaimed "constitutional revolution." In his book The Victory of Zionism: Reclaiming the Narrative about Israel's Domestic, Regional, and International Challenges, Navon claims that Israel's constitutional order and separation of powers were overhauled in the 1990s by five dramatic changes introduced unilaterally by the High Court of Justice under Barak's leadership: 1. Proclaiming that everything is "justiciable" and therefore that no public issue is immune from the court's review; 2. Ending the "standing" (or locus standi) requirement, thus allowing anyone to petition the court; 3. Declaring that the court is entitled to strike down legislation deemed inconsistent with Israel's "basic laws;" 4. Overruling government decision for being "unreasonable" in the court's opinion; 5. Turning the legal advice of the Attorney General into binding decisions by which the government must abide.[91]

Navon suggests legislating a Basic Law that would regulate, re-balance, and formalize Israel's separation of powers and the court's ability to strike down legislation and government decisions. While he does not oppose judicial review, Navon believes that its modus operandi in Israel has been shaped in a radical and unilateral manner and must be redrawn via a Basic Law supported by a large majority.[92] Navon has criticized the 2023 Israeli judicial reform promoted by Yariv Levin, arguing that the suggested set of reforms "go too far, and they would replace one imbalance with another instead of fixing the imbalance produced by the Court over the years."[93]

Navon also suggests implementing two reforms in Israel's electoral system to increase accountability and predictability: 1. Open lists; 2. Political alliances. According to Navon, open lists produce more accountability than first-past-the-post (FPTP) elections; he also claims that FPTP is not suited to Israel's heterogenous society and would not gather enough support in the Knesset anyway. Navon also suggests formalizing political alliances via legislation to improve the correlation between the vote for a party and the choice of a prime minister.[94]

"The Star and the Scepter" and Controversy with Tom Segev

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The Hebrew translation of Navon's book The Star and the Scepter: A Diplomatic History of Israel was published by Modan Publishing in 2023 with a foreward by Isaac Herzog. Israeli historian Tom Segev wrote a critical review of the book in Ha'aretz, which created a controversy with Navon. In his review, Segev accuses Navon of attributing more historical importance to Ze'ev Jabotinsky than to David Ben-Gurion; of misquoting Benny Morris' book Righteous Victims; and of welcoming the rise of far-right political parties in Europe.[95] In his response, published by Ha'aretz, Navon claims that all three accusations are false and dishonest. According to Navon, the book attributes more historical importance to Ben-Gurion than to Jabotinsky; all quotes from Righteous Victims are faithful (Navon accuses Segev of cutting a quote from the book to hide Mussolini's support for Amin al-Husseini); and the book does not welcome the rise of the far-right in Europe (Navon claims he has written about the need to be wary and skeptical about the supposedly pro-Israel credentials of Europe's far-right).[96]

Politics

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In November 2012, Navon ran for Knesset on the Likud ticket[97] but he did not gather enough votes in the party's primary elections.[98]He endorsed François Fillon for the first round of the 2017 French presidential elections and Emmanuel Macron for the runoff.[99]In December 2019, Navon endorsed Gideon Sa'ar for the leadership of Likud.[100] In December 2020, he left the Likud party.[101]

Personal life

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Navon grew up in a secular Jewish family but became Modern Orthodox in his early 20s.[102] He is married to Sima Herzfeld and has four children. Navon is the brother of French author Valérie Mréjen and the brother-in-law of US rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld. Navon's maternal grandfather was an officer in the French army and a secret agent in the French resistance, whose life was saved by a German officer.[103]

Bibliography

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Books

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Academic articles

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Policy papers

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References

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  1. ^ "Dr. Emmanuel Navon announced as New CEO of ELNET-Israel - ELNET". 2023-01-08. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  2. ^ "Dr. Emmanuel Navon | Tel Aviv University". english.tau.ac.il. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
  3. ^ Dr. Emmanuel Navon's bio on the website of JISS
  4. ^ "Emmanuel Navon". YouTube. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
  5. ^ "Interview with Emmanuel Navon in TLV Faces" (PDF).
  6. ^ Sandy Cash, "Boardroom Diplomacy" The Jerusalem Report, 2 May 2005
  7. ^ "Interview with Emmanuel Navon in TLV Faces" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Dr. Emmanuel Navon announced as New CEO of ELNET-Israel - ELNET". 2023-01-08. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  9. ^ "Dr. Emmanuel Navon | Tel Aviv University". english.tau.ac.il. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
  10. ^ "Emmanuel Navon's LinkedIn Profile".
  11. ^ Emmanuel Navon's LinkedIn Profile
  12. ^ Dr. Emmanuel Navon's page on the website of JISS
  13. ^ Elise Hannaford, "Cautioning Israeli Policy Makers: The Consequences of Failed Negotiations" Palestine-Israel Journal, February 2014
  14. ^ Lieberman, Kobi (11 November 2019). "Options to Reform the Electoral System [Hebrew], Ynet, 11 November 2019". Ynet.
  15. ^ "Emmanuel Navon". YouTube. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
  16. ^ "The Wall Street Journal" (PDF). 16 March 2020.
  17. ^ "The Washington Post, 24 November 2019" (PDF).
  18. ^ "Bloomberg, 10 April 2019" (PDF).
  19. ^ "Sky News, 10 April 2019". YouTube.
  20. ^ "The Financial Times, 10 April 2019" (PDF).
  21. ^ Riyadh Mohammed, "Clinton or Trump: Which Candidate Would Israel Choose?" The Fiscal Times 5 May 2016
  22. ^ VOA, 27 October 2015
  23. ^ "Al-Jazeera, 19 July 2018". YouTube.
  24. ^ "France 24, 10 July 2019". YouTube.
  25. ^ "Le Figaro, 31 mai 2019" (PDF).
  26. ^ "Le casse-tête d'Olmert face au Hamas" Libération 26 February 2008
  27. ^ "Le Point, 26 April 2018" (PDF).
  28. ^ France Culture, 15 November 2012
  29. ^ "Les Echos, 8 avril 2019" (PDF).
  30. ^ "Netanyahu fights for survival as voters head to polls". RFI. 2019-09-16. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  31. ^ "L'Obs, 2 juillet 2017" (PDF).
  32. ^ Radio Canada, 19 May 2015
  33. ^ La Libre Belgique, 25 November 2014
  34. ^ Le Monde, 4 August 2015
  35. ^ "Knesset Channel, 1 July 2020". YouTube.
  36. ^ "Army Radio, 8 December 2019". YouTube.
  37. ^ "Ynet, 29 April 2018". YouTube.
  38. ^ "IBC, 5 March 2018". YouTube.
  39. ^ The Jerusalem Post, 15 November 2015
  40. ^ "CCTV, 18 September 2019". YouTube.
  41. ^ "Xinhua News, 15 May 2020" (PDF).
  42. ^ "The Academics Boycotting Israel are Misguided" Newsweek 28 October 2015
  43. ^ "La vraie signification du vote onusien" Le Monde 20 septembre 2011
  44. ^ "L'Europe a-t-elle peur de la démocratie?" Le Figaro 7 août 2002
  45. ^ "The EU Is an Obstacle to Peace in the Middle East" The Jerusalem Post 1 February 2012
  46. ^ "Globes, 4 November 2019" (PDF).
  47. ^ "The Marker, 5 March 2019" (PDF).
  48. ^ "Israel Hayom, 2 October 2019" (PDF).
  49. ^ "Makor Rishon, 30 November 2018" (PDF).
  50. ^ "Yediot Aharonot, 11 March 2018" (PDF).
  51. ^ "Maariv, 12 December 2017" (PDF).
  52. ^ "Emmanuel Navon | The Blogs". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
  53. ^ "Archived articles for Emmanuel Navon". Mida (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-01-29.
  54. ^ "Houston Hillel hosts scholar in residence" 18 February 2016
  55. ^ "ELNET International Policy Conference 2019". 15 August 2019.
  56. ^ Ouellette, David (2011-03-31). "Intimidation à l'UQAM". Le blogue de David Ouellette. Archived from the original on 2020-05-16. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
  57. ^ RTBF, 15 November 2015
  58. ^ Arfa, Orit (2019-04-25). "Communal pressure helps put pro-Israeli speakers on teacher-training program in Switzerland". JNS.org. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  59. ^ "ANews Turkey, 8 July 2020". YouTube.
  60. ^ Chris Brown and Kirsten Ainley (eds.)., Understanding International Relations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), p. 63
  61. ^ Bell, Duncan S. A. (2003-01-01). "Political Theory and the Functions of Intellectual History: A Response to Emmanuel Navon". Review of International Studies. 29 (1): 151–160. doi:10.1017/s026021050300010x. JSTOR 20097840. S2CID 145148376.
  62. ^ Schmidt, Brian (2013-08-15). International Relations and the First Great Debate. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-31911-2.
  63. ^ Alex Prichard, Justice, Order and Anarchy: The International Political Theory of Joseph-Pierre Proudhon (Routledge, 2013).
  64. ^ Oliver Jütersonke, Morgenthau, Law and Realism (Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 7
  65. ^ Walter Carlsnaes, Thomas Risse, Beth A. Simmons (eds.), Handbook of International Relations (Sage, 2012)
  66. ^ Chris Clarke, Ethics and Economic Governance: Using Adam Smith to Understand the Global Financial Crisis (Routledge, 2016), p. 148
  67. ^ Knud Erik Jorgensen, Tonny Brems Knudsen (eds.), International Relations in Europe: Traditions, Perspectives, and Destinations (Routledge, 2006), p. 248
  68. ^ John Buke, Realpolitik: A History (Oxford University Press, 2016), p. 316
  69. ^ "Globalisation: Mythes et Réalités" Akadem, May 2012
  70. ^ "Israël et la géopolitique du pétrole" Akadem, March 2011
  71. ^ "Strategists: Primum Non Nocere". Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
  72. ^ I24News Interview, 23 June 2016
  73. ^ Navon, Emmanuel. ""Israel's European Dilemma" Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, 2018, Vol. 12, No. 3, 325-333" (PDF).
  74. ^ Bernstein, Ezra (July 2017). "Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". Where Do We Stand?. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  75. ^ Bernstein, Ezra (2017-07-01). "Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". Where Do We Stand?. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  76. ^ Bernstein, Ezra (2017-07-01). "Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". Where Do We Stand?. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  77. ^ Bernstein, Ezra (2017-07-01). "Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". Where Do We Stand?. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  78. ^ "Les nouveaux historiens israéliens" Akadem, November 2005
  79. ^ Andrew Rettman, "Jewish luminaries petition EU parliament over settlements" EU Observer 3 May 2010
  80. ^ "A reply to Hagai El-Ad". blogs.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  81. ^ "France 24, 1 July 2020". YouTube.
  82. ^ Navon, Emmanuel. "Conférence d'Emmanuel Navon au Collège universitaire de Nétanya, 17 décembre 2023".
  83. ^ Al-Jazeera Channel (2 August 2024). "History, genocide and Israel's war on Gaza: Mehdi Hasan and Benny Morris".
  84. ^ La Libre Belgique, 25 November 2014
  85. ^ Spyer, Jonathan (Winter 2005). "Theories of Nationalism: The Israeli Experience as a Test Case". Israel Studies Forum. 20 (2): 46–68. JSTOR 41805142.
  86. ^ "RFI, 20 July 2018". YouTube.
  87. ^ "France Culture, 9 aout 2018". 9 August 2018.
  88. ^ ""You Shall Hate Your Neighbor as Yourself" The Public Domain, 2009" (PDF).
  89. ^ ""It's 1948, Stupid" The Tel Aviv Review of Books, October 2019" (PDF).
  90. ^ Navon, Emmanuel (7 June 2021). "Why Peter Beinart's Judaism is Doomed". Jewish News Syndicate.
  91. ^ Navon, Emmanuel (2014). The Victory of Zionism: Reclaiming the Narrative about Israel's Domestic, Regional, and International Challenges (CreateSpace, 2014), pp. xix-xxvi. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1-5023-2794-9.
  92. ^ Navon, Emmanuel. ""The Counter Constitutional Revolution" [Hebrew] Globes, 26 May 2019" (PDF).
  93. ^ Navon, Emmanuel (12 February 2023). "Israel's Judicial System Needs an Evolution, Not a Revolution". Blog of Emmanuel Navon (www.navon.com).
  94. ^ Navon, Emmanuel. ""Strengthening Democracy Without Changing the System" [Hebrew] Hashiloah 5 (July 2017), pp. 41-67" (PDF).
  95. ^ Segev, Tom (5 September 2023). "This books ignores the most intriguing question in the history of Israeli diplomacy [Hebrew]". Ha'aretz (Hebrew Edition).
  96. ^ Navon, Emmanuel (19 September 2023). "Tom Segev could easily have found out about my positions on Google [Hebrew]". Ha'aretz (Hebrew Edition).
  97. ^ Gil Hoffman, "Self-described 'Franglo' running for Likud List" The Jerusalem Post, 24 August 2012.
  98. ^ "Interview with Emmanuel Navon in TLV Faces" (PDF).
  99. ^ I24News Interview, 24 November 2016
  100. ^ "Mr. Prime Minister, it is time to go". blogs.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  101. ^ "ILTV, 9 December 2020". YouTube.
  102. ^ "Interview with Emmanuel Navon in TLVFaces" (PDF).
  103. ^ "How my Grandfather Befriended a Nazi". blogs.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
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