The Anglophile Nation? The British Legacy in Israel

ABSTRACT:The article examines the enduring impact and far-reaching legacy of the British Mandate for Palestine on the State of Israel, especially as compared to other former British mandates or colonies. My discussion uses two complementary theoretical frameworks: first, the top-down framework which holds that the adoption of British-style institutions is primarily the outcome of the competition between the anglophile, British-leaning elite and the Soviet-leaning socialist elite during the mandate and early state-hood periods; and second, the bottom-up framework which holds that the adoption of British institutions was primarily a reflection of necessity rather than admiration or ideological preference. The inherited British system was the “default” option because it was what Zionist Jews knew best and because it was already up and running. The State of Israel retained it therefore, but only until it either invented new systems or borrowed them from abroad.