Being Israeli: The Dynamics of Multiple Citizenship (Cambridge Middle East Studies, Series Number 16)

A timely study by two well-known scholars offers a theoretically informed account of the political sociology of Israel. The analysis is set within its historical context as the authors trace Israel's development from Zionist settlement in the 1880s, through the establishment of the state in 1948, to the present day. Against this background the authors speculate on the relationship between identity and citizenship in Israeli society, and consider the differential rights, duties and privileges that are accorded different social strata. In this way they demonstrate that, despite ongoing tensions, the pressure of globalization and economic liberalization has gradually transformed Israel from a frontier society to one more oriented towards peace and private profit. This unexpected conclusion offers some encouragement for the future of this troubled region. However, Israel's position towards the peace process is still subject to a tug-of-war between two conceptions of citizenship: liberal citizenship on the one hand, and a combination of the remnants of republican citizenship associated with the colonial settlement with an ever more religiously defined ethno-nationalist citizenship, on the other. Books published in the Contemporary Middle East series address the major political, economic and social debates facing the region today. Each title comprises a survey of the available literature against the background of the author's own critical interpretation which is designed to challenge and encourage independent analysis. While the focus of the series is the Middle East and North Africa, books are presented as aspects of a rounded treatment, which cut across disciplinary and geographical boundaries.This penetrating and timely study by two well-known scholars offers a theoretically informed account of the political sociology of Israel. The argument is set in its historical context as the authors trace Israel's development from the beginning of Zionist settlement in Palestine in the early 1880s to the Oslo accords in 1993, and finally to the recent Palestinian uprising. Against this background, they speculate on the idea of citizenship and what it means to be the citizen of a fragmented and ideologically divided society. The Virtues Of Ashkenazi Pioneering -- Mizrachim And Women: Between Quality And Quantity -- The Frontier Within: Palestinians As Third-class Citizens -- The Wages Of Legitimation: Zionist And Non-zionist Orthodox Jews -- New Day On The Frontier -- The Frontier Erupts: The Intifadas -- Agents Of Political Change -- Economic Liberalization And Peacemaking -- The Constitutional Revolution -- Shrinking Social Rights -- Emergent Citizens Groups? Immigrants From The Fsu And Ethiopia And Overseas Labor Migrants. Gershon Shafir, Yoav Peled. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 349-386) And Index. The authors speculate on the relationship between identity and citizenship in Israeli society and explore the differential rights accorded different social strata. They conclude that, despite ongoing tensions, globalization and economic liberalization have transformed Israel from a frontier society to one more oriented towards peace and private profit For some time now, Israel's main political and moral dilemma has been describe as the need to choose between the two cardinal principles of its political culture: the particularistic commitment to being a Jewish state and the universalist commitment to being a Western-style democracy.