'Israeli students need to learn about Diaspora'

By HAVIV RETTIG GUR
"We must massively inject Diaspora studies into the education system," said Prof. Yehezkel Dror Wednesday in a speech delivered to the Herzliya Conference. "In Israel, the graduates of the finest schools are utter ignoramuses on this subject," he added, noting, "this isn't the failure of this government, but of all governments. This is built into us." Dror, who is the founding president of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, also called for the government to establish a "real Diaspora Ministry," saying Israel currently lacked one and this was "a fatal mistake. This can't just be handled by the Foreign Ministry. The connection between Israel and the Diaspora isn't like the connection between Israel and the United States."