Multiculturalism is respectful of diversity among individuals and communities in a society, allowing them to retain and express their particular identities and engage in egalitarian dialogue. This article examines how the multiculturalist approach is reflected in the linguistic and semiotic landscape of Arab museums in Israel. It focuses on a case study of the Umm al-Fahm Art Gallery as a window onto the sociocultural realities of Israel. The article’s findings are based on an analysis of the linguistic and semiotic landscape elements of the museum space and a semi-structured in-depth interview with its founder. They attest to deficiencies in the process of retaining and designing the particular cultural elements for the Palestinian-Arab population in Israel, affecting the realization of multiculturalism and compromising egalitarian dialogue between the various communities.
{"title":"Multiculturalism as Reflected in the Linguistic and Semiotic Landscape of Arab Museums in Israel","authors":"Athar Ḥaj Yaḥya","doi":"10.3167/ISR.2021.360106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ISR.2021.360106","url":null,"abstract":"Multiculturalism is respectful of diversity among individuals and communities in a society, allowing them to retain and express their particular identities and engage in egalitarian dialogue. This article examines how the multiculturalist approach is reflected in the linguistic and semiotic landscape of Arab museums in Israel. It focuses on a case study of the Umm al-Fahm Art Gallery as a window onto the sociocultural realities of Israel. The article’s findings are based on an analysis of the linguistic and semiotic landscape elements of the museum space and a semi-structured in-depth interview with its founder. They attest to deficiencies in the process of retaining and designing the particular cultural elements for the Palestinian-Arab population in Israel, affecting the realization of multiculturalism and compromising egalitarian dialogue between the various communities.","PeriodicalId":43582,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies Review","volume":"28 1","pages":"68-91"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79788443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Decades before he was known as a historian or as an early neoconservative thinker, let alone as the father of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Benzion Netanyahu was a young student and journalist in British Mandatory Palestine. In this tumultuous period, reaching its peak with the 1933 murder of Haim Arlosoroff, Netanyahu dwelt at the margins of Zionist politics, belonging to a group of well-educated, right-wing, young outsiders—students, poets, journalists, intellectuals, and pseudo-intellectuals—all of whom rebelled against their current and former Hebrew University professors. This study examines the crystallization of Netanyahu’s worldview and his Zionist ideology by focusing on three events between 1932 and 1935 that shaped his hostility toward the left and, much later, which became integral components of politics in Israel.
{"title":"Benzion Netanyahu’s Formative Years","authors":"Adi Armon","doi":"10.3167/ISR.2021.360107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ISR.2021.360107","url":null,"abstract":"Decades before he was known as a historian or as an early neoconservative thinker, let alone as the father of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Benzion Netanyahu was a young student and journalist in British Mandatory Palestine. In this tumultuous period, reaching its peak with the 1933 murder of Haim Arlosoroff, Netanyahu dwelt at the margins of Zionist politics, belonging to a group of well-educated, right-wing, young outsiders—students, poets, journalists, intellectuals, and pseudo-intellectuals—all of whom rebelled against their current and former Hebrew University professors. This study examines the crystallization of Netanyahu’s worldview and his Zionist ideology by focusing on three events between 1932 and 1935 that shaped his hostility toward the left and, much later, which became integral components of politics in Israel.","PeriodicalId":43582,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies Review","volume":"52 1","pages":"92-109"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80738606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The eruption of a new military conflict between Israel and Hamas in the summer of 2014 was at first followed by unequivocal French support for Israel’s right to defend itself. However, the rising death toll in Gaza and the spread of a pro-Palestinian protest movement on French soil altered this position radically, making way for an assertive French peace initiative. This article adopts a historical perspective and relies on a comprehensive analysis of French public sources to examine the impact exerted by this distant conflict over French foreign and domestic policies throughout the war and its aftermath. Ultimately, it shows that, although France’s determination to take action was in part motivated by foreign policy factors, public opinion played an important, if not equivalent, role in the country’s diplomatic activism.
{"title":"The 2014 Israel-Hamas Conflict","authors":"E. Benhamou","doi":"10.3167/ISR.2021.360105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ISR.2021.360105","url":null,"abstract":"The eruption of a new military conflict between Israel and Hamas in the summer of 2014 was at first followed by unequivocal French support for Israel’s right to defend itself. However, the rising death toll in Gaza and the spread of a pro-Palestinian protest movement on French soil altered this position radically, making way for an assertive French peace initiative. This article adopts a historical perspective and relies on a comprehensive analysis of French public sources to examine the impact exerted by this distant conflict over French foreign and domestic policies throughout the war and its aftermath. Ultimately, it shows that, although France’s determination to take action was in part motivated by foreign policy factors, public opinion played an important, if not equivalent, role in the country’s diplomatic activism.","PeriodicalId":43582,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies Review","volume":"27 1","pages":"46-67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84485119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv has always presented itself as the first repertory theater in the Yishuv that represented the sabras, creating the impression that its actors and artists were themselves mainly sabras and Hebrew their native language. However, this image, based chiefly on the successful performance of the play He Walked through the Fields, does not reflect reality. The article questions the myth by exploring the actual number of sabra theater artists and actors in the troupe, their place and measure of influence. Exposing this image sheds light on The Cameri Theatre at its beginning as well as on the creation of the image of the sabra, as presented by the character of Uri, and embraced by Hebrew culture.
{"title":"No Sabras in the Fields?","authors":"Leah Gilula","doi":"10.3167/ISR.2021.360109","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ISR.2021.360109","url":null,"abstract":"The Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv has always presented itself as the first repertory theater in the Yishuv that represented the sabras, creating the impression that its actors and artists were themselves mainly sabras and Hebrew their native language. However, this image, based chiefly on the successful performance of the play He Walked through the Fields, does not reflect reality. The article questions the myth by exploring the actual number of sabra theater artists and actors in the troupe, their place and measure of influence. Exposing this image sheds light on The Cameri Theatre at its beginning as well as on the creation of the image of the sabra, as presented by the character of Uri, and embraced by Hebrew culture.","PeriodicalId":43582,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies Review","volume":"37 1","pages":"128-143"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81077790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Israel’s policy toward the region of East-Central Europe (ECE) started changing notably from 2004 onward, in response to the European Union (EU) enlargement process. The following years brought a further development of Israel’s position toward the region and substantial changes in Israel’s European policy. This article aims to track this evolution: not only Israel’s position but also the shape as well as the content of bilateral and multilateral relations between Israel and selected ECE states. For the purpose of this analysis, special attention is paid to Israel’s relations with Poland and Hungary, with primary focus on Israel’s approaches and policy orientations. The article argues that while the ideological changes that occurred almost simultaneously in Poland, Israel, and Hungary at first created favorable conditions for the strengthening of bilateral and multilateral relations between all three countries, they soon became a divisive factor and obstacles to cooperation.
{"title":"Israel and East-Central Europe","authors":"Joanna Dyduch","doi":"10.3167/ISR.2021.360103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ISR.2021.360103","url":null,"abstract":"Israel’s policy toward the region of East-Central Europe (ECE) started changing notably from 2004 onward, in response to the European Union (EU) enlargement process. The following years brought a further development of Israel’s position toward the region and substantial changes in Israel’s European policy. This article aims to track this evolution: not only Israel’s position but also the shape as well as the content of bilateral and multilateral relations between Israel and selected ECE states. For the purpose of this analysis, special attention is paid to Israel’s relations with Poland and Hungary, with primary focus on Israel’s approaches and policy orientations. The article argues that while the ideological changes that occurred almost simultaneously in Poland, Israel, and Hungary at first created favorable conditions for the strengthening of bilateral and multilateral relations between all three countries, they soon became a divisive factor and obstacles to cooperation.","PeriodicalId":43582,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies Review","volume":"338 1","pages":"7-25"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76908923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article argues that Vladimir Jabotinsky envisioned ‘leaping over history’ to immediately achieve his goal of creating a Jewish majority in Eretz Israel. On several occasions he tried to break with evolutionary time and make events bend to his will. My arguments show him to be a revolutionary political thinker similar to Lenin, Stalin, or Mussolini, rather than a gradualist and parliamentarian. Looking at his career from this angle permits one to create a different timeline that pits Jabotinsky’s feverish activity against the slow progress of the Zionist movement.
{"title":"A Leap over History","authors":"B. Horowitz","doi":"10.3167/ISR.2021.360108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ISR.2021.360108","url":null,"abstract":"This article argues that Vladimir Jabotinsky envisioned ‘leaping over history’ to immediately achieve his goal of creating a Jewish majority in Eretz Israel. On several occasions he tried to break with evolutionary time and make events bend to his will. My arguments show him to be a revolutionary political thinker similar to Lenin, Stalin, or Mussolini, rather than a gradualist and parliamentarian. Looking at his career from this angle permits one to create a different timeline that pits Jabotinsky’s feverish activity against the slow progress of the Zionist movement.","PeriodicalId":43582,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies Review","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88105082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In 2014, Israel changed its electoral rules, requiring political parties to obtain at least 3.25 percent of the popular vote to gain a seat in the Knesset. We investigated the role that this change played in the creation of joint lists of several parties in the four ensuing elections, and found that the platforms and statements of joint lists were less ideological than those of their constituent parties. Our argument is that the trend of inter-party alliances characterized by unifying rhetoric is a political innovation in the Israeli context. We suggest that, as a result of such joint parties, Israeli politics—once known to be extremely ideological—has become dominated by non-ideological pragmatism.
{"title":"The Role of Joint Lists and the New Political Rhetoric in Israel, 2015–2020","authors":"Osnat Akirav","doi":"10.3167/ISR.2020.350307","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ISR.2020.350307","url":null,"abstract":"In 2014, Israel changed its electoral rules, requiring political parties to obtain at least 3.25 percent of the popular vote to gain a seat in the Knesset. We investigated the role that this change played in the creation of joint lists of several parties in the four ensuing elections, and found that the platforms and statements of joint lists were less ideological than those of their constituent parties. Our argument is that the trend of inter-party alliances characterized by unifying rhetoric is a political innovation in the Israeli context. We suggest that, as a result of such joint parties, Israeli politics—once known to be extremely ideological—has become dominated by non-ideological pragmatism.","PeriodicalId":43582,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies Review","volume":"43 1","pages":"111-136"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84535155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Classic Western democracies (those of Western Europe and the Anglophone world) view the teaching of civics as a policy instrument through which liberal values, democracy, and even globalization are introduced to future citizens, thus expecting to assure the persistence of democracy. In present-day democracies in general, and mainly in non-Western democracies, however, civics assumes other forms, including the study of nationalism. This article analyzes innovations in the teaching of civics in Israel by examining the changes in school textbooks that accompany changing national leaderships. We highlight the current Israeli high school civics textbook, written under a significantly rightist-religious government. Assuming that civics textbooks express the political credo of ruling elites, our findings suggest similarities between trends in Israel and non-Western democracies, hinting at the fragility of democratization in general and chiefly outside the West.
{"title":"Innovations in Israel’s Civics Textbooks","authors":"S. B. Galanti, Paz Carmel, Alon Levkowitz","doi":"10.3167/ISR.2020.350304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ISR.2020.350304","url":null,"abstract":"Classic Western democracies (those of Western Europe and the Anglophone world) view the teaching of civics as a policy instrument through which liberal values, democracy, and even globalization are introduced to future citizens, thus expecting to assure the persistence of democracy. In present-day democracies in general, and mainly in non-Western democracies, however, civics assumes other forms, including the study of nationalism. This article analyzes innovations in the teaching of civics in Israel by examining the changes in school textbooks that accompany changing national leaderships. We highlight the current Israeli high school civics textbook, written under a significantly rightist-religious government. Assuming that civics textbooks express the political credo of ruling elites, our findings suggest similarities between trends in Israel and non-Western democracies, hinting at the fragility of democratization in general and chiefly outside the West.","PeriodicalId":43582,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies Review","volume":"22 1","pages":"52-71"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81514565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Since the 1990s, organizations formed by Israelis of Ethiopian origin (IEO) have criticized the government’s policy toward them. This article deals with the development of, and innovation in, those organizations’ activities. Our research question looks at the elements of innovation that helped these organizations improve the effectiveness of their work with the government and in the public sphere. We base our study on interviews with IEO activists who participated in the community’s protests in the 1990s, 2015, and 2020. Our theoretical overview incorporates a global perspective on innovation in policymaking and the effects of NGO networks on government policy. The article describes the development and innovation of NGOs in Israel alongside similar cases in other countries.
{"title":"Innovation in Protest Strategies of Ethiopian Immigrants’ Organizations in Israel","authors":"Adi Binhas","doi":"10.3167/ISR.2020.350306","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ISR.2020.350306","url":null,"abstract":"Since the 1990s, organizations formed by Israelis of Ethiopian origin (IEO) have criticized the government’s policy toward them. This article deals with the development of, and innovation in, those organizations’ activities. Our research question looks at the elements of innovation that helped these organizations improve the effectiveness of their work with the government and in the public sphere. We base our study on interviews with IEO activists who participated in the community’s protests in the 1990s, 2015, and 2020. Our theoretical overview incorporates a global perspective on innovation in policymaking and the effects of NGO networks on government policy. The article describes the development and innovation of NGOs in Israel alongside similar cases in other countries.","PeriodicalId":43582,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies Review","volume":"64 1","pages":"92-110"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91333484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Scholars have pointed to the alarming decline in the participation of young people in the institutional political activities underlying representative democracy, such as voting, joining political parties, or running for office. Solutions previously proposed have dealt with participatory democracy rather than representative democracy. Based on in-depth interviews, this article shows that, since 1998, the involvement of Young Adults Lists (YALs) in Israel’s local elections have successfully and consistently engaged young adults as a descriptive constituency in local representative democracy. The YALs’ extraordinary electoral success derives from their ability to construct and carry out an innovative campaign strategy tailored to the preferences of young adults. This strategy has compensated for the YALs’ minimal financial resources and their lack of political experience and significant ties to national parties or similar organizations.
{"title":"Israel’s Innovative Young Adults Lists","authors":"Zvi Hadar, Fany Yuval, Rebecca Kook","doi":"10.3167/ISR.2020.350308","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ISR.2020.350308","url":null,"abstract":"Scholars have pointed to the alarming decline in the participation of young people in the institutional political activities underlying representative democracy, such as voting, joining political parties, or running for office. Solutions previously proposed have dealt with participatory democracy rather than representative democracy. Based on in-depth interviews, this article shows that, since 1998, the involvement of Young Adults Lists (YALs) in Israel’s local elections have successfully and consistently engaged young adults as a descriptive constituency in local representative democracy. The YALs’ extraordinary electoral success derives from their ability to construct and carry out an innovative campaign strategy tailored to the preferences of young adults. This strategy has compensated for the YALs’ minimal financial resources and their lack of political experience and significant ties to national parties or similar organizations.","PeriodicalId":43582,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies Review","volume":"123 2 1","pages":"137-153"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77573118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}