The question of whether Israel is capable of coping with long-term warfare has long haunted scholars of Israel studies. This book tackles the question through a thorough analysis of the Israeli national ethos. The national ethos of a people is the integrating element that defines a nation's identity and bonds it into a coherent social group. However, in the Israeli case, two competing forms of national ethos threaten to tear society apart and weaken it: a republican ethos that cherishes the national group and a liberal ethos that puts the individual above all. In creating an account of Israel's ability to fight possible future wars, this book carefully examines these two competing forms of national ethos that create an ideological dichotomy in Israel. Each ethos has its reasoning, its inherent logic, its historic origins, and theories of social science that can explain the background for its development. This book offers a comprehensive analysis of each ethos that takes account of the environment, setting, and circumstances through which it ought to be understood. The deep inquiry into the dynamics of Israel's national ethos enables a new comprehension of the wobbliness of Israeli politics, and leads to certain conclusions about the fatal question that this book set out to find—whether Israel will eventually survive its international struggles or perish.
This work constitutes a groundbreaking contribution to the literature of Israel studies. It examines Israeli society's journey through 2023, highlighting its swift transformation from political fragmentation, turmoil, and civil unrest to national unity and complete mobilization. This sudden change that occurred on October 7, 2023, is described in a broader historical and cultural context. Readers of this groundbreaking work are treated to an in-depth analysis of the significant events of 2023, ranging from the legal and political implications of the announcement of judicial reform plans to the political disruptions that followed. Drawing on Jonathan Sacks's notion of a national covenant, David Ben-Gurion's concept of Halutzim, and Henri de Saint-Simon's ideas on avant-garde groups, this study makes sense of several seemingly incomprehensible aspects of recent events. This publication will enlighten those keen on exploring Israeli society and deciphering its complex behaviors across various temporal dimensions. Students, scholars, and educators alike will discover essential readings on pivotal Israel studies topics within its pages. WORDS OF PRAISE This book represents one of the first accounts if not the first of the political-social crisis which Israeli society has been experiencing. Considering the widespread confusion and misrepresentation of the basic facts, Lewin has made a timely and balanced contribution to our understanding. What began as a struggle for constitutional and judicial reform in Israel could have resulted in a coup d'etat and civil war, were it not for the Hamas invasion, rapes, and massacres which took place on October 7, 2023. Lewin's analytical approach, which is based on solid sources and respected opinions, has brought us a mature and academically sound account. --Dr. Joel Fishman, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF) This essay provides readers with an original viewpoint that creatively recounts the narrative of Israeli society. This academic examination of the turbulence experienced by Israel in 2023 addresses judicial, political, and military aspects in a manner that has not been previously recorded. --Prof. Asher Cohen, Department of Political Studies, Bar-Ilan University It takes courage to delve into the intricate fabric of divisions within Israeli society. Professionalism demands the ability to go beyond temporal and spatial constraints, a task that Lewin adeptly fulfills with the meticulous expertise of a political sociologist! --Dr. Assaf Malach, Shalem College and Jewish Statesmanship Center Authored from the vantage point of a seasoned researcher aligned with a republican ethos and associated with Israel's right wing, this book uncovers the intricacies and robustness of Israeli society. Lewin offers insight into the essence and endurance of Israeli society amidst trials and existential challenges, portraying it as a society driven by vitality and determined to rediscover its foundational covenant of destiny as a pillar for survival. --Prof. Kobi Michael, University of South Wales; Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Tel Aviv University; and Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy
Forging an innovative path to untangling the conflicting interpretations of the Israeli regime, this book examines at the diverse aspects of the regime to determine the level of 'democraticness' exhibited in order to come to its conclusion.
This book explores Israel’s relations with its friends and foes, in the present and the past, by looking into news media outlets and their effect. There are several international political players involved in Israel’s tough neighborhood of the Middle East, and some of them are portrayed in this book through the dimension of media coverage. Along with this, the volume highlights some of Israel’s leading challenges in the sphere of international relations and public diplomacy. Hence, it integrates research in various topics—international relations, politics, media and Israel studies. With Israel at its center, the book brings together insights drawn from a wide range of scholarly inquiries into current global issues. Thus, a large scope and a uniquely wide perspective is established, enabling researchers to rely on this work. The book is bound to be of interest to specialists and to both advanced and undergraduate students in the field of Israel studies, Middle Eastern studies, scholars of international relations, and researchers of specific countries. However, though academic in nature, this book is also suitable for readers of popular social science who are interested in media and communication, Israel, or in the fascinating sociological forces that influence the regional geopolitics of the Middle East.
All citizens in a democracy are promised the same guaranteed rights, but should they have the same obligations? Should minorities with different attitudes toward the state be obliged to do national service in the name of equality? And what are the social and political consequences for minorities not given the opportunity to serve? This groundbreaking study examines civic (non-military) national service in Israel from independence until today, focusing on the controversies that ensued as the ethos of Israeli citizenship evolved from republican to liberal. Civic national service for religious girls was instituted in 1971 on a voluntary basis while remaining closed to others. After 2000, the program gradually extended to youth unsuitable for military service, Haredim (ultra-Orthodox), and Arabs. Etta Bick reveals the politics surrounding civic service policy using government documents and reports, newspaper accounts, and interviews. Civic national service remains a subject of contention both in the Arab community and among the Haredim, where some choose to serve despite the opposition of their leaders. Bick concludes that minority participation in civic national service is a positive and critical step toward their greater inclusion and integration into Israeli society. If Israeli policymakers adopt a more communitarian approach to citizenship and to civic national service, it will contribute to building stronger communities and empowering youth, benefitting all.
This book, a collection of essays in honor of Stuart Cohen, examines a variety of issues in civil-military relations (CMR) in Israel and abroad. Beyond honoring Cohen’s work, this collection makes a substantial contribution to the field for a number of reasons. First, it brings together prominent scholars from different disciplines in the field, from both Israel and abroad, sketching its boundaries. The chapters in the collection deal with a variety of issues, theoretical and empirical, including topics that are usually neglected in English works, such as the control the military in Israel has on building construction permits in the civilian sector and the relations between the security establishment and the judicial system. Other chapters offer new theoretical perspectives such as the context within which Israeli CMR should be examined, and a more general look at the focus of CMR. Second, it gives non-Hebrew speaking scholars and laypersons alike a better idea of what the main issues in the field of civil-military relations in Israel are today. This book will allow university professors and laypersons to access quality scholarship while still offering a broad spectrum of topics.
Warsaw and Jerusalem deals with different aspects of the inherent paradoxes of Jewish-Polish relations. Written by scholars from Israel and from Poland, who study history, culture, education, and politics, this book forms a unique interdisciplinary collage. Thus, it has a twofold advantage: as an academic insight in the field of Jewish studies; and as a social bonder of an academic community that has its representatives in universities in Israel and in Poland. This project is bound to be an inspiring source for scholars of Jewish studies and Jewish history. In college or university classes, the collection of a variety of chapters will aid students who compose their assignments and need brainwave resources in the field. With a contribution to the deep comprehension of the ongoing discourse about historical as well as nowadays relations between Israel – that represents the Jewish people – and Poland, this book will also appeal to institutes that commemorate Jewish community life in Poland, particularly those who concentrate on Holocaust memorial and Holocaust studies. Many of these institutes aim to be centers where life before and after the Holocaust can be studied, and this book certainly falls within the framework of a resource-book for such cause. As opposed to other volumes in this field, this book forms – to a certain extent – a primary source. It talks less about Jewish culture or education from a scholarly examining angle, and prefers to present Jewish culture and education with a broad variety of examples. Additionally, it is highly updated, it tells the full story not only about pre-Holocaust Jewish culture in Poland, but also about current educational projects. All in all, it is not a stand-alone handbook for Jewish-Polish studies; but it can certainly function as an initial source-book for anyone who studies the subject.
Although difficult to imagine, sixty years ago the Holocaust had practically no visibility in examinations of the Second World War. Yet today it is understood to be not only one of the defining moments of the twentieth century but also a touchstone in a quest for directions on how to avoid such catastrophes. In Lessons of the Holocaust, the distinguished historian Michael R. Marrus challenges the notion that there are definitive lessons to be deduced from the destruction of European Jewry. Instead, drawing on decades of studying, writing about, and teaching the Holocaust, he shows how its “lessons” are constantly challenged, debated, altered, and reinterpreted. A succinct, stimulating analysis by a world-renowned historian, Lessons of the Holocaust is the perfect guide for the general reader to the historical and moral controversies which infuse the interpretation of the Holocaust and its significance.
...carefully argued, this book will have special appeal to graduate students, faculty, social psychologists (notably those yearning for Lewinian Approaches), and group-oriented sociologists. —Choice What kind of shared beliefs in a society are of importance to social systems? What functions do they fulfill? How are they informed and disseminated? What are the societal consequences of shared beliefs? All of these questions are addressed in this book in which Daniel Bar-Tal develops the notion of societal psychology, which he states can contribute a social-psychological perspective to the study of a wide range of social problems in a society. He shows how societal psychology can fulfill the promise of early social psychologists by directing attention to the societal and cultural contexts in which individuals live and by examining the reciprocal influence between these contexts and individuals. In this comprehensive volume, four themes of societal belief: patriotism, security, siege mentality, and deligitimization, are examined through well-defined examples and systematic analysis. Researchers, students and practitioners in social psychology, sociology, political science and anthropology will be stimulated and engaged by this important contribution to the field.
The 1973 Yom Kippur War did not only have external implications on Israel, but also some dramatic internal implications, particularly with regards to the civil-military relations as well as the fields of psychology and political sociology. To this day, the consequences of this war are still prevalent in Israel, in terms of drafting security policies and the military doctrine. After the war, new identities were formed in the Israeli civil society, which began to function as active agents in shaping security policy. These players are not a unique Israeli case, yet their actions in Israel serve as a case study that illuminates their significant impact in other countries as well. This is due to the fact that the "Israeli Laboratory" is a liberal democratic society living with an ongoing conflict; it has a mandatory army that is sensitive to fluctuations in public opinion, culture and the media; and issues of national security and military conduct are always a top public concern. Consequently, this book examines the rise of five identities and agents that were formed after the 1973 War and highlights the effects they had on the formation of Israeli defense policy from then on. The book also clarifies the importance of exposure to these agents' activities, referring to the psycho-political social factors that may actually dictate a state's international policies. It therefore forms a study that connects sociology, political psychology, international relations, the field of culture studies and studies of strategy planning. Thus, the book is of interest to both the domestic-Israeli field of research and to the global scholarly discourse, particularly to academic disciplines engaged in civil-military relations (political sociology, political science).
