State of Israel in her books Imaginary Israel (1998) and Do the Jews have a Future (2001), writing that Israel is the realization of the fundamentally secular project known as Zionism and thus, "forbidding oneself, in the name of an imaginary solidarity, from criticizing the policies of the [Israeli] government is to do a disservice to Israel." She additionally founded the Alberto Beneviste Centre for Sephardi and Socio-cultural Studies in 2002. Benbassa was also a researcher at the Roland Mousnier Centre, a joint venture of the CNRS, EPHE and Sorbonne University. Promotion of Islamic-Jewish dialogue Along with her husband Jean-Christophe Attias, Benbassa is the co-founder of Le Pari(s) du Vivre-Ensemble, an organization opposing discrimination and promoting diversity. She supports Islamic-Jewish dialogue, writing an essay titled "The Republic Facing its Minorities. The Jews Yesterday, the Muslims Today" during widespread political debate surrounding the Law on Religious Symbols in French Public Schools in 2004. Benbassa participated in a conference where she, according to journalist Caroline Fourest, criticized the law by "explaning to the Muslims that had come see Tariq Ramadan next to her that France was treating it as it had treated the Jews in the past." She published an anthology titled Jews and Muslims: A Shared History, A Dialogue to Construct in 2006. Following the Charlie Hebdo shooting and Hypercacher kosher supermarket siege in January 2015, Benbassa organized a day of debate on the topic in March of that year. In October, she released a new anthology named Jews and Muslims: Let's Renew Our Links. Political career Senator from Val-de-Marne and Paris Benbassa was elected to represent Val-de-Marne in the Senate on 25 September 2011 as a member of Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV). As a senator, she was the vice-president of the commission on constitutional law, legislation, universal suffrage, regulations and general administration; member of the strategic committee of the Civil Service Agency; vice-president of the Franco-Turkish friendship group; secretary of the Franco-Israeli friendship group; member of the Franco-Palestinian friendship group; member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and member of the jury of the Senate Thesis Prize. In 2012, Benbassa began to advocate for the right of French expatriates to vote in French elections. Benbassa was the rapporteur for a bill extending the statute of limitations for discriminatory remarks of a homophobic, sexist or ableist character and thereby align it with laws surrounding racial, ethnic or religious discrimination. The bill