New Article: Moscovitz, Israeli Parliamentary Discussions over Asylum

Moscovitz, Hannah. “The Mainstreaming of Radical Right Exclusionary Ideology: Israeli Parliamentary Discussions over Asylum.” Journal of Political Ideologies (early view, online first).
 
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2016.1150138
 
Abstract

This study analyses the mainstreaming of radical right ideology in Israel. Focusing on the political discourse used to describe the current asylum issue in the country, the article claims that features of radical right ideology are not limited to the discourse of radical right parties, but increasingly pervade the mainstream. Through discourse analysis of parliamentary discussions over asylum, the study highlights the discursive strategies and linguistic properties used in the expression of radical right ideology. The findings reveal the distinct manner in which both party families express radical right ideology; while the radical right discourse is explicit, overall, the mainstream discourse is implicit, with traces of explicitness observed. The Israeli case reveals significant insights into the scope of radical right ideology and the manner in which, through language and discourse, its features make their way through the political spectrum.

 

 

 

Book Chapter: Diab, al-Sādāt’s Knesset Address, Ṣulḥ, and Diplomacy

Diab, Rasha. “From the Egyptian People’s Assembly to the Israeli Knesset: al-Sādāt’s Knesset Address, Ṣulḥ, and Diplomacy.” In Shades of Ṣulḥ. The Rhetorics of Arab-Islamic Reconciliation (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016): 112-60.

 

Extract

In late November 1977, Muḥammad Anwar al-Sādāt undertook a risky and highly visible trip across the Egyptian-Israeli border to visit with the Knesset . The epigraph above comes from his Knesset address (hereafter KA) and sums up its overall goal, which sought to enable deliberation commensurate with the gravity of a series of wars and to attain peace. al-Sādāt’s KA interrupted and transformed a prolonged diplomatic stalemate, resuscitated peace talks, and eventually led to the Camp David Treaty. The KA and texts it deliberates with and against are the focal point of this chapter.

This chapter offers a bidimensional reading of ṣulḥ discourse, underlining how al-Sādāt’s diplomatic deliberations resuscitated Egyptian-Israeli peace talks in 1977 by drawing on a long tradition of public, formal ṣulḥ in addition to the three main features of ṣulḥ, namely initiating peace through commitment; mobilizing witnesses; and creating a community, political structure included, of peace pursuers. As such, this chapter provides yet another case where the three main features of ṣulḥ are conspicuous. I contend that these features of ṣulḥ are crucial to understanding al-Sādāt’s 1977 peace initiative and that they are the backbone of the address. However, ṣulḥ continues to be invisible in scholarship on al-Sādāt’s initiative. It is important to note that in this case ṣulḥ expresses itself in relation to other discourses that also seek to create transformative encounters, namely diplomatic discourse, border crossing, war/peace epideictic rhetoric, and policy articulations at moments of crises. In this mix, ṣulḥ can be forgotten unless we deliberately tease out its manifestation in both the symbolic and procedural dimensions of peacemaking.

 

 

New Book: Sasley and Waller, Politics in Israel: Governing a Complex Society

Sasley, Brent E., and Harold M. Waller. Politics in Israel: Governing a Complex Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

 

 

This is the first textbook on Israel to utilize a historical-sociological approach, telling the story of Israeli politics rather than simply presenting a series of dry facts and figures. The book emphasizes six specific dimensions of the conduct of Israeli politics: the weight of historical processes, the struggle between different groups over how to define the country’s identity, changing understandings of Zionism, a changing political culture, the influence of the external threat environment, and the inclusive nature of the democratic process. These themes offer students a framework to use for understanding contemporary political events within the country. Politics in Israel also includes several chapters on topics not previously addressed in competing texts, including historical conditions that led to the emergence of Zionism in Israel, the politics of the Arab minority, and interest groups and political protest.

 

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
Preface
Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1: Israel in Historical and Comparative Perspective
Studying Israel
Israel in a Comparative Framework
Major Themes of the Book
A Note on Terminology
 
PART I: HISTORICAL PROCESSES
Chronology of Key Events
Chapter 2: Zionism and the Origins of Israel
Jewish History before Zionism
The Jewish Predicament in the 19th Century
The Founding of the Zionist Movement
Implications of Zionism
Herzl’s Path to Zionism
Organizing the Zionist Movement
Zionist Ideologies
The Palestine Mandate
Summary
 
Chapter 3: Yishuv Politics during the Mandate Period
Constructing a Jewish Society
Development of a Party System
Conflict between Arabs and Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Deteriorating Zionist-British Relations
The End of the Mandate
The Mandate Period in Perspective
Summary
 
Chapter 4: State Building After 1948
Mamlachtiut
The Political Arena
Defense
Education
Economy
Personal Status Issues
Other State-Building Efforts
Summary
 
PART II: ISRAELI SOCIETY
Chapter 5: Political Culture and Demography
The Pre-State Period
Foundational Values of the State
Changes since 1967
From Collectivism to Individualism
Political Culture in the Arab Community
Demography
Summary
 
Chapter 6: Religion and Politics
Religion and the Idea of a Jewish State
Setting the Parameters of the Religion-State Relationship
Growing Involvement in Politics
Issues in Religion-State Relations after 2000
Religious Parties and Coalition Politics
Summary
 
Chapter 7: The Politics of the Arab Minority
What’s in a Name?
Changing Politics of the Community
Jewish Attitudes toward the Arab Minority
Arab Leaders and the Arab Public
Voter turnout
Sayed Kashua as Barometer?
Summary
 
PART III: THE POLITICAL PROCESS
Chapter 8: The Electoral System
The Development of an Electoral System
Election Laws
Parties and Lists
Electoral Reforms
Summary
 
Chapter 9: Political Parties and the Party System
Party Clusters
Leftist Parties
Rightist Parties
Religious Parties
Arab Parties
Center or “Third” Parties
Ethnic or Special Issues Parties
Party Organization
Summary
 
Chapter 10: Voting Patterns
Four Main Issues
Demographic Factors
Voter Turnout
Electoral Trends
Summary
 
Chapter 11: Interest Groups and Political Protest
Changing Access in the Israeli Political System
Interest Groups
Political Protest
Summary
 
PART IV: INSTITUTIONS
Chapter 12: The Knesset
Structure of the Knesset
Legal Aspects
Knesset Members
Functions and Powers of the Knesset
Relationship to the Government
Summary
 
Chapter 13: The Government
The Government at the Center of the System
Powers of the Government
Forming a Government
Maintaining and Running a Government
Relations with the Knesset
The President of the State
Summary
 
Chapter 14: The Judiciary and the Development of Constitutional Law
The Judicial System
Structure of the Court System
The Religious Court System
The Attorney General
Basic Laws: A Constitution in the Making?
Interpreting the Constitution
Summary
 

PART V: POLITICS AND POLICYMAKING
Chapter 15: Political Economy
Ideas about Economic Development in the Yishuv
A State(ist) Economy
Likud and the Free Market
Structural Weaknesses
Summary
 
Chapter 16: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Three Levels of Threat Perception
Israel’s Threat Environment
Hawks and Doves in the Political System
The Defense Establishment
Public Opinion
Summary
 
PART VI: THE TRANSFORMATiON OF ISRAELI POLITICS
Chapter 17: The Changing Political Arena
A More Complex Society
An Economic Transformation
Transformation of the Security Situation
The Israeli-Palestinian Relationship
Dampening of Ideology
Political Culture and the Party System
The Passing of a Heroic Generation
A More Consequential Arab Sector
The Transformation of the Judiciary
Change versus Continuity
 
Chapter 18: Confronting the Meaning of a Jewish State
The Political Question: What is Jewish and Democratic?
The Social Question: Who Belongs?
The Academic Question: Whose Historiography?
Conclusion
 
Appendices
Glossary
Bibliography

 

BRENT E. SASLEY is Associate Professor of Political Science at The University of Texas at Arlington.
HAROLD M. WALLER is Professor of Political Science at McGill University.

ToC: Israel Affairs 22.1 (2016)

Israel Affairs, Volume 22, Issue 1, January 2016 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online. This new issue contains the following articles: Articles Sixty-two years of national insurance in Israel Abraham Doron Pages: 1-19 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1111632 Rethinking reverence for Stalinism in the kibbutz movement Reuven Shapira Pages: 20-44 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1111640 Making war, thinking history: David Ben-Gurion, analogical reasoning and the Suez Crisis Ilai Z. Saltzman Pages: 45-68 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1111638   Military power and foreign policy inaction: Israel, 1967‒1973 Moshe Gat Pages: 69-95 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1111636 Arab army vs. a Jewish kibbutz: the battle for Mishmar Ha’emek, April 1948 Amiram Ezov Pages: 96-125 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1111633 Lip-service to service: the Knesset debates over civic national service in Israel, 1977–2007 Etta Bick Pages: 126-149 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1111630 State‒diaspora relations and bureaucratic politics: the Lavon and Pollard affairs Yitzhak Mualem Pages: 150-171 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1111637 Developing Jaffa’s port, 1920‒1936 Tamir Goren Pages: 172-188 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1111634 University, community, identity: Ben-Gurion University and the city of Beersheba – a political cultural analysis Yitzhak Dahan Pages: 189-210 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1111631 The Palestinian/Arab Strategy to Take Over Campuses in the West – Preliminary Findings Ron Schleifer Pages: 211-235 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1111639 Identity of immigrants – between majority perceptions and self-definition Sibylle Heilbrunn, Anastasia Gorodzeisky & Anya Glikman Pages: 236-247 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1111635 Book Reviews Jabotinsky: a life David Rodman Pages: 248-249 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.112095 Ethos clash in Israeli society David Rodman Pages: 250-251 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1120967 Nazis, Islamists and the making of the modern Middle East David Rodman Pages: 252-254 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1120968 The new American Zionism David Rodman Pages: 255-257 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1120969 Rise and decline of civilizations: lessons for the Jewish people David Rodman Pages: 258-259 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1120970

New Book: Navot, The Constitution of Israel: A Contextual Analysis

Navot, Suzie. The Constitution of Israel: A Contextual Analysis. Oxford: Hart, 2014.

 

 

This book presents the main features of the Israeli constitutional system and a topical discussion of Israel’s basic laws. It focuses on constitutional history and the peculiar decision to frame a constitution ‘by stages’. Following its British heritage and the lack of a formal constitution, Israel’s democracy grew for more than four decades on the principle of parliamentary supremacy. Introducing a constitutional model and the concept of judicial review of laws, the ‘constitutional revolution’ of the 1990s started a new era in Israel’s constitutional history. The book’s main themes include: constitutional principles; the legislature and the electoral system; the executive; the protection of fundamental rights and the crucial role of the Supreme Court in Israel’s constitutional discourse. It further presents Israel’s unique aspects as a Jewish and democratic state, and its ongoing search for the right balance between human rights and national security. Finally, the book offers a critical discussion of the development of Israel’s constitution and local projects aimed at enacting a single and comprehensive text.

Click here for a full Table of Contents (PDF).

New Article: Weinblum, Disqualifying Political Parties and ‘Defending Democracy’ in Israel

Weinblum, Sharon. “Disqualifying Political Parties and ‘Defending Democracy’ in Israel.” Constellations 22.2 (2015): 314-25.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8675.12161

 

Extract

In conclusion, the articulation of the democratic dilemma in the Israeli judicial and political arena has been revealed to be much more than a theoretical or institutional discussion. During the course of the various debates, which ultimately recognized the need to disqualify political parties, defensive democracy has imposed itself as a new regime of truth delimiting what is legitimate and what is not in the matter of party representation in a democracy. This dominant discourse has not only led to the institutionalization of limits on political participation by legitimizing the passing of the amendments studied above, but has significantly transformed the accepted meaning of democracy, its identity and boundaries. The construction of a narrative according to which democracy would have to defend itself against enemies has conferred a meaning to democracy that largely differs from the original model of democracy, as defined by the Israeli discourse itself. By “defending itself,” the Israeli democracy has been transformed into a regime in which democratic rights have become a conditional attribute of the nation-state, ready to be sacrificed in the name of the latter’s survival and where allegedly suspicious citizens can be excluded from the polity. Under those circumstances, the room for substantial — rather than formal — pluralism has itself become considerably limited.

 

Conference Program: 12th Int’l Conf on Jewish Names (BIU, March 18, 2015)

Bar-Ilan Univeristy
The Faculty of Jewish Studies
The Israel and Golda Koschitzky Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Judaism
The Project for the Study of Jewish Names

The Twelfth International Conference on Jewish Names
Wednesday, March 18, 2015, Feldman Hall, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

The conference was organized in cooperation with the Dahan Center and aided by a grant from the office of the vice president for research, Bar-Ilan University.

 

Session F: 15:45-17:45: Names in Modern Hebrew Literature and Linguistics:
Chair: Prof. Aaron Demsky, Head of the Project for the Study of Jewish Names, Bar-Ilan University
Greetings: Rabbi Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz, President, Bar-Ilan University
Prof. Elie Assis, Dean, Faculty of Jewish Studies, Bar-Ilan University
Prof. Yaron Harel, Head of the Department of Jewish History and the Dahan Center, Bar-Ilan University
Erez Biton, Poet, Bialik Prize Laureate for 2015: Names in My Literary Ouvrage (Heb)
Ofra Matzov-Cohen, Ariel University: Names and their Contribution to the Text: A Comparative Study of the Novel Ahavah Shel Saltanat (Saltanat’s Love) and the Biography Zion Ezri, Beoz Ubehahavat Zion (With Courage and the Love of Zion) (Heb)
Ziva Feldman, Ariel University: The Poetics of Hanoch Levin and the Names of the Characters in his Works (Heb)
Tsvi Sadan, Bar-Ilan University: Toward the Onomastic Lexicography of Modern Hebrew (Heb)

Session G: 18:00-19:30: Names in the Land and State of Israel:
Chair: Dr. Dotan Arad, Bar-Ilan University
Shlomit Landman, Achva Academic College: The Cultural Perspective of Given Names in Israel, Based on Qualitative Interviews with Parents (Heb)
Sapir Omer Osias, Bar-Ilan University: Hebraization of Names in the Yishuv Period from the Second Half of the 19th Century: Perception, Progression and Effects (Heb)
Matanya Weynberger, Ariel University: The Hebraization of Family Names: Knesset Discussions from the 1950s (Heb)
Adel Shakour, Al-Qasemi Academy: Giving Children Hebrew Names in Druze Society in Israel (Heb)
The organizing committee: A. Demsky, Y. Levin, B. Kotlerman, I. Breier, T. Sadan

The Public is Welcome!

New Book: Ribke, A Genre Approach to Celebrity Politics

Ribke, Nahuel. Righteous A Genre Approach to Celebrity Politics. Global Patterns of Passage from Media to Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

 

 

The study of celebrities has been the focus of several works from two main fields: Cultural Studies and Political Communication. But up until now, such works have produced only fragmented views of links between celebrity culture, the entertainment industries, and the political systems, which this book attempts to transcend. Analyzing the movement of celebrities to politics, this book contributes to a thorough understanding of the links between media industries and the political system, providing tools for grasping the varied ways in which media capital is converted into electoral power. To achieve this goal, Nahuel Ribke has assembled a wide range of data from the United States, Brazil and Israel, providing a complex comparative view of the migration of celebrities to politics, which incorporates a historical and cultural analysis, an examination of the respective political institutions, as well as an understanding of the impact local cultural industries had on the development of celebrity politics.

 

Table of Contents

1. Celebrity Politics: A Theoretical and Historical Perspective
PART I: TELEVISION CELEBRITIES AND ISRAELI POLITICS
2. Female Models in Israeli Politics: From the Runway to TV, and from the Small Screen to the Knesset
3. Like Father Like Son: Converting Media Capital into Political Power (Or, How an Israeli TV Presenter Became Finance Minister)
PART II: MAKING MUSIC MATTER: THE ELECTORAL POLITICS OF POP CELEBRITY IN LATIN AMERICA
4. Tropicalizing Politics: Gilberto Gil’s perplexing Miscegenation of Music and Politics
5. The Harvard Lawyer against The Bad Boy from Bronx: Explaining the Political Performance Gaps Between Rubén Blades and Willie Colón
PART III: CINEMA CELEBRITIES IN AMERICAN POLITICS
6. The American Pattern of Celebrity Politics: From ‘Military’ Role Model to Civilian Hero?
7. Entertainment Industries and ‘Liberal’ Celebrities: The Failure of Converting Attention into Political Power
PART IV: CELETOID POLITICS: VICTIMS, HEROES AND ORDINARY PEOPLE AS A VALUABLE ELECTORAL ASSET
8. Juan Carlos Blumberg and the Populism of Fear Politics in Argentina: Converting Mediatic Crimes into Political Capital
9. Reality Shows and Celebrity Politics: An Accelerated Platform for Rookie Politicians?
Conclusions
Bibliography
Index

 

NAHUEL RIBKE obtained his PhD from Tel Aviv University in 2010. His doctoral thesis examines the emergence and expansion of the Globo Television Network during the military regime in Brazil (1965-1985) through the analysis of historical, political, economic, cultural and technological aspects of television work. His research interests cover Institutional and Cultural Processes through Latin American Mass Media, Celebrity Politics and Mass Media History.

 

 

 

Conference program: MESA, Washington, DC (22-25 Nov, 2014)

Israel Studies events at the annual conference of MESA, Washington, DC, November 22-25. For full program click here (PDF).

 

AIS–Association for Israel Studies Reception

Saturday, 11/22

Reception, 8:30-10:30pm, McKinley (M)

 

(3681) Settler-Colonialism and the Study of Zionism: Erasure, Transfer and Assimilation

Sunday, November 23, 11am-1pm

Organized by Arnon Degani

Sponsored by Palestinian American Research Center (PARC)

Chair: Gabriel Piterberg, UCLA

 

Discussant: Lorenzo Veracini, Swinburne Inst for Social Research

Susan Slyomovics, UCLA–“The Object of Memory” and Settler Colonialism Studies 16 Years Later

Honaida Ghanim, Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies–Judaization and De-Indigenization: Settler-Colonialism in East Jerusalem

Areej Sabbagh-Khoury, Mada Al-Carmel–The Zionist Left and Settler-Colonialism in Marj Ibn ‘Amer: Land, Population and Property

Arnon Degani, UCLA–Non-Statist and Bi-Nationalist Zionism as Settler-Colonial Agendas

 

(3756) Rule of Experts?: Revolutions, Doctrines, and Interventions in the Middle East

Sunday, November 23, 2m-4pm

Organized by Osamah Khalil

 

Seth Anziska, Columbia University–Israel, the United States and the 1982 War in Lebanon

 

(3925) World War One and Its Aftermath

Sunday, November 23, 2m-4pm

Chair: Weston F Cook, Jr, UNC Pembroke

 

Roberto Mazza, Western Illinois U–Cemal Pasha, Zionism and the Alleged Expulsion of the Jews from Jaffa in April 1917

 

(3792) Israel Studies in the Arab World

Sunday, November 23, 4:30m-6:30pm

Organized by Johannes Becke

Discussant: Elie Podeh, Hebrew U of Jersusalem

 

Hassan A. Barari, U Jordan–Israelism: Arab Scholarship on Israel, a Critical Assessment

Mostafa Hussein, Brandeis U–Israel Studies in the Arab World Between Two Dictums: ‘Whosoever Learns People’s Language Avoids Their Plot’ and ‘Know Your Enemy’

Johannes Becke, U Oxford–Hebrew in Beirut: Studying Israel in the Last Arab Frontline State

Hebatalla Taha, U Oxford–The Politics of ‘Normalisation’: The Israeli Academic Centre in Cairo

Amr Yossef, American U Cairo–Egyptian Israelists: The View from Israel

 

(3886) Social Media, the Digital Archive, and Scholarly Futures

Sunday, November 23, 4:30m-6:30pm

Organized by Ted Swedenburg

Chair/Discussant: Elliott Colla, Georgetown U

 

Rebecca L. Stein, Duke U–The Perpetrator’s Archive: Israel’s Occupation on YouTube

 

 

(4006) Special Session

Abandoned Yet Central: Gaza and the Resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Sunday, November 23, 4:30m-6:30pm

Organized by Sara Roy

Chair: Sara Roy, Harvard University

 

Chris Gunness, UNRWA, Office of the Commissioner General, Jerusalem

Paul Aaron, Political Analyst and Consultant, Gaza Community Mental Health Program

Bill Corcoran, American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)

Ilana Feldman, George Washington University

Brian Barber, University of Tennessee

Susan Akram, Boston University School of Law

 

This session will present an overview of the past summer’s violent clashes between Israeli and Hamas forces and the ensuing destruction in Gaza. Representatives from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) will provide an “on-the-ground” analysis of the destruction and human toll of the 50-day war. Scholars will further place the recent violence in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and examine the prerequisites for a sustainable resolution of the conflict.

 

 

 

(3737) Religious Inclusivity and Civilizational Identity: Expanding Iranian Identities Along Religious, Ethnic, and Gender Lines

Monday, November 24, 8:30am-10:30am

Organized by Lior Sternfeld

Chair/Discussant: Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, U Toronto

 

Lior Sternfeld, U Texas Austin–Iran is My Homeland, Jerusalem is My Qiblah: Iranian Jews Between Zionist and Iranian Identities

 

(3643) Israel, the United States and a Changing Middle East

Monday, November 24, 11am-1pm

Organized by Robert O. Freedman

Sponsored by Association for Israel Studies

Chair/Discussant: Robert O. Freedman, Johns Hopkins U

 

Eyal Zisser, Tel Aviv U–Israel and the Arab World – Who’s First – Syria, Egypt or Lebanon?

Ilan Peleg, Lafayette Col–Israel, Netanyahu & the Palestinians: Is the Third Term the Charm?!

Rami Ginat, Bar Ilan U–The Israeli-Egyptian-American Strategic Triangle: A Reassessment in Light of the Arab Uprising

Joshua Teitelbaum, Bar-Ilan U–Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council: New Opportunities for Cooperation?

Uzi Rabi, Tel Aviv U–Iran and Israel: Post 2013 Elections

 

 

(3697) Bridging the Rupture of 1948: The “Decolonization” and Erasure of Mandate Palestine

Monday, November 24, 2:30pm-4:30pm

Organized by Jeffrey D. Reger and Leena Dallasheh

Sponsored by Palestinian American Research Center (PARC)

Chair: Zachary Lockman, New York U

Discussant: Shira Robinson, George Washington U

 

Jeffrey D. Reger, Georgetown U–Uprooting Palestine: Olive Groves, Mass Dispossession, and Peasant Resistance, 1945-1955

Hilary Falb Kalisman, UC Berkeley–Learning Exile: Palestinian Students and Educators Abroad, 1940-1958

Leena Dallasheh, Rice U–Defying the Rupture, Affirming Presence: Palestinians in Nazareth Surviving 1948

Rephael Stern, Princeton U–Israel’s Postcolonial Predicament and Its Contradicting Jurisdictional Claims in 1948

 

 

(3917) Perilous Peacemaking: Israeli-Palestinian Relations Since Oslo

Monday, November 24, 5pm-7pm

Chair: Timothy Schorn, U South Dakota

 

Elie Podeh, Hebrew U Jerusalem–Missed Opportunities in the Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Case of the Arab Peace Initiative (2002-2014)

Maia Carter Hallward, Kennesaw State U–Choosing to Negotiate Under Sub-Optimal Conditions: The 2013 Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations

Gabriele Mombelli, U Florence–The Palestinian National Authority Security Sector: An Operational Overview

Karam Dana, U Washington–Twenty Years after Oslo: What Do Palestinians Think?

Andrew Barwig, Department of State–“New Blood” in Israel’s Knesset: Elite Circulation and Parliamentary Resilience

 

 

 

(3867) Urbanism and the Politics of the Mandate Period, Local versus Imperial Interests

Tuesday, November 25, 11am-1pm

Organized by Harrison Guthorn

Chair: Elizabeth F. Thompson, U Virginia

 

Noah Hysler Rubin, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design–Planning Palestine: British and Zionist Plans for Tiberius and Nathanya

 

(3893) Public Opinion in the Middle East

Tuesday, November 25, 11am-1pm

Organized by Yael Zeira

 

Devorah Manekin, Arizona State U–Carrots and Sticks: Policy Instruments and Public Opinion in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

 

(3919) Palestinian Resistance: Spaces and Standpoints

Tuesday, November 25, 11am-1pm

Chair: Timothy Schorn, U South Dakota

 

Timothy Seidel, American U–Narrating Nonviolence: Postcolonial Interrogations of Resistance in Palestine

Maya Rosenfeld, Hebrew U Jerusalem–The Movement of Palestinian Political Prisoners and the Struggle Against the Israeli Occupation: A Historical Perspective

Sharri Plonski, SOAS U London–Transcending Bounded Space: The Struggle for Land and Space by the Palestinian Citizens of Israel

Julie Norman, McGill U–Prisoners Dilemma?: Prison-Based Resistance and the Diffusion of Activism in Palestine

Maryam Griffin, UC Santa Barbara–Movement as/and Non-Movement in Palestine

 

(3949) Transnational Cultural Production

Tuesday, November 25, 1:30pm-3:30pm

Chair: Zeynep Seviner, U Washington

 

Isra Ali, Rutgers, State U of New Jersey–Adaptation: Cultural Alliances and Television Production in Israel and the United States

Robert Lang, U Hartford–Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir: Whose Trauma?

New Article: Weinblum, Religion in the Israeli Parliament

Weinblum, Sharon. “Religion in the Israeli Parliament: A Typology.” Religion, State and Society 42.2-3 (2014): 283-98.

 

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09637494.2014.945727

 

Abstract

Because religion has been a constant source of social divisions and political conflicts, the role of Judaism in Israel is very often studied through the prism of a rigid religious–secular cleavage.Without denying the contentious character of religion in the political and social arenas, I suggest in this study that a closer look at the usages of religion in Israeli politics offers a more nuanced picture of the role of Judaism in Israel. In order to uphold this thesis, I identify the main usages of Judaism in the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset) and scrutinise the extent to which these different mobilisations overlap or crosscut the secular–religious cleavage. This analysis leads to a typology of three usages of religion: religion as a source of authority, religion as a marker of identity and nation, and religion as a source of values. On this basis, I demonstrate that the role of religion in Israel and especially in the Israeli Parliament cannot be reduced to the divide between religious and secular groups. If in its first usage, the religious–secular cleavage indeed predominates, the use of religion as an identity marker does not necessarily lead to a conflict with secular members, while in its final form, religion is mobilised as a resource by members of both groups.

ToC: Israel Studies 19.2 (2014)

[ToC from Project Muse; content also available at JStor: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.19.issue-2]

Israel Studies

Volume 19, Number 2, Summer 2014

Table of Contents

Special Issue: Zionism in the 21st Century

Editors: Ilan Troen and Donna Robinson Divine

 

Introduction: (Special issue, Israel Studies, 19.2)

pp. v-xi

Ilan Troen, Donna Robinson Divine

Articles: Zionist Theory

Cultural Zionism Today

pp. 1-14

Allan Arkush

Bi-Nationalist Visions for the Construction and Dissolution of the State of Israel

pp. 15-34

Rachel Fish

Culture: Literature and Music

Nostalgic Soundscapes: The Future of Israel’s Sonic Past

pp. 35-50

Edwin Seroussi

Cultural Orientations and Dilemmas

Remember? Forget? What to Remember? What to Forget?

pp. 51-69

Tuvia Friling

The Kibbutz in Immigration Narratives of Bourgeois Iraqi and Polish Jews Who Immigrated to Israel in the 1950s

pp. 70-93

Aziza Khazzoom

Politics and Law

Zionism and the Politics of Authenticity

pp. 94-110

Donna Robinson Divine

Law in Light of Zionism: A Comparative View

pp. 111-132

Suzanne Last Stone

Economics and Land

Some Perspectives on the Israeli Economy: Stocktaking and Looking Ahead

pp. 133-161

Jacob Metzer

Competing Concepts of Land in Eretz Israel

pp. 162-186

Ilan Troen, Shay Rabineau

Israel’s Relationship with Its Neighbors and the Palestinian Arab Citizens

The Arab Minority in Israel: Reconsidering the “1948 Paradigm”

pp. 187-217

Elie Rekhess

Israel’s Place in a Changing Regional Order (1948–2013)

pp. 218-238

Asher Susser

Religion and Society

Messianism and Politics: The Ideological Transformation of Religious Zionism

pp. 239-263

Eliezer Don-Yehiya

The Ambivalent Haredi Jew

pp. 264-293

Yoel Finkelman

---

Contributors

pp. 294-296

New Article: Cohen, National Budget Transparency and the Israeli Health Care Policy

Cohen, Nissim. “The Power of Expertise? Politician–Bureaucrat Interactions, National Budget Transparency and the Israeli Health Care Policy.” Policy Studies 34.5-6 (2013): 638-54.

 

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01442872.2013.804174

 

Abstract

How do ministry of Finance (MOF) bureaucrats preserve their dominance in the national budget process? As we all know, MOF bureaucrats are important in politics and policy, we know much less about exactly how they play their role. Political analysis of the interaction between politicians and bureaucrats in the Israeli healthcare policy arena reveals asymmetry of information in favour of the bureaucrats at the MOF. Among others, this asymmetry is also due to a lack of transparency in the national budgeting process. While presenting the balance of power between the players in the Israeli health policy arena, we point to the MOF bureaucrats as the most dominant players – though their power is not absolute as it always seems. Quite a few indications point at ‘non-democratic’ strategies made by these bureaucrats in their interactions with the other players. The empirical findings show that alongside bureaucrats’ expertise, strategies based on concealment, manipulation in presentation of information, lack of transparency and ‘Buying’ politicians (bribe for budgets) establish the dominance of MOF’s bureaucrats in the policy arena. Under the structural conditions of centralisation, the other players tend to find alternative solutions for promoting the public policies they seek.

ToC: Israel Affairs 19,2 (2013)

Israel Affairs, Vol. 19, No. 2, 01 Apr 2013 is now available on Taylor & Francis Online. This new issue contains the following articles: Original Articles Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran Rusi Jaspal Pages: 231-258 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778085   In defence of the idea of a Jewish state Mordechai Nisan Pages: 259-272 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778088 : 273-289 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778089   The status of Arabic in the discourse of Israeli policymakers Dafna Yitzhaki Pages: 290-305 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778091   Oversight by the State Control Committee in the Israeli parliament: form of accountability under stress Chen Friedberg Pages: 306-320 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778083   Israeli stamps 1948–2010: between nationalism and cosmopolitanism Einat Lachover & Dalia Gavriely Nuri Pages: 321-337 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778086   Advertising as a semiotic system of space: image of the desert in Israeli advertising, 1967–2004 Avivit Agam Dali Pages: 338-352 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778082   The transformation of the Israeli Civil Guard into a police force Yaffa Moskovich Pages: 353-363 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778087   Between self-interest and international norms: legitimizing the PLO Ogen S. Goldman Pages: 364-378 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778084     Book Reviews   Sharon: the life of a leader David Rodman Pages: 379-380 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778092   A lasting reward: memoirs of an Israeli diplomat David Rodman Pages: 380-381 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778093 The horsemen of Israel: horses and chariotry in monarchic Israel (ninth-eighth centuries BCE) David Rodman Pages: 381-382 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778095   In the sands of the Sinai: a physician’s account of the Yom Kippur war David Rodman Pages: 382-383 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778096   Israel’s silent defender: an inside look at sixty years of Israeli intelligence David Rodman Pages: 383-384 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778097   Brothers at war: Israel and the tragedy of the Altalena David Rodman Pages: 385-386 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778098   Israel: an introduction David Rodman Pages: 386-387 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778099   Only Israel west of the river: the Jewish state and the Palestinian question David Rodman Pages: 387-388 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778100   Israel and the United States: six decades of US–Israeli relations David Rodman Pages: 388-389 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778101   Nine lives of Israel: a nation’s history through the lives of its foremost leaders David Rodman Pages: 390-391 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.778102   Israel’s Palestinians Raphael Cohen-Almagor Pages: 391-392 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2012.751734 Enjoy FREE ONLINE ACCESS to all Routledge articles published on the Arab Spring in the last year. Start reading now.

 

Cite: Shenhav et al., Testing the Language–Power Assumption of Critical Discourse Analysis

Shenhav, Shaul R., Gideon Rahat and Tamir Sheafer. “Testing the Language–Power Assumption of Critical Discourse Analysis: The Case of Israel’s Legislative Discourse.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 45.1 (2012): 207-222.

 

URL: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8559411

 

Abstract.

The growing interest in the relation between language and politics brings new assumptions and theoretical frameworks to the study of politics. This study presents a simple empirical test of a major assumption of the critical discourse analysis school: that power is a major factor in political discourse. It examines whether the discourse of Israeli members of parliament (Knesset) represents a view of the world through the prism of power or whether parliament members refer to the experience of similar democracies. We demonstrate that power is a strong and significant factor in Israeli legislative discourse through time and across issues while relevance plays no role.

ToC: Israel Affairs 17,3 (2011)

The online platform for Taylor & Francis Group content Israel Affairs, Vol. 17, No. 3, 01 Jul 2011 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online. This new issue contains the following articles: Original Articles High-tech nation: the future of the Israeli polity Gideon Doron Pages: 313-326 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.584659 The diffusion of the Internet to Israel: the first 10 years Nicholas A. John Pages: 327-340 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.584661 A revised look at online journalism in Israel: entrenching the old hegemony Dan Caspi Pages: 341-363 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.584663 Religion and the Internet in the Israeli Orthodox context Heidi Campbell Pages: 364-383 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.584664 Internet, conflict and dialogue: the Israeli case Ronit Kampf Pages: 384-400 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.584666 Israeli public relations and the Internet Ruth Avidar Pages: 401-421 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.584668 User generated content in the Israeli online journalism landscape Idit Manosevitch Pages: 422-444 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.584670 MK websites and the personalization of Israeli politics Lior Livak, Azi Lev-On & Gideon Doron Pages: 445-466 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.584676 Online Israeli politics: the current state of the art Sharon Haleva-Amir Pages: 467-485 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.584678

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Israel Affairs: Volume 17 Issue 2 is now available online at informaworldTM. This new issue contains the following articles: Original Articles Israel’s prime ministers and the Arabs: Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin Pages 177 – 193 Author: Yossi Goldstein DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.547273 Transjordan’s attack on the Etzion Bloc during the 1948 war Pages 194 – 207 Author: Ronen Yitzhak DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.547274 The dynamics of state-religion issues on the agenda in Israel: the case of the right to die with dignity (passive euthanasia) Pages 208 – 223 Author: Michal Neubauer-Shani DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.547275 How many Palestinian Arab refugees were there? Pages 224 – 246 Author: Efraim Karsh DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.547276 Is there a Palestinian civil war? The concept and the impact Pages 247 – 258 Author: Hussein Sirriyeh DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.547277 The use of parliamentary questions in the Israeli parliament, 1992-96 Pages 259 – 277 Author: Osnat Akirav DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.547278 Discrimination vs. permissible preferential treatment regarding University of Haifa dormitories: or when Cicero met Adalah in the cafeteria Pages 278 – 295 Author: Nahshon Perez DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.547279 Book Reviews Book Reviews Pages 296 – 312 Author: David Rodman DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2011.547280