School of Communication
Israeli Politics 71-113-18
Lecturer: Dr. Shay Hershkovitz
Course Type: mandatory Year: 2 Time: 15:00-16:00
Credit hours: 2 annual credits (annual course, 2 hours) - 2013-2014
Lecturer Details:
Office Hours: 14:00-15:00
Office: Building 109, Room 3
Office phone: 03-7384317
Email:
A. Course objectives and purposes:
This course examines some of the issues currently facing Israeli society and the ongoing debates in Israeli politics. It discusses the evolution of the Israeli socio-political system, with emphasis on the changes it had witnessed from the “Yeshuv” era (during the British Mandate), through the formative years and up to our days. The course also discusses the local political culture, and its elaborate and changing system of political symbols.
B. Course Topics:
The course focuses on the following three main subjects: the prominent issues and conflicts that influenced the formation of the Israeli political climate: (1) The unification of the local political system, the electoral revolution, Israel as a Judeo - democratic state, political violence and the militarization of society. (2) Crucial cleavages and debates within Israeli society – along political, religious, ethnic, and national lines: left-right, religious - seculars, Jews - Arabs, Sepharadim - Ashkenazim and immigrants - native Israelis. (3) The future of Israel as multi-cultural state, the post and neo Zionism debate and the globalization of Israel.
C. Course Pedagogical Tools:
Students are required to attend all classes having read the assigned readings before each session. Though class time will primarily be devoted to lectures, questions are welcome and some time each week will be set aside for discussion.
D. Course Requirements and Final Grading*
1. Full attendance in class, preparation of class readings and participation in class discussion. These are all pre-requirements for passing the class (10% of the final grade).
2. Students should also keep up with current events relating to Israel, including daily perusing of articles in (among others):
http://haaretz.com/; http://www.ynetnews.com
3. Midterm Paper - designed to draw on the readings and class discussions (35% of the final grade).
4. Final exam (55% of the final grade).
All assignments required to pass the course
E. Course Program
Main Books:
Arian, Asher. The Second Republic: Politics in Israel. (NJ, 1998).
E32 ARI s (382133) – Stacks (in central library)
Herzl, Theodore. The Jewish State. (New-York, 1896/1946).
D612 HER j (389217) – Stacks (in central library)
Sachar, Howard M. A History of Israel: From The Rise of Zionism to Our Time. Second Edition. (New York, 1998).
E99 SAC h (182159) – Stacks (in central library)
The Middle East Institute, Israel: Growing Pains at 60. (Washington: 2008).
http://www.israel-sociology.org.il/uploadimages/Israelat2060.pdf
Lecture Topics and Readings
The readings with an asterisk* are optional
Lecture 1: What is Democracy: an Introduction
Lecture 2 - 3: The Origins of Zionism and Prominent Schools of Thought
Laqueur,Walter. A History of Zionism (New York, 1972), 3 - 39.
933.609 LAQ h (128211)
Sachar, Chapters 1,2,3, pg. 3-65. .
E99 SAC h (182159) – Stacks (in central library)
(*)Vital, David. The Origins of Zionism (Oxford, 1975), 3-48.
933.61 VIT o (214056)
(*)Pinsker, Leo. “Auto-Emancipation: An Appeal to his People by a Russian Jew,” in Arthur Hertzberg, (Ed.) The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader. (Philadelphia, 1972), 181-198.
933.608 ZIO 1959 (118944)
(*)Herzl, Theodore. The Jewish State. (New-York, 1896/1946).
D612 HER j (389217) – Stacks (in central library)
Lecture 4 - 6: From to “Yeshuv” to the State of Israel: the Creation of Political Institutions, a Jewish Society, and the Birth of the State
Arian, Asher. Politics in Israel (NJ, 1998), 19-36, 58-82, 364-376.
E320 ARI p (43960)
Morris,Benny, “The Causes and Character of the Arab Exodus from Palestine: The Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Branch Analysis of June 1948.” Middle Eastern Studies, 22 (1986), 5-19.
ejournal (126485)
(*)Kolatt, Israel. “The Zionist Movement and the Arabs,” in Reinharz and Shapira (Eds), Essential Papers on Zionism (New-York, 1996), 617-647.
D608 ESS 1996 (303638) – Stacks (in central library)
Lecture 7 - 8: The Political System: the Knesset, Political Parties, Elections and State Institutions
Arian,Asher. Politics in Israel, (NJ, 1998), 202-298.
E320 ARI p (43960)
(*)Aronoff J., Myron, "The “Americanization” of Israeli Politics: Political and Cultural Change, "Israeli Studies5, (2000), 92-127.
journal + ejournal (332975) - Periodicals stacks (in central library)
Lecture 9 - 10 : The Judicial System, The Electoral Revolution and the Changes of the Electoral System
Arian, Asher. Politics in Israel (NJ, 1998), 298 - 312.
E320 ARI p (43960)
Rahat, Gideon. The Politics of Regime Structure Reform in Democracies, (New-York, 2008), 77 - 111.
N/A
(*) Elazar, Daniel J.Constitutionalism, In Daniel J. Elazar, (Ed.), Constitutionalism: The Israeli and American Experiences(Lanham, 1990), 249-254, 133-142.
E342 CON 1990 (172232)
Lecture 11 - 12: Religion and State: The Religious-Secular Divide
Arian, Asher. Politics in Israel (NJ, 1998), 348-363.
E320 ARI p (43960)
Cohen, Asher Susser, Bernard. Israel and the Politics of Jewish Identity: The Secular-Religious Impasse, (Baltimore, 2000), 1 - 37.
E322.1 COH i (467346)
(*)Etzioni-Halevy, Eva, “The Intergenerational Split between Secular and Religious Jews,” in Israel: Growing Pains at 60 (Washington, :2008), 77-79.
http://www.israel-sociology.org.il/uploadimages/Israelat2060.pdf
(*)Levy, Shlomit, Hanna Levinsohn, & Elihu Katz. A Portrait of Israeli Jewry: Beliefs, Observances, and Values among Israeli Jews 2000, (Jerusalem, 2000).
E322.1 LEV p (532753) – Stacks (in central library) & electronic book (2364369)
Lecture 13 - 15: Native Israelis and Immigrants: The Jewish Ethnic Divide
Arian, Asher. Politics in Israel (NJ, 1998), 36-40.
E320 ARI p (43960)
Cohen, Yinon Yitchak Haberfeld, "Second-Generation Jewish Immigrants in Israel: Have the Ethnic Gaps in Schooling d Earnings Declined?" Ethnic And Racial Studies 21, 3 (1998), 507-528.
journal + ejournal (145947)
Peled, Yoav, "Towards a Redefinition of Jewish Nationalism in Israel? The Enigma of Shas," Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21, 4 (1998), 703-727.
journal + ejournal (145947)
(*)Chetrit, Sami, “Mizrahi Politics in Israel: Between Integration and Alternative,” Journal of Palestine Studies, 29, 4 (2000), 51-65.
journal + ejournal (118857)
(*)Dahan-Kalev, Henriette, “You’re So Pretty—You Don’t Look Moroccan,” Israel Studies, 6 ,1 (2001), 1-14.
journal + ejournal (332975) - Periodicals stacks (in central library)
(*)Picard, Avi, “Israel and the Jews from Arab Countries,” in Israel: Growing Pains at 60, (Washington, DC: 2008 ) 83-85.
http://www.israel-sociology.org.il/uploadimages/Israelat2060.pdf
Lecture 16 - 17: Israel and Palestine: Palestinians in Israel and the Issue of the Occupied Territories
Arian, Asher. Politics in Israel (NJ, 1998), 40-2.
E320 ARI p (43960)
Ghanem, As’ad, “The Palestinian Minority in Israel: The ‘Challenge’ of the Jewish State and its Implications,” Third World Quarterly, 21,1 2000, 87-104.
ejournal (437606)
Migdal, Joel Baruch Kimmerling, “The Odd Man Out: Arabs in Israel,” In Migdal, Through the Lens of Israel, (New-York, 2001), 173-194.
E99 MIG t (515651)
(*)Jamal,Amal, “Majoritarian Despotism and the Hollowing Out of Citizenship in Israel,” in Israel: Growing Pains at 60 (Washington: 2008) 30-31.
http://www.israel-sociology.org.il/uploadimages/Israelat2060.pdf
(*)Peled, Yoav, “Israeli Citizenship,” in Israel: Growing Pains at 60 (Washington: 2008), 32-34.
http://www.israel-sociology.org.il/uploadimages/Israelat2060.pdf
(*)Peleg, Ilan,“Majority-Minority Relations in the Jewish Republic,” in Israel: Growing Pains at 60 (Washington, 2008) 35-37.
http://www.israel-sociology.org.il/uploadimages/Israelat2060.pdf
Lecture 18 - 19: 66 Years, 7 Wars
Bregman, Ahron. A History of Israel (New-York, 2002), 104-167
N/A
(*) TBD
Lecture 20: The Peace Processes: Past and Present
Rabinovitch,Itamar. Waging Peace: Israel and the Arabs, 1948-2003. (Princeton, 2004), 38-77.
E327.53 RAB w (453272)
(*)Netanyahu, Benjamin. A Place Among the Nations (New York: 1993), 256-293.
E990.29 NET p (231899)
(*)Lochery, Neil, “The Politics and Economics of Israeli Disengagement, 1994-2006,” Middle Eastern Studies, 43/1 (2007), 1-19.
ejournal (126485)
(*)Zertal, Idith & Akiva Eldar. Lords of the Land: The War Over Israel’s Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007 (New-York, 2007), 245-275.
N/A
Lecture 21: Tolerance and Political Violence in Israel: the Limits of Legitimacy
TBD
Lehman-Wilzig, Sam. "Conflict as Communication: Public Protest in Israel, 1950-1982," in Stuart Cohen & Eliezer Don-Yehiya (Eds.) Conflict and Consensus in Jewish Politics, (Ramat Gan, 1986), 128-145.
N/A
Lecture 22: The Changing Role of the Israel Defense Forces
Sachar, Howard M. A History of Israel: From The Rise of Zionism to Our Time. Second Edition. (New York, 1998), Chapters 13, 17, 21,24,30, pp?.
E99 SAC h (182159) – Stacks (in central library)
Levi,Yagil Who Controls the IDF? Between an "Over-Subordinate Army" and
"a Military that has a State". Open University Working Paper Series. (Raana: 2012), 1-25.
http://www.openu.ac.il/policy/download/maamar-23.pdf
Lecture 23 - 24: The future of Zionism: Neo/Post Zionism debate
Aronson, Shlomo, "The Post-Zionist Discourse and Critique of Israel: A Traditional Zionist Perspective", Israel Studies 8,1 (2003),105-129.
journal + ejournal (332975) - Periodicals stacks (in central library)
Ram,Uri, "The State of the Nation: Contemporary Challenges to Zionism in Israel", Constellations, 6,3 (2002), 325-338.
ejournal (452826)
(*)Pappe, Ilan, "Post-Zionist Critique on Israel and the Palestinians: Part I: The Academic Debate", Journal of Palestine Studies, 26,2 (1997) 29-41.
journal + ejournal (118857)
(*)Shohat, Ella, "Mizrahim in Israel: Zionism from the Standpoint of Its Jewish Victims," Social Text, 1988, 1-35.
ejournal (444521)
(*)Wurmser, Meyrav. "Post-Zionism and the Sephardi Question", Middle East Quarterly 12,2 (2005), 21 - 30.
ejournal (582048)
Lecture 25: The Globalization of Israel
Uri Ram, The Globalization of Israel. (New-York, 2008), 1 – 28
N/A
(*) TBD
Lecture 26: A Brief Summary of the Course (plus Q/A)
1