Israel Studies Review

This article addresses the question of why Israel initiated the Second Lebanon War so quickly, despite the civilian agenda to which the government had been committed, other mitigating factors, and the fact that the kidnapping of two soldiers did not warrant such a massive operation. Arguably, the war reflected the syndrome of a gap of legitimacies, that is, the gap that has emerged since the 1980s between high levels of political legitimacy for using force and low levels of social legitimacy for making the attendant sacrifices. Both values led to belligerency. Strong support for the use of force pushed Israel into taking offensive action that a civilian government could not contain, while the low level of social legitimation for sacrifice led to speedy decision-making and the desire for a swift conclusion by using massive force. Such a response would obviate any restraints on military action that might result from discussions about how to avoid sacrifices.

Spinoza, though not a major figure in Zionist thought, recurs persistently in the works of Zionist writers. What is the significance of Spinoza for them? Some see him as an inspiring character; others see him as a Zionist before his time. The article examines, first, how a Jew who abandoned his people could inspire those dedicated to their people; and, secondly, whether Spinoza can in any way be called a Zionist. It is concluded that Spinoza, though no Zionist, embraced some key elements of Zionist thought, and thus might fairly be called a “proto-Zionist,” and that the later Zionists were indeed influenced by these teachings of Spinoza.

I analyze the actions of Israeli prime ministers in the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, comparing one prime minister who remained hard-line and one who evolved into a peace maker. By examining their belief systems and individual characteristics, I hypothesize the types of hawks that are more likely to change their views of an opponent and convert into peace-makers. Although a change in both the opponent and the environment is necessary for a leader to change his image of an enemy, three additional elements make change more probable: (1) a weak ideological commitment, or a commitment to an ideology that does not have its components articulated as obstacles; (2) a present or future individual time orientation; (3) either a flexible cognitive system or exposure and openness to a significant advisor who has a different view of the opponent.

The selection methods of party leaders in Israel have gone through a gradual shift during the last 30 years. Like parties in several other democracies (Canada, United Kingdom, Japan), the major Israeli parties have changed their internal distribution of power to give their members a role in candidate and leadership selection. In Israel, as elsewhere, among the reasons for this reform was the desire to reduce the oligarchic tendencies of parties by creating a participatory revolution and by providing the rank-and-file members a chance to make a difference. This study maps the various methods used by Israeli parties for selecting their leaders and asks what the positive and negative consequences of the opening of the selection process are. The first section presents the various methods used by parties for selecting their leaders. The following three sections deal with the gradual process of democratization in leadership selection that occurred in the two major Israeli parties, and in other parties. The final section discusses the consequences of this democratization and tries to assess whether there is an ideal method for selecting party leaders.

This paper examines shifting modalities of government over Bedouins of the Negev. During the first two decades of statehood, Israeli officials approached Bedouins as a relatively quiescent population, based on their understanding that the Bedouins' tribal loyalties guaranteed their aloofness from Palestinian national politics. From the 1970s on, however, Bedouin resistance to Israeli land and settlement policies began to mark the Bedouin increasingly as a 'dangerous population'. As a result, the interest in preserving the Bedouins' cultural specificity gave way to a new emphasis on the need to modernize the Bedouins. The shift in governmental discourse was accompanied by a pluralization in the techniques of government, from an informal 'government of experts' to one in which bureaucratic and impersonal modes of authority competed with expert rule.

This paper examines the presentation of female characters in dramatic roles, in which they appear as representatives of marginalized Jewish immigrants to Israel (olim hadashim, to use the Hebrew term). The two plays examined here were written as criticisms of Israel's double standards concerning the actual acceptance and assimilation of the 'welcomed and longed-for' immigrants, and have hitherto been examined from this perspective. A reading of these plays from the perspective of feminist critique shows that the representation of the central female characters suffers from a pattern of double stereotypical characterization; these characters are stigmatized and stereotyped both in the category of 'women' and in the category of 'unwelcome immigrants'. Thus, in some cases, counterproductively to the playwright's attempt to criticize Israeli institutions and hegemonic society, these representations reveal the stereotypical tendencies inherent in the playwright's own 'transparent' or 'unconscious' world view when it comes to female representation.

Daniel Bar-Tal and Yona Teichman, Stereotypes and Prejudice in Con"ict: Representations of Arabs in Israeli Jewish Society Review by Paul L. Scham

Gil Eyal, The Disenchantment of the Orient: Expertise in Arab Affairs and the Israeli State Review by Yoav Gelber

Ariel L. Feldestein, Ben-Gurion, Zionism and American Jewry 1948-1963 Review by Noa Schonmann

Ephraim Kahana, Historical Dictionary of Israeli Intelligence Review by Shlomo Shpiro

Sharon Kangisser Cohen, Child Survivors of the Holocaust in Israel, “Finding !eir Voice”: Social Dynamics and Post-War Experiences Review by Dan Michman

Chaim Noy and Erik Cohen, eds., Israeli Backpackers and their Society: a View from Afar

Chaim Noy, A Narrative Community: Voices of Israeli Backpackers Review by Na’ama She#

Erica B. Simmons, Hadassah and the Zionist Project Review by Marianne Sanua

Oren Yiftachel, Ethnocracy: Land and Identity Politics in Israel/Palestine Review by Zeev Rosenhek