Politics and Society in Modern Israel: Myths and Realities / Edition 2

by Adam Garfinkle

Overview

With full coverage of recent dramatic events in Israeli politics from the Rabin assassination through the May 1996 elections, this work provides an up-to-date introduction to Israeli politics and society. It seeks to convey a strong sense of everyday life in Israel, the nuances and contradictions of Israeli identity, the ethnic composition and institutional structure of Israeli society, as well as Israeli political culture and the issues that dominate the country's domestic and foreign policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765605146
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/01/1999
Edition description:	2ND
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1340L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

	Preface to the Second Editon	ix
1.	Introduction	3
	Israel the Exceptional	4
	The Egg that Was a Golf Ball: Political Culture	8
	Everyday Life in Israel: A Sketch	10
	The Chapters	18
2.	In the Beginning	20
	Ancient Jewish Commonwealths	21
	The Varieties and Significance of Exile	26
	The Emancipation and the Birth of Zionism	32
	Toward Statehood: War, Mandate, War, and War Again	44
3.	Society and Polity at Independence	56
	The War for Independence and Its Impact	57
	Political Geography and the Zionist Zeitgeist	67
	Political Demography and Origins of the Israeli System	75
	Legacies: Yishuv to State	81
	Immigration, Security, and Settlement	87
	Early Foreign Relations	91
4.	Society and Political Economy in Contemporary Israel	95
	The New Demography and Its Implications	96
	Israeli Arabs	105
	The Role of External Threat and the IDF	110
	The Managed Economy	117
	Religion	137
	Relations with the Diaspora	145
5.	Political Institutions and Issues	154
	The Basic Laws	157
	Parliamentary Institutions, Cabinet Government, and the Presidency	159
	The Judiciary, the Legal Adviser, and the State Comptroller	171
	The Parties and Their Discontents	176
	The Media and the Intellectual Elite	187
	Municipal Government	190
	The Political Class and Challenges to the Mainstream	192
6.	Foreign Policy: Sources and Substance	199
	Institutions: Prime Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, Intelligence Services	203
	The Paramountcy of Security: War and Peace	206
	Relations with the United States	229
	Relations with Europe and Russia	233
	Relations with the Third World	239
	Israel in the Middle East	242
7.	Peace and Normalcy?	245
	The Peace Process Since Camp David: A Brief Sketch	247
	The Broader Impact of the Peace Process	270
	Hopes and Fears: Israel's Internal Peace Process Debate	274
	The Future of U.S.-Israeli Relations	278
	Israel and World Jewry into the Future	285
	Peace and Israeli Society: The Challenge of Normalcy	289
	Reconciling Myth and Reality	295
	Epilogue	297
	Notes	299
	Glossary of Hebrew Terms and Acronyms	315
	Suggested Readings	325
	Index	331

Editorial Reviews

Garafinkle (Middle East politics, Johns Hopkins U.) describes events from the Rabin assassination through the prime ministership of Benyamin Netanyahu to the electorial victory of Ehud Barak. He discusses the sense of everyday life, the ethnic composition and institutional structure of society, nuances and contradictions of Israeli identity, political culture, and the issues that dominate debates on domestic and foreign policy. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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