ABSTRACT: This article analyzes the role and functions of Israeli commissions of inquiry (COI) and specifically, the Navon Commission of 1996 which investigated a newly revealed Israeli policy calling for all Ethiopian-Israeli blood donations to be surreptitiously thrown out for fear of contamination from AIDS. The revelation of the affair led to a 10,000-person protest convened by the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) and an official commission was formed to investigate the scandal (known as the "Blood Affair"), headed by former president of Israel Yitzhak Navon. Engaging with historical and theoretical literature that presents disparate "typologies" of Israeli commissions of inquiry and discusses their functions and socio-political significance, this article probes the reasons both the Ethiopian-Israelis and the state favored the formation of a commission of inquiry to investigate the Blood Affair. The study then asks how and why the Blood Affair narrative in the final report of the Navon Commission differed from the various narratives advanced by Beta Israel. The article contends that the Navon Commission and Beta Israel viewed the Blood Affair from different angles, the former as a public commission and the latter through the experience of Ethiopian-Israelis as immigrants and their process of integration.
{"title":"\"The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back\": The 1996 Blood Affair and the Navon Commission","authors":"Idan Chazan","doi":"10.2979/is.2023.a903075","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/is.2023.a903075","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: This article analyzes the role and functions of Israeli commissions of inquiry (COI) and specifically, the Navon Commission of 1996 which investigated a newly revealed Israeli policy calling for all Ethiopian-Israeli blood donations to be surreptitiously thrown out for fear of contamination from AIDS. The revelation of the affair led to a 10,000-person protest convened by the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) and an official commission was formed to investigate the scandal (known as the \"Blood Affair\"), headed by former president of Israel Yitzhak Navon. Engaging with historical and theoretical literature that presents disparate \"typologies\" of Israeli commissions of inquiry and discusses their functions and socio-political significance, this article probes the reasons both the Ethiopian-Israelis and the state favored the formation of a commission of inquiry to investigate the Blood Affair. The study then asks how and why the Blood Affair narrative in the final report of the Navon Commission differed from the various narratives advanced by Beta Israel. The article contends that the Navon Commission and Beta Israel viewed the Blood Affair from different angles, the former as a public commission and the latter through the experience of Ethiopian-Israelis as immigrants and their process of integration.","PeriodicalId":54159,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135347419","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}
Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.07
Moshe Shemesh
ABSTRACT: The phenomenon of the secret bilateral negotiations that took place between Israel and Jordan over routine security measures was unique in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel had exhorted Jordan to suppress the Palestinian organizations' Fidaʾī activity, and the expectation was high that the combination of political pressure and military retaliation would force King Hussein to quell the Fida'iyyun. The Israelis tried to differentiate between the Fida'iyyun and the political situation while the Hashemite regime sought to restrain Israel's responses by laying out its efforts to suppress Fidaʾī activity. King Hussein's strategy hinged on progress in the political arena and a corresponding ability or intention to suppress the Fida'iyyun without destabilizing his regime. Although the IDF ousted the guerrillas from the West Bank and blocked them from the Jordan Valley and the eastern border, it failed to eliminate them, and the mortar fire and rocket barrages on Beit She'an and the Jordan Valley settlements persisted until the eruption of civil war in Jordan in September 1970. In this regard, Israel's policy of retaliation was unsuccessful, and the guerrilla bases were ultimately eradicated by and large due to the threat they posed as "a state within a state" to the Hashemite regime. The talks between Israel and Jordan are examined here via the diaries of Yaakov Herzog who was Director of the Prime Minister's Office.
{"title":"The Secret Negotiations between Israel and Jordan over Routine Security Measures, 1967–1971","authors":"Moshe Shemesh","doi":"10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.07","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.07","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: The phenomenon of the secret bilateral negotiations that took place between Israel and Jordan over routine security measures was unique in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel had exhorted Jordan to suppress the Palestinian organizations' Fidaʾī activity, and the expectation was high that the combination of political pressure and military retaliation would force King Hussein to quell the Fida'iyyun. The Israelis tried to differentiate between the Fida'iyyun and the political situation while the Hashemite regime sought to restrain Israel's responses by laying out its efforts to suppress Fidaʾī activity. King Hussein's strategy hinged on progress in the political arena and a corresponding ability or intention to suppress the Fida'iyyun without destabilizing his regime. Although the IDF ousted the guerrillas from the West Bank and blocked them from the Jordan Valley and the eastern border, it failed to eliminate them, and the mortar fire and rocket barrages on Beit She'an and the Jordan Valley settlements persisted until the eruption of civil war in Jordan in September 1970. In this regard, Israel's policy of retaliation was unsuccessful, and the guerrilla bases were ultimately eradicated by and large due to the threat they posed as \"a state within a state\" to the Hashemite regime. The talks between Israel and Jordan are examined here via the diaries of Yaakov Herzog who was Director of the Prime Minister's Office.","PeriodicalId":54159,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135688475","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}
ABSTRACT: Scholars who have dealt with Jabotinsky's attitude toward Jewish tradition have shared the premise that he was a secular thinker who went through a significant ideological shift in the 1930s, or at least displayed a more favorable approach to religion thereafter for political reasons. However, close examination of his early writings shows that almost all the views he expressed in the 1930s are to be found decades before. Hence, Jabotinsky should be viewed as a thinker who for most of his life held a multifaceted, yet fairly consistent approach to tradition: criticizing Jewish halakha and calling for its reform, while considering religion a great moral force for human progress, describing Jewish tradition as integral to national culture, past and future, and to a certain extent, even romanticizing religious experience. This inclination establishes Jabotinsky as a moderate-secularist easily able to ally himself politically with Religious-Zionists while remaining a non-observant Jew.
{"title":"\"That Jewish Belief in the Living God of Israel\": Jewish Tradition in the Thought of Ze'ev Jabotinsky","authors":"Elad Nahshon","doi":"10.2979/is.2023.a903073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/is.2023.a903073","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: Scholars who have dealt with Jabotinsky's attitude toward Jewish tradition have shared the premise that he was a secular thinker who went through a significant ideological shift in the 1930s, or at least displayed a more favorable approach to religion thereafter for political reasons. However, close examination of his early writings shows that almost all the views he expressed in the 1930s are to be found decades before. Hence, Jabotinsky should be viewed as a thinker who for most of his life held a multifaceted, yet fairly consistent approach to tradition: criticizing Jewish halakha and calling for its reform, while considering religion a great moral force for human progress, describing Jewish tradition as integral to national culture, past and future, and to a certain extent, even romanticizing religious experience. This inclination establishes Jabotinsky as a moderate-secularist easily able to ally himself politically with Religious-Zionists while remaining a non-observant Jew.","PeriodicalId":54159,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135347417","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}
ABSTRACT: The article examines the implications of the regime change proposed in Israel during the early months of 2023. This unanticipated move by the government to concentrate power in the executive branch, curtail liberal democracy, and politicize the judiciary, though admittedly influenced by political models from Hungary and Poland, was in fact precipitated by Israel's military government in the West Bank. The "regime rationale" of this government in which there is no separation of powers has been normalized and institutionalized in Israel for decades, and the proposal to reshape Israel from within was driven by the same forces that promoted the belligerent occupation over the Palestinians. The similarities between the belligerent occupation and increasingly authoritarian rule in Israel are very striking, particularly in their emphasis on hierarchical governance, the instrumental use of laws, the disregard for ethical concerns, and the relentless pursuit of power as the central objective of the political realm. Thus, I maintain, Israel's encounter with what it has created in the West Bank threatens the democratic integrity of the "home country," and, moreover, this predicament has given rise to crises of identity and a sense of political homelessness.
{"title":"Israel and Its Doppelgänger: Reflections on Regime Change","authors":"Eyal Chowers","doi":"10.2979/is.2023.a903070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/is.2023.a903070","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: The article examines the implications of the regime change proposed in Israel during the early months of 2023. This unanticipated move by the government to concentrate power in the executive branch, curtail liberal democracy, and politicize the judiciary, though admittedly influenced by political models from Hungary and Poland, was in fact precipitated by Israel's military government in the West Bank. The \"regime rationale\" of this government in which there is no separation of powers has been normalized and institutionalized in Israel for decades, and the proposal to reshape Israel from within was driven by the same forces that promoted the belligerent occupation over the Palestinians. The similarities between the belligerent occupation and increasingly authoritarian rule in Israel are very striking, particularly in their emphasis on hierarchical governance, the instrumental use of laws, the disregard for ethical concerns, and the relentless pursuit of power as the central objective of the political realm. Thus, I maintain, Israel's encounter with what it has created in the West Bank threatens the democratic integrity of the \"home country,\" and, moreover, this predicament has given rise to crises of identity and a sense of political homelessness.","PeriodicalId":54159,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135347420","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}
Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.10
Asher Suzin, Ayelet Banai, Lee Cahaner
ABSTRACT: The "Society of Learners" is an accepted research model that explains communal, religious, and sociological features among Lithuanian and Mizrahi communities in Israel. This model has become increasingly challenging for many ultra-Orthodox men and women. In this article we discuss reactions to the society of learners model as a motive for the establishment of the ultra-Orthodox feminist movement that was created in anticipation of the 2013 Knesset elections, and examine its role in the establishment of the movement. Through semi-structured, in-depth interviews we asked fifteen ultra-Orthodox women whether the model was a factor in the formation of ultra-Orthodox feminism and found three central motifs in their responses: a woman's place in the life of the individual and the repercussions of this model on the life of ultra-Orthodox women; the value of Torah study and resistance to the society of learners as an exclusive model; and lastly, the economic consequences of the model. This study adds a new facet to the theory of the society of learners and supports other studies of women from minority groups as agents of preservation and change. Hence, it contributes a better understanding of the ultra-Orthodox feminist movement in Israel which developed less than a decade ago.
{"title":"Ultra-Orthodox Women's Reaction to the \"Society of Learners\" Model as a Motive among Israel's Ultra-Orthodox Feminists","authors":"Asher Suzin, Ayelet Banai, Lee Cahaner","doi":"10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.10","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: The \"Society of Learners\" is an accepted research model that explains communal, religious, and sociological features among Lithuanian and Mizrahi communities in Israel. This model has become increasingly challenging for many ultra-Orthodox men and women. In this article we discuss reactions to the society of learners model as a motive for the establishment of the ultra-Orthodox feminist movement that was created in anticipation of the 2013 Knesset elections, and examine its role in the establishment of the movement. Through semi-structured, in-depth interviews we asked fifteen ultra-Orthodox women whether the model was a factor in the formation of ultra-Orthodox feminism and found three central motifs in their responses: a woman's place in the life of the individual and the repercussions of this model on the life of ultra-Orthodox women; the value of Torah study and resistance to the society of learners as an exclusive model; and lastly, the economic consequences of the model. This study adds a new facet to the theory of the society of learners and supports other studies of women from minority groups as agents of preservation and change. Hence, it contributes a better understanding of the ultra-Orthodox feminist movement in Israel which developed less than a decade ago.","PeriodicalId":54159,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies","volume":"91 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135688469","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}
Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.05
Enrico Palumbo
ABSTRACT: This article examines the debate in the Italian Catholic world which erupted during the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967. At the time, Italy was governed by the Christian Democrats, a Catholic-based party in a center-left coalition and the Italian electorate leaned heavily towards Israel, as newspapers, magazines and many politicians feared a possible resurgent genocide against the Jews. Only a few important but minority public figures took radically different positions: Foreign Minister Amintore Fanfani and, more moderately, Prime Minister Aldo Moro together with their allies in the party. After the end of the war, many Italian Catholics changed their minds: Israel no longer risked "a new holocaust," and the tragedy of the Palestinian people became obvious.
{"title":"Italian Catholics and the June 1967 War: A Turning Point","authors":"Enrico Palumbo","doi":"10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.05","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: This article examines the debate in the Italian Catholic world which erupted during the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967. At the time, Italy was governed by the Christian Democrats, a Catholic-based party in a center-left coalition and the Italian electorate leaned heavily towards Israel, as newspapers, magazines and many politicians feared a possible resurgent genocide against the Jews. Only a few important but minority public figures took radically different positions: Foreign Minister Amintore Fanfani and, more moderately, Prime Minister Aldo Moro together with their allies in the party. After the end of the war, many Italian Catholics changed their minds: Israel no longer risked \"a new holocaust,\" and the tragedy of the Palestinian people became obvious.","PeriodicalId":54159,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135688466","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}
ABSTRACT: In January 2023, Israel's newly formed coalition under the leadership of the Likud party began to promote a reform that would alter the nature of the regime and undermine the democratic tenets of the separation of powers, judicial review, and the independence of the judicial branch. The article determines that the planned government overhaul diverges sharply from the historic path of "The Likud," and directly contradicts the worldview and policies held by the party's founding father and leader for over three decades, Menachem Begin. In this respect, what is referred to by the current government as a "judicial reform" is in fact a twofold project that aims to reform the regime as well as the foundational policies of law upheld by the ruling political party in Israel for the past four decades. The article sheds light on the substantive ideology attributed to the "right" and the "left" in Israel's political historiography and determines that the essential principles of the proposed reform are not intrinsic to right-wing ideology and should not be identified as such. The sharp departure revealed by the right-wing reform policy and its ideas on questions of democracy and governance at this watershed moment provide a theoretical-historical basis for the analysis of their motivations and processes.
{"title":"From Rule of Law to the Law of the Ruler: The Twofold Upheaval of the Israeli Right","authors":"Maya Mark","doi":"10.2979/is.2023.a903079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/is.2023.a903079","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: In January 2023, Israel's newly formed coalition under the leadership of the Likud party began to promote a reform that would alter the nature of the regime and undermine the democratic tenets of the separation of powers, judicial review, and the independence of the judicial branch. The article determines that the planned government overhaul diverges sharply from the historic path of \"The Likud,\" and directly contradicts the worldview and policies held by the party's founding father and leader for over three decades, Menachem Begin. In this respect, what is referred to by the current government as a \"judicial reform\" is in fact a twofold project that aims to reform the regime as well as the foundational policies of law upheld by the ruling political party in Israel for the past four decades. The article sheds light on the substantive ideology attributed to the \"right\" and the \"left\" in Israel's political historiography and determines that the essential principles of the proposed reform are not intrinsic to right-wing ideology and should not be identified as such. The sharp departure revealed by the right-wing reform policy and its ideas on questions of democracy and governance at this watershed moment provide a theoretical-historical basis for the analysis of their motivations and processes.","PeriodicalId":54159,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135347415","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}
Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.03
Eyal Chowers
ABSTRACT: The article examines the implications of the regime change proposed in Israel during the early months of 2023. This unanticipated move by the government to concentrate power in the executive branch, curtail liberal democracy, and politicize the judiciary, though admittedly influenced by political models from Hungary and Poland, was in fact precipitated by Israel's military government in the West Bank. The "regime rationale" of this government in which there is no separation of powers has been normalized and institutionalized in Israel for decades, and the proposal to reshape Israel from within was driven by the same forces that promoted the belligerent occupation over the Palestinians. The similarities between the belligerent occupation and increasingly authoritarian rule in Israel are very striking, particularly in their emphasis on hierarchical governance, the instrumental use of laws, the disregard for ethical concerns, and the relentless pursuit of power as the central objective of the political realm. Thus, I maintain, Israel's encounter with what it has created in the West Bank threatens the democratic integrity of the "home country," and, moreover, this predicament has given rise to crises of identity and a sense of political homelessness.
{"title":"Israel and Its Doppelgänger: Reflections on Regime Change","authors":"Eyal Chowers","doi":"10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.03","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: The article examines the implications of the regime change proposed in Israel during the early months of 2023. This unanticipated move by the government to concentrate power in the executive branch, curtail liberal democracy, and politicize the judiciary, though admittedly influenced by political models from Hungary and Poland, was in fact precipitated by Israel's military government in the West Bank. The \"regime rationale\" of this government in which there is no separation of powers has been normalized and institutionalized in Israel for decades, and the proposal to reshape Israel from within was driven by the same forces that promoted the belligerent occupation over the Palestinians. The similarities between the belligerent occupation and increasingly authoritarian rule in Israel are very striking, particularly in their emphasis on hierarchical governance, the instrumental use of laws, the disregard for ethical concerns, and the relentless pursuit of power as the central objective of the political realm. Thus, I maintain, Israel's encounter with what it has created in the West Bank threatens the democratic integrity of the \"home country,\" and, moreover, this predicament has given rise to crises of identity and a sense of political homelessness.","PeriodicalId":54159,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies","volume":"92 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135688459","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}
Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.01
Arieh Saposnik, Natan Aridan
Introduction:Judicial Overhaul and Political Upheaval in Israel Arieh Saposnik and Natan Aridan Over the past few months, Israeli society and culture, the Israeli state and Israeli politics, have entered what is by all accounts an unprecedented period of crisis and upheaval. The so-called "judicial reform" initiated and led principally by Minister of Justice Yariv Levin and MK Simcha Rothman, chair of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, has been the principal focus of a protest movement of unprecedented size and duration (and arguably, impact), which has made the call "democracy" its central rallying cry. But it is not just the attempt to reshape the Israeli judiciary and the balance of power between the executive, legislative and judicial branches in the Israeli republic that have aroused passions. There is a broad and deepening perception among many Israelis (and others) that the legislative, administrative and political thrusts of the present government converge to create an overall effort to reshape the Israeli polity, the principles on which Israeli culture and society were established, and perhaps even the most fundamental tenets of Zionism as they had been understood by most Zionists over the course of much of Zionist and Israeli history. The current Israeli government includes within it, for example, one member who has declared herself a "proud racist," and other members who have been openly associated with Meir Kahane's Kach movement, outlawed by the (Likud-led) Knesset in the 1980s due to racist positions. More broadly, within the evolving discord and dissension, central Israeli symbols—most notably, the flag, the Proclamation of Independence, and the National Anthem—have been undergoing transformation and contestation of "ownership." In a great deal of the public discourse of the past few months, the struggle has often been cast as one that pits "right" against "left," or between proponents of a "Jewish" Israel and advocates of a "democratic" [End Page 1] state. Such characterization is, of course, superficial and far from accurate. Thus, for example, in the contentious discourse regarding the bolstering "Jewish identity" in public schools in Israel, the debate tends to be cast as one between believers in Jewish identity—meaning Orthodox Jews of a particular religious and ideological variety—and its negators, ostensibly meaning "secular," or non-Orthodox, Jews of various positions. In fact, however, secular Zionism itself had at its core a bolstering of Jewish culture and identity through its remodeling. And today too, the deeper question is not a "yes or no" one regarding Jewish identity (of individual Israelis and of Israeli society writ large). It is, rather, a far more complicated (and perhaps difficult) standoff—with historical roots that reach to the very origins of Zionism (and even earlier, to the cornerstones of Jewish modernity)—of what Jewish identity and what understandings of Jewishness ought to characte
{"title":"Introduction: Judicial Overhaul and Political Upheaval in Israel","authors":"Arieh Saposnik, Natan Aridan","doi":"10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.28.3.01","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction:Judicial Overhaul and Political Upheaval in Israel Arieh Saposnik and Natan Aridan Over the past few months, Israeli society and culture, the Israeli state and Israeli politics, have entered what is by all accounts an unprecedented period of crisis and upheaval. The so-called \"judicial reform\" initiated and led principally by Minister of Justice Yariv Levin and MK Simcha Rothman, chair of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, has been the principal focus of a protest movement of unprecedented size and duration (and arguably, impact), which has made the call \"democracy\" its central rallying cry. But it is not just the attempt to reshape the Israeli judiciary and the balance of power between the executive, legislative and judicial branches in the Israeli republic that have aroused passions. There is a broad and deepening perception among many Israelis (and others) that the legislative, administrative and political thrusts of the present government converge to create an overall effort to reshape the Israeli polity, the principles on which Israeli culture and society were established, and perhaps even the most fundamental tenets of Zionism as they had been understood by most Zionists over the course of much of Zionist and Israeli history. The current Israeli government includes within it, for example, one member who has declared herself a \"proud racist,\" and other members who have been openly associated with Meir Kahane's Kach movement, outlawed by the (Likud-led) Knesset in the 1980s due to racist positions. More broadly, within the evolving discord and dissension, central Israeli symbols—most notably, the flag, the Proclamation of Independence, and the National Anthem—have been undergoing transformation and contestation of \"ownership.\" In a great deal of the public discourse of the past few months, the struggle has often been cast as one that pits \"right\" against \"left,\" or between proponents of a \"Jewish\" Israel and advocates of a \"democratic\" [End Page 1] state. Such characterization is, of course, superficial and far from accurate. Thus, for example, in the contentious discourse regarding the bolstering \"Jewish identity\" in public schools in Israel, the debate tends to be cast as one between believers in Jewish identity—meaning Orthodox Jews of a particular religious and ideological variety—and its negators, ostensibly meaning \"secular,\" or non-Orthodox, Jews of various positions. In fact, however, secular Zionism itself had at its core a bolstering of Jewish culture and identity through its remodeling. And today too, the deeper question is not a \"yes or no\" one regarding Jewish identity (of individual Israelis and of Israeli society writ large). It is, rather, a far more complicated (and perhaps difficult) standoff—with historical roots that reach to the very origins of Zionism (and even earlier, to the cornerstones of Jewish modernity)—of what Jewish identity and what understandings of Jewishness ought to characte","PeriodicalId":54159,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies","volume":"77 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135688464","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}
ABSTRACT: This article examines the debate in the Italian Catholic world which erupted during the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967. At the time, Italy was governed by the Christian Democrats, a Catholic-based party in a center-left coalition and the Italian electorate leaned heavily towards Israel, as newspapers, magazines and many politicians feared a possible resurgent genocide against the Jews. Only a few important but minority public figures took radically different positions: Foreign Minister Amintore Fanfani and, more moderately, Prime Minister Aldo Moro together with their allies in the party. After the end of the war, many Italian Catholics changed their minds: Israel no longer risked "a new holocaust," and the tragedy of the Palestinian people became obvious.
{"title":"Italian Catholics and the June 1967 War: A Turning Point","authors":"Enrico Palumbo","doi":"10.2979/is.2023.a903072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/is.2023.a903072","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT: This article examines the debate in the Italian Catholic world which erupted during the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967. At the time, Italy was governed by the Christian Democrats, a Catholic-based party in a center-left coalition and the Italian electorate leaned heavily towards Israel, as newspapers, magazines and many politicians feared a possible resurgent genocide against the Jews. Only a few important but minority public figures took radically different positions: Foreign Minister Amintore Fanfani and, more moderately, Prime Minister Aldo Moro together with their allies in the party. After the end of the war, many Italian Catholics changed their minds: Israel no longer risked \"a new holocaust,\" and the tragedy of the Palestinian people became obvious.","PeriodicalId":54159,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies","volume":"91 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135347413","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}
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