Cross-Currents in Israeli Culture and Politics

This fourth volume of Political Anthropology is the first in the series to be devoted entirely to a single country. Israel is currently undergoing a critical stage of transition in its development. The election of the first Likud government in 1977 ended fifty years of Labor dominance of the political system. It in-troduced new personalities, policies, symbols, and myths as it attempted to establish the legitimacy of the new regime. The 1981 election, which maintained the Likud rule, was the closest and one of the most violent in Israeli history; and one in which political and ethnic tensions reached an unprecedented peak. The election in 1984 will determine considerably more than just which part will rule the country. The very character of the nation is at stake. In this volume the most timely and pressing problems confronting Israeli society are analyzed by leading Israeli and American experts, utilizing the unique interdisciplinary focus of political anthropology.Aronoff analyzes the resurgence of political polarization after almost two decades of relative politi-cal quietude. Lewis astutely explains the role of ethnicity in Israeli politics and how it relates to foreign policy of the Likud government. Shokeid critically analyzes a case study exemplifying collective redefinition of status. Weissbrod sees the war in Lebanon as particularly noteworthy, because it was the first time that a significant part of the Israeli public questioned the justice of an Israeli war, especially during the initial victorious stages. Weisburd and Vinitzky demonstrate that the settlers of Gush Emunim have developed a "rational" ideological legitimization for their vigilante activities against the Arabs in the territories. Dominguez analyzes the meanings of "left" and "right" as multivocal and multifunctional terms in Israeli politics.This volume is the one book that will give you insight into and understanding of the most pressing problems facing Israeli society.