Politics and Government in Israel... | Buy

This even-handed and thorough text explores Israeli government and politics from both institutional and behavioral perspectives. First tracing the history and development of the state, Gregory Mahler then examines of the social, religious, economic, and cultural contexts within which Israeli politics takes place. The book explains the operation of political institutions and behavior in Israeli domestic politics, including constitutions and ideology, parliamentary government, the prime minister and the Knesset, political parties and interest groups, the electoral process and voting behavior, and the machinery of government. Mahler considers Israel's foreign policy setting and apparatus, the Palestinian conflict and the question of Jerusalem, and the Middle East peace process overall. This clear and concise text provides an invaluable starting point for all readers needing a cogent introduction to Israel today.

Gregory S. Mahler is vice president for academic affairs, academic dean, and professor of politics at Earlham College.

List of Boxes, Figures, Maps, Photos, and Tables	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Introduction: The Study of Israel in Comparative Context	p. 1
What Do We Study?	p. 1
How Do We Study Politics?	p. 2
Studying Political Institutions and Behavior	p. 4
Studying Israeli Government and Politics	p. 5
The Political Setting
History and the Creation of Israel	p. 13
Historical Roots of Contemporary Israel	p. 15
The Emergence of Zionism, 1830-1917	p. 17
Growth of the Yishuv, 1880-1939	p. 21
The Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate Period, 1917-1947	p. 23
World War II and the Holocaust	p. 33
Transition to Statehood, 1945-1948	p. 34
The Palestinians	p. 38
History and the Creation of Israel	p. 43
For Further Reading	p. 44
Zionism, Religion, and the Domestic Political Environment	p. 47
The Concept of Zionism	p. 48
The Religious Communities of Israel	p. 55
Judaism in Israel	p. 56
Religion and Politics-Jewish Issues	p. 62
Israel's Non-Jewish Communities	p. 69
Zionism, Religion, and the State	p. 70
For Further Reading	p. 71
The Social and Economic Context of Politics	p. 73
Peoples of Israel	p. 74
Ashkenazim and Sephardim	p. 76
Immigration and Emigration	p. 77
Social Class	p. 80
Education and Culture	p. 81
Health Care and Social Services	p. 83
Cities, Villages, Kibbutzim, and Moshavim	p. 85
The Economy	p. 88
Foreign Economic Relations	p. 90
The Political Culture and the Economy	p. 91
For Further Reading	p. 92
The Governmental Institutions
The Constitutional System and Parliamentary Government	p. 97
The Debate over Creating a Written Constitution	p. 98
The Structures of the Israeli Constitution	p. 102
The Role of the Courts in the Creation of a Constitution	p. 106
Israel as a Parliamentary System	p. 114
For Further Reading	p. 116
The Prime Minister and the Knesset	p. 117
The Setting	p. 117
The Balance of Power	p. 119
Legislation in the Knesset	p. 121
The Members of Knesset	p. 124
Legislative Behavior of Members of the Knesset	p. 125
Knesset Organization	p. 128
Coalition Politics and Coalition Governments	p. 131
The Knesset, the Government, and Israeli Politics	p. 138
For Further Reading	p. 139
Political Parties and Interest Groups	p. 141
The Setting	p. 141
Ideology in Israel	p. 143
The Functions of Parties	p. 145
Parties and Issues	p. 146
Interest Groups	p. 155
For Further Reading	p. 158
The Electoral Process and Voting Behavior	p. 161
The Electoral System and Israeli Voting Behavior	p. 162
Proportional Representation and Elections	p. 162
Past Proposals for Electoral Change	p. 171
The 1996-2001 Electoral System for Prime Minister	p. 174
Voting Behavior and Electoral Results	p. 175
Voting and Ideology	p. 176
Ethnicity	p. 177
Voting Trends	p. 178
Significance of the Electoral Process for Israel	p. 181
For Further Reading	p. 183
The Machinery of Government	p. 185
The Bureaucracy and the Civil Service	p. 187
Local Government	p. 191
The Judiciary and the Legal System in Israeli Politics	p. 194
The Military and the Government	p. 200
The Bureaucracy, the Judiciary, and the Military	p. 202
For Further Reading	p. 203
Foreign Policy and the Middle Eastern Political Setting
The Foreign Policy Setting	p. 207
The Setting: The Legacy of Warfare	p. 208
Strategic Considerations	p. 225
Military-Security Concerns	p. 226
Political-Diplomatic Concerns	p. 229
Economic-Developmental Concerns	p. 233
Cultural-Status Concerns	p. 234
The Foreign Policy Setting: A Recapitulation	p. 234
For Further Reading	p. 236
The Palestinians, the West Bank and Gaza, and Jerusalem	p. 237
History	p. 238
The Palestinians	p. 240
Palestinian Statehood and Governance	p. 244
Palestinian Goals	p. 249
The West Bank and Gaza	p. 250
Jerusalem	p. 253
Israeli Attitudes, Intentions, and Policies	p. 257
The Palestinians, the West Bank and Gaza, and Jerusalem	p. 265
For Further Reading	p. 266
The Peace Process	p. 269
The Quest for Peace	p. 269
Progress toward Peace, Post-1948	p. 271
Progress toward Peace, Post-1956	p. 272
Camp David and the Peace Process, 1978-1982	p. 273
Israel's Peace Initiative, 1989	p. 278
The Madrid Peace Conference, 1991	p. 280
The Oslo Accords, 1993	p. 282
The Wye River Memorandum, October 23, 1998	p. 284
The Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum, April 30, 2001	p. 287
Bilateral Progress	p. 293
The Copenhagen Track	p. 298
The Quest for Peace, Again	p. 300
For Further Reading	p. 300
Notes	p. 303
Index	p. 373
About the Author	p. 387
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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