The Israeli Third Sector: Between Welfare State and Civil Society (Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies)

The First Directory of Israeli Researchers published a few years ago revealed for the first time that there were 48 researchers from 11 disciplines in 14 different academic institutions in this small Middle Eastern country. It is not surprising, therefore, that with such intellectual resources, Israel can produce year after year social science research of the highest quality such as this first case study of its Third Sector. The three authors, each with an impressive record ofhighly regarded, sophisticated empirical research were selected to participate in the first of a series of international comparative studies of nonprofit organizations in the mid-1990', directed by Lester M. Salamon, Director of the Center for Civil Society at Johns Hopkins University in the US. This book is an outcome of the analysis of data collected from two main sources:The Hopkins Project and the Israeli Third Sector Database recently developed by the Israeli Center forThird Sector Researchat Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva. Originally part of an international study involving 40 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the US, the first results were published in 1999 in Global CivilSociety:DimensionsoftheNonprofitSector,editedbySalamonand hisassociates. It was here that I learned for the first time the extent of the economic importance of the Israeli third sector, the subject of this book. The book presents the economic, historical, legal and policy dimensions of the Sector with a focus on its contribution to the Welfare State and civil society. It then analyzes those findings in the context of major theoretical frameworks of the sector. While Israel shares certain similarities with other countries, its history, demography, and politics have created unique features that make it impossible to fit the country into existing Third Sector theories, which are presented in this seminal reading for the global discussion on nonprofit theory. Furthermore, that analysis, with the focus on the Third Sector in the context of society is also providing a new lens through which to analyze contemporary Israeli society Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-12 The Two Faces of the Israeli Third Sector....Pages 13-29 The Policy Environment of the Third Sector in Israel....Pages 31-72 Historical Development of the Third Sector Continuity and Change....Pages 73-115 The Welfare State and the Third Sector in Israel....Pages 117-139 The Third Sector and Civil Society in Israel....Pages 141-162 Summary and Conclusion....Pages 163-174 Back Matter....Pages 175-216 At the same time, the global increase in social movements has led to the establishment of hundreds of associations in Israel that are concerned with social change. Benjamin Gidron, Michal Bar, Hagai Katz. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 187-198) And Index.