On July 19, Israel’s parliament passed a controversial nation-state law. Designed by its proponents to promote Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, it is seen by its critics there and abroad as fundamentally anti-democratic. In this conversation with Barak Mendelsohn, we will explore the precise meaning of the law, the impetus for it, and how it may reflect larger political trends in Israeli society and politics.Mendelsohn is a specialist in jihadism, with two books on the subject and a third due out in November. These include The al-Qaeda Franchise: The Expansion of al-Qaeda and Its Consequences (Oxford University Press, 2016) and Combating Jihadism (University of Chicago Press, 2009). He served in the Israeli army for five years and received his PhD from Cornell University. He will return to the FPRI podium in December to speak on his forthcoming book Jihadism Constrained: The Limits of Transnational Jihadism and What It Means for Counterterrorism (Rowman and Littlefield, November 2018)