Israel Studies Review

Attempts to explain the achievements of the Jewish side in the 1948 War of Independence have focused thus far on the military and political dimension and on the domestic social, economic, and ideological dimension, as reflected in the collective mobilization of the Yishuv society. This article reveals the role of additional players in the war, including institutions, organizations, and associations that provided social services; the individuals who headed them; the members who took part in operating them; and the recipients of their services. The article's underlying premise is that Jewish society largely owed its resilience during the war, and in its aftermath, to the functioning of these organizations.

The article deals with the attitudes toward the Arabs in the Labor movement and especially in Mapai during the Arab revolt. The article argues that the ongoing war conditions compounded by an exacerbating and increasingly played up tendency to dehumanize and delegitimize Arabs in Palestine between 1936 and 1939. From a historical perspective the main influence of those years lays in the mental and psychological impact they had on perceptions in Mapai that determined the increasing distance between the two peoples for many years to come.

In December 2006, a group of politicians and intellectuals published the "Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel," a document that attracted national and international interest and elicited a wide variety of responses across the political spectrum. The document can be defined as a historic event in the history of Palestinians in Israel. This is the first time a representative national body of Palestinians in Israel has prepared and published a document that describes both the existing situation and the changes that are needed across a broad spectrum of their lives. The document was written by activists from all political leanings among the Palestinian community in Israel, and delineates the achievements necessary for defining the future relationship between the majority and the minority in the State of Israel. This article analyzes the background of this document and argues that the notion of a "Future Vision" for Palestinians in Israel functions as a way for the community to cope with the fallout of the Palestinian Nakba in 1948 and their exclusion from the Palestinian National Movement as well as their exclusion from the Peace Talks between the PLO and Israel, following the signing of the Oslo Declaration in 1993.

This article identifies a series of educational characteristics, such as place and level of education attained by individuals, their fields of specialization, and the knowledge of languages. The focus is on members of the Jewish Agency for Palestine—a leading organization of the Yishuv—during the British Mandate (1921-1948). Elite educational variables were potentially significant in a number of different ways: ensuring greater political effectiveness, establishing and promoting stronger ties with the people among whom elite members lived, articulating and communicating of political messages, and so on. This article claims that educational traits have been significant in facilitating the eventual realization of the Zionist project.

Do television news programs meet viewer expectations and needs? Research into this issue found the answer to be negative. There is a breakdown between the editors of current a airs programs and the viewers. One of the reasons for this is the two groups' different systems of values. All the news editors on Israeli television were given a closed questionnaire based on "uses and gratification." They marked the degree of journalistic importance of each parameter and the extent to which these parameters are treated within their programs. Simultaneously, the questionnaire was presented to a representative sample of viewers, who were asked about the importance of the parameters for them and the extent to which these parameters are found in television current a airs programs. This study finds a huge gap between the viewers and the editors in both the public and commercial channels. The research findings support researchers that criticize the "usage and gratification" approach as explaining media consumption.

Shulamit Reinharz and Mark A. Raider, eds., American Jewish Woman and the Zionist Enterprise Review by Jerry Kutnick

Jacob Lassner and S. Ilan Troen, Jews and Muslims in the Arab World: Haunted by Pasts Real and Imagined Review by Seth J. Frantzman

Rebecca L. Stein, Itineraries in Conflict: Israelis, Palestinians, and the Political Lives of Tourism Review by Hadas Weiss

Anthony H. Cordesman, Arab-Israeli Military Forces in an Era of Asymmetric Wars Review by Eyal Ben-Ari

David Rodman, Arms Transfers to Israel: The Strategic Logic Behind American Military Assistance Review by Zach Levey

Risa Domb, ed., Contemporary Israeli Women’s Writing Review by Naomi Sokoloff

Yifat Holzman-Gazit, Land Expropriation in Israel: Law, Culture and Society Review by Donna Robinson Divine

Baruch Kimmerling, Clash of Identities: Explorations in Israeli and Palestinian Societies Review by Uriel Abulof

Nili Scharf Gold, Yehuda Amichai: The Making of Israel’s National Poet Review by Lisa Katz

Jakob Feldt, The Israeli Memory Struggle: History and Identity in the Age of Globalization Review by Miriam Shenkar

Anat Helman, Or v’Yam Hekifuha: Urban Culture in 1920s and 1930s Tel Aviv Review by Moshe Gershovich

Aziza Khazzoom, Shifting Ethnic Boundaries and Inequality in Israel: Or, How the Polish Peddler Became a German Intellectual Review by Dafna Hirsch

Leonard Grob and John K. Roth, eds., Anguished Hope: Holocaust Scholars Confront the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Review by Ruth Amir

Tamir Sorek, Arab Soccer in a Jewish State: The Integrative Enclave Review by Sarah F. Salwen

David N. Myers, Between Jew & Arab: Th e Lost Voice of Simon Rawidowicz Review by Eran Kaplan

Alexander Yakobson and Amnon Rubinstein, Israel and the Family of Nations: The Jewish Nation-State and Human Rights Review by Eran Shor

Zvi Shtauber and Yiftah S. Shapir, eds., The Middle East Strategic Balance, 2005–2006 Review by Sergio Catignani