People Who Live Apart : Jewish Identity and the Future of Israel

by DIGGELE, ELS VAN

• ISBN13: 9781591020769
• ISBN10: 159102076X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-08-01
• Publisher: Prometheus Books

Summary

Since its establishment in 1948, the State of Israel has been torn by a deeply rooted conflict between secular and religious Jews. Although this internal culture war has not received the publicity of Israel's violent conflicts with its Arab neighbours, it is every bit as serious. For it concerns the very nature and identity of the Jewish state, and it pits an Orthodox minority who envisions Israel as a religiously conservative theocracy against Jewish secularists who are keen on ensuring that their country becomes a European-style democracy. Journalist and historian Els van Diggele portrays and analyses the complexity of this 'quiet civil war' through more than sixty interviews with a wide spectrum of religious and secular Jews, as well as lively and penetrating reports of key events that over the past two years have widened the schism. This nuanced, multifaceted portrait is must reading for anyone who wants to understand the State of Israel and the complexity of tensions in the Middle East.

Author Biography

Els van Diggele, a Dutch citizen, is a freelance journalist and historian who has lived in Israel since 1997

Table of Contents

Foreword	7	(8)
Introduction	15	(12)
1. The Time Bomb of Ben Turion	27	(42)
2. Is a Jewish Democracy Possible?	69	(40)
3. Who Is a Jew? The Orthodox Monopoly on Judaism	109	(52)
4. The Russians in Israel: Is Being Israeli Jewish Enough?	161	(36)
5. Crossing the Line: New Orthodox and New Secular Jews	197	(38)
6. The West Bank: A False Messiah?	235	(40)
Epilogue	275	(16)
Afterword	291	(2)
Interviews	293	(4)
Glossary	297	(8)
Bibliography	305	(4)
Index	309