Israeli Politics and Society

First Aliya

- 1882-1903 - 20,000 - 30,000 - Mainly Russia - Laid the groundwork for agricultural settlement: - There were 23 agricultural settlements built under Baron Rothschild's patronage but they lacked national leadership, and were not supported by most philanthropists and they governed from abroad. - 1884: Hovevei Zion Society was founded in Katowice, headed by I.L Pinsker. - 1903: foundation of the Zionist Anglo-Palestine Bank in Jaffa.

Second Aliya

- 1904-1914 - around 40,000 - Mainly Russia - provided leadership, formed parties, young, socialist, secular: - most important immigration wave to Palestine since they provided leadership, and a clear worldview and organizational thinking and skills, and later went on to found workers' parties like the Hapoel HaTzair (the Young Worker Party) and the Poalei Zion in 1905 (Workers of Zion). - founded welfare institutions like Kupat Holim as well as labor organizations to support the young people who came here and who had fights with those people who came earlier and had already possessed assets like small farms. - These individuals refused to hire those who came to Palestine, and rather opted to hire Arab workers since they accepted far lower wages and the newcomers did not know how to work in agriculture. - founded the Kvutza, Moshav, and Kibbutz and in 1910, the first Kvutza was founded was Degania. - 1909, Tel Aviv was founded - founded the parliamentary institutions (the Elected Assembly - Asefat HaNivharim). - - It is important to emphasize that these people did not have democratic upbringings since most came from Russia, but still established democratic institutions. - founded religious institutions, the chief rabbinate and they made a huge change when they made Hebrew the spoken language, as opposed to Yiddish. - Technion was established, as well as the first Hebrew high school and the fight for Avoda Ivrit took place (Jewish labor). Shmira Ivrit (taking from Arabs and putting the work of guarding Jewish settlements in Jewish hands) Bar Giora organization was founded in 1907. Finally, in 1909, the HaShomer (The Watchman) organization was founded (ceased to operate in 1920).

Third Aliya

- 1919-1923 - about 40,000 - Mainly Russia - Institutions building: - In 1919, the Poalei Zion and the Non-Partizan united to form the Ahdut HaAvoda Party (the United Labor Party). In 1920, the Gedud Avoda (the Labor Legion) was formed. Additionally, in 1920, the Hagana Organization was established by Ahdut HaAvoda. In December 1920, HaHistradut HaKlalit Shel HaOvdim Halvrim B'Eretz Israel (the General Federation of Labor in Israel) was founded, and the Kupat Holim (founded during the "second Aliya") became a part of the Histadrut. Later on, in 1923, Hevrat Haovdim (the Workers'Enterprise) was established and the Hagana became a part of the Histradut. The Histradut created several institutions and elements including: workers' exchange, a bank, newspaper, sports association, pension funds, old-ages homes and a network of schools. This resulted in the Histadrut becoming a kind of a"state in the making" and this is the place where people were being taught and trained to run a state.

Dr. Chaim Weizmann (1874 - 1952)

- 1920 - elected as president of the World Zionist Organization (WZO); - 1931 -no confidence vote in the organization in 1931 - In 1935, he was brought back to the congress. - Bipolar leadership: During this time in Palestine, another leader emerged, namely David Ben Gurion, and there was an ideological dispute between these two figures. Ben Gurion was a firm socialist, whereas Weizmann was not, but rather bourgeois, and more socialistic people came and immigrated to Palestine (through the Aliyot) in the 1930s. During this period, there was David Ben Gurion, in London Chaim Weizmann, and so it was Jerusalem vis-à-vis London, or Ben Gurion vis-à-vis Weizmann. The fight between the two did not end here. In the declaration of independence, one will not find Weizmann's signature because he was not in the country at the time, but rather he was on a mission in the United States and Ben Gurion made sure no room was left for Chaim Weizmann to sign the document. The fight between the two started in the 1920s and went on until Weizmann passed away, so Ben Gurion could not prevent Weizmann from becoming president in 1948 since he was the leader of the Jewish people.

Fourth Aliya

- 1924-1928 - about 80,000 - Poland - Bourgeoisie - The fourth aliya is also commonly known as the "Grabsky Aliya', named after the Polish finance Minister "Grabsky". This is because of the economic crisis that occurred in Poland and the economic restrictions imposed on the Polish Jews by the leadership in the country at the time. This Aliyah was also a direct result of the severe limitations that were placed on immigration to the US, which were introduced in 1924. This Aliyah was mainly comprised of middle class Jews and these individuals opted to settle in large cities in then Palestine like Tel Aviv. This was done as opposed to founding agricultural settlements like other individuals had done who had made Aliyah before them. This was because these newcomers had no desire to change their way of living and most invested their capital in construction. Also, during this Aliya, approximately 67,000 people came, with roughly 50% of them coming to "Palestine" from Poland.

Fifth Aliya

- 1930-1939 - 145,000 - Germany, Austria - Professionals, well-to-do, academician - The fifth Aliya brought in roughly 250,000 Jews and transformed the character of the Yishuv in Palestine. Most of these people were German Jews, with a majority of this number coming in after Adolf Hitler rose topower in Germany in January 1933. A lot of these German Jews were professionals, and this included musicians, artists, architects, professors and academics, and they were well to do people who decided to flee Europe. These individuals settled mostly in cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa and their absorption into the Israeli society process was relatively slow. One of the most significant contributions of individuals who came to Palestine during this Aliya was the founding of the Philharmonic Orchestra, mainly by the German Jews who were skilled musicians back in Germany.

Politics and values

- A "competition among cherished values. That is the real stuff of politics." (Arian, 425). - Values may provide the vehicle to explain reality and to posit standards of desirability. - People vary on the rank they assign to a value when it is in conflict with another cherished value rather than on how much they support that idea in isolation

the Kishinev Pogrom and the Sixth Zionist Congress

- April 1903 - 45 dead and over 600 wounded in Kishinev - led to the proposal of the 'Uganda Plan', the idea to create a Jewish homeland in Uganda/Tanzania. - The Russian delegates opposed the plan refusing to settle for anything less than Palestine.

Symbols, Myths, Rituals and Taboos of Israel

- Halutz - Aliya - Hebrew - Hebrew/Jewish Labor - Memorial days (9 of Av, Holocaust Memorial Day, Yom HaZikaron) - Independence Day

Ideology

- Ideology, much like politics, is a concern of the elite, whose members not only produce ideology but are also its largest distributors and consumers. - Political communication in Israel tends to be highly ideological, public policy much more pragmatic.

Balfour Declaration

- November 2, 1917 - Document expressing Britain's support of the Jewish people in establishing a homeland in Palestine. In trying to appease both the oil rich Arab world and the Jews, Britain did not promise the Jews a state, only a national homeland and the boundaries of this territory were not specified.

UN General Assembly 181

- November 29, 1947 - called for the partition of the British-ruled Palestine Mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state. It was approved with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, 10 abstentions and one absent

The War of Independence

- November 30, 1947 - July 20, 1949 - The war ended with the signing of the last armistice agreement between Israel and Syria, on July 20, 1949. 4,624 soldiers fell in the war, and 13,000 were injured. ​​

Party political culture

- Party oriented society : there was a time, Israelis needed to be member of a party in order to get services , health services, labour services, education...Nowadays, much more individuals. - From cradle to grave, vs skeleton party (the media impact) - Party vs movement

Jewish State

- Secular state with a dominant Jewish set of symbols -- Sabbath -- Jewish holidays are national holidays -- The Hebrew calendar -- Laws of personal status

Military

- Service - nation in uniform -- Defense - restraint -- Voluntarism - history and contemporary -- Self-sacrifice - Trumpeldor ("its good to die for our country) -- The quest for peace -- Purity of arms -- The Memorial Day for fallen IDF soldiers - Socialization agent (education entertainment, national projects) : if you had not completed your military service, civil life would be much more harder (to apply for a job, you were asked to add your military service) : meaningful service will help them in the civil life - the IDF is a social agent as well - Criticizing the IDF : yes, since 1973 (before, unspeakable), it was the holy IDF

Choice and Isolation

- You have chosen us of all people - A light unto the nations, people of the book - A nation that dwells alone - A nation under siege - David vs. Goliath

Political Zionism

- a strategy by which zionism was advanced through the solicitation of political support (only) from European governments. - founded by Theodore (Binyamin Ze'ev) Herzl (1860-1904) - 1894 - the Dreyfus Affair - 1897 - the First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland -- 208 delegates from 16 different countries - WZO

Practical Zionism

- belief that instead of political action, deeds on the ground would determine the future of the Jewish people and their fight for a Jewish state in Palestine. - Zionism shifts towards this after Herzl's death - the Seventh Congress (Basle, July 1905) - This strand wanted to achieve self-determination by practical means like purchasing territory, building industry and working the land (agriculture), and not waiting to achieve political legitimacy and recognition from foreign powers like Britain, and the Ottomans. Several years later, there was a huge achievement for Political Zionism, and this is specifically in relation to the Balfour Declaration. -- For the first time, a decision in favor of strengthening Jewish agriculture and industry in Palestine was adopted. -- 1908 the establishment of the Palestine Office in Jaffa, headed by Dr. Arthur Ruppin.

Hannah Szenes

- born in Budapest, Hungary, on July 17th, 1921 - a Yishuv volunteer paratrooper who was sent to parachute across the enemy lines in occupied Europe during World War II and fell in the line of duty when executed in a military prison in Budapest by the pro-Nazi regime in Hungary, November 7, 1944

Synthetic Zionism

- combination of practical and political zionism, created by Chaim Weizmann - supported the building of land and expanding in then Palestine, while at the same time attempting to achieve international recognition and legitimacy from the global powers of that era (including but not limited to Great Britain)

Basic Values in conflict in Israeli political culture

1) Israel as a Jewish state - some people this state should be run by the halacha, some - others believe that it is enough if Israel is a refuge for all Jews - nobody suggests to change the day off from shabbat to Sunday - symbols. More/less Jewish education, more/less symbols... 2) Greater Israel - the promise land and then both sides of the Jordan river (gilad mountains) - do we have to conquer the other side of the jordan river or not ? Are we entitled to conquer those territories? - religious/ideological aspect of security issues - we cannot leave those territories because of security issues ? 3) Democracy - what about the Israeli Arabs ? - 12 deputes, but only one Arab minister - the rate of Arabs who vote is lower than among Jews (2001 february : we still had a system in which we were electing directly and separately the Prime minister - in 2001 only time we elect directly the Prime minister : Ariel Sharon, Ehud Barak (prime minister few months earlier, in which 13 Arabs israelis were killed in riots : could not make up their mind who they hated most, only time almost 80% Arabs israelis did not go to vote) - minority rights, human rights, justice, equality, free elections, multi-party system (cannot take out one stone, it will make the whole building fall apart - liberal democracy : where do I draw the line because there is no perfect democracy 4) Peace - what are we ready to give to reach peace, with Syria ? with the Palestinians ?

Problems related to a left-right continuum -

1) Unidimensionality - In Israel, at least two, and possibly more, dimensions are needed for making sense of the orderings of political parties 2) Left-right description is incomplete when referring to Israel - Likud makes peace; Labor began the policy of settling the territories - Parties near the center of the continuum tend to differ in ideology but to be more similar in policy 3) the meaning of "left" and "right" may change over time 4) power tends to modify extreme positions 5) Opposition affords a politician luxury of being judged by his words and not by his deeds 6) Ideology is never rigid; only some ideologues are. 7) Difficulty in determining what a party's position is on a given issue - election platform is a compromise among the factions of a party and the constituent parts of a list - A party platform does not commit the party in any legal sense - Old saying: party platforms are like train platforms - something to get in on, not to stand on. 8) Problems related to how the continuum is perceived and understood by the electorate - For most people, politics is a matter of leaders and parties, whose images are no less important than ideological issues of left/right - The left-right continuum in Israel often fills a political function more than an ideological one - The left-right label is part of one's political vocabulary - The ideological change in Israel followed the political one that was a reaction to the years of dominance of the left 9) The left-right continuum has a greater importance in its labeling function than in its ability to predict the answers to ideological questions 10) That political labels should fill a veto function by pointing out whom we want to avoid 11) leaders' power to bring about change 12) The vote is the important ingredient in determining who will decide, but not in determining the direction policy will take.

New Yishuv Pre-Zionist Initiatives

1881 - the population in Palestine was 450,000 people, with 25,000 Jews, of which 15,000 in Jerusalem and the rest in Safed, Tiberias, Hebron and Jaffa. - Sir Moshe Montefiore (1784-1885), a British philanthropist insisted that the Jews in Palestine needed to work, and he built the windmill in Jerusalem, which was outside of the city walls and he built the neighborhood around it so that people could live and work there. - Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934), start donating large sums of money, and as a result got the nickname, "father of the Yishuv". 1882 - Bilu - this was the new beginning of the Yishuv, since a group of new people from Russia came to Palestine not to study Jewish studies, but rather to settle in the country, and this was in the pre-Zionist era

1994

A peace treaty between Israel, under Rabin's leadership and Jordan, led by King Hussein was signed, and was the second peace agreement with a neighboring Arab state.

Political System

A political system must be understood in terms of the people who live under it, their values and ideals, the resources at their disposal, the challenges that face the system, and the institutions developed to meet these challenges.

Jewish Responsibility

All Jews are responsible for one another - Israel vis-à-vis the Diaspora

Elections System

As part of the election system, almost every member of the Yishuv belonged to some organized group (for example, the Revisionists, or Mapai) within the official "Israeli Community". It was agreed upon and eventually established (and remains until this day) that rather than representing separate geographic districts in Palestine (for example, representatives from Haifa, and others from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, etc.) like countries like Britain have, party candidates would be elected by the entire Yishuv in a system of proportional representation. The reason for doing this was because of then Palestine and today's Israel's relatively small size and this was their attempt at creating in a way, amore efficient system. When one casted a ballot in the then Yishuv, the voter chose a list of candidates representing a specific party (like Mapai, or Herut, etc.) rather than selecting individual candidates which is the accepted policy in countries like the US. TheParty leaders were the ones who determined who would be on the ballots (no primaries).

Israel

Israel is the only Western state in the Middle East. It is marked by constant tension, periodic wars, and such unique social structures as the Kibbutz. Moreover, for a nation whose very survival is an enigma, the attempt to renew its national life represents an unprecedented effort: the revival of a dead language and its transformation into a modern means of communication; the immigration of entire diaspora communities to Israel, and an interesting 'melting pot' that combined experiment and deed, many disappointments, and not a few surprising success.

1917

Jews set up a city council in Jerusalem (As they were the majority population there)

1920

Keren HaYesod was established in London (but its headquarters were later moved to Jerusalem), with its goal being the fundraising group of the Zionist movement. Within a short amount of time, it established fundraising organizations around the world, beginning primarily in Western and Central Europe. Leading figures from the entire political spectrum, such as Chaim Weizmann and Ze'ev Jabotinsky, were involved.

Legitimacy

Political legitimacy refers to the basis on which the exercise of political authority is established. A system is legitimate when its decisions are generally and widely accepted as just and proper by major groups in the system. Not everything that is legal is also considered to be legitimate. An example of this was on June 6, 2004, when the government was about to decide whether to disengage from Gush Katif (the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip), and the majority were against it. So, Ariel Sharon fired 2 members of Knesset who opposed to this decision (Avigdor Liberman and Binyamin Elon). This move was totally legal, but not necessarily legitimate on the account of Ariel Sharon.

November 4, 1995

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist, Yigal Amir, in what would become known as "Rabin Square" in Tel Aviv.

1920

San Remo Conference: In this conference in San Remo, Italy, Great Britain and France (the two major European powers) agreed on the frontiers of Palestine

The Biltmore Program

The "Biltmore Conference", also known as the Biltmore Program, was a conference which took place in New York which essentially opened the gates for Jewish immigration to Palestine. It was also agreed upon that the Jewish Agency for Palestine would be responsible for controlling immigration into Palestine. However, the most important goal that was agreed upon during this program was that Palestine would be established as a Jewish commonwealth and integrated into the structure of the new democratic world which was emerging as WWII was reaching its end.

1936-1939

The Arab Revolt

Several critical developments in the 1990's, which include 4: 1993 -

The Declaration of Peace signed with the Palestinians, also known as the Oslo Accords, is the agreement reached by the Israelis, under Yitzhak Rabin and the Palestinians, under Yasser Arafat. This treaty split up the occupied West Bank into three areas of control. Area C would be under full Israeli control (like in Ma'ale Adumim, among others), Area B, which would be under dual Israeli and Palestinian control, and Area A, which is under full control of the Palestinian Authority (including Ramallah and Jenin).

The Jewish Agency

The Jewish Agency for Palestine, at the time, was established in1929 as a partnership on the principle of parity between Zionists and non-Zionist Jews.This principle supported building a national home for the Jewish people in their homeland, without accepting the political aspirations of the Zionist movement. In 1947 the Jewish Agency for Palestine and the World Zionist Organization merged into one organization.

Old Yishuv

The Jewish people who lived in Israel before the Zionist movement rose and gained prominence, and most of them were "Pure Sephardi", meaning that they came from the Balkans and Northern Africa, and they were descendants of the people who were expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492. These people came to Israel for dying and to be buried in the holy land but also to live in the holy cities and to study Jewish studies.During the 18th century there was the Ashkenazi Aliya (a.k.a. the Hassidic Aliya) and theywere living on charitable donations, known as "Halukkah" and did not work. They werealso living on the Sephardic fund, known as the "Tiferet Israel", and there was the firstpossible Sephardic rift when the first Ashkenazi demanded to receive some of the money that the Sephardi's were receiving. In 1866, the General Committee, the "Va'ad Klali" was founded.

1996

The first direct election of the prime minister and selection of the Knesset lists by the members of the major parties in primary elections. During this period, the economy continued its transformation from centralization and state monopoly to more openness and market orientation. This was despite a huge demographic revolution with the arrival of more than a million immigrants from the former USSR, from countries like the Russian Federation, Belarus and Ukraine, which increased Israel's population significantly.

1922

The mandate system was established and approved by the League of Nations in which the British were given control over Palestine and Iraq, and the French control over Lebanon and Syria

Identity

The state is the most pervasive object of identification in modern political life. There is a dispute on how we define the "Jewish State". "Are we in Israel an inseparable part of the Jewish people or a separate people?" There is also a major issue with relation to the identity, regarding the issue of being Israel vs Jewish. There are elements in Israel today like the use of the Hebrew language, the school curriculum, the national anthem and the calendar that are based on Jewish history. The meaning of a Jewish state is the role the state plays for Jews in the diaspora and the relation the non-Jews (Arab Muslims, Christians, Bedouins, Druze, Circassians, etc.) residing in Israel have toward the state

Political Culture

The study of differences among populations by focusing on the distribution of such factors as norms, attitudes, and behaviors as they relate to government and politics - Political communications and socialization - Dominant values - Democratic norms - Left-right continuum in political ideology

The Organized Yishuv

Top: Executive (6-14 heads of department) Upper middle: HaVa'ad HaLeumi (National Council - 23-42) Lower middle: Asefat HaNivharim (Elected Assembly - 170-300) Bottom: Knesset Israel

November 29, 1947

UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 181 - ThePartition Plan which called for the establishment of two states, a Jewish and an Arab state in Palestine. The Jewish state became the State of Israel while the Arabs never accepted the resolution, and thus the Arab state was never established.

Bilu

founded in Kharkov, Russia in February 1882, and it had a national program, which called for settlement in Palestine as a national solution, agriculture as a way of life and the desire to bring a real change in their lives. 1882 marked the beginning of the First Aliya, and in 1884, the first Bilu settlement, Gedera was built in Palestine.

Second period of Israeli political history

in Israel's political history is from the end of the Six-Day War in June 1967, up until 1993, when the Oslo Accords were signed with the Palestinians, under the leadership of Yasser Arafat and the PLO (PalestinianLiberation Organization). This period was dominated by the struggle to extricate Israel from the fruits of the 1967 victory, in which Israel was able to capture territories including West Bank from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt. The capture of these territories during the Six Day War helped Israel increased its size by nearly three times.

Third period of Israeli political history

in Israel's political history is the period from 1993 (the Oslo Accords) up until this day. This is a period that has been dominated by the process and efforts to seek some form of accommodation and/or peace agreement with the Palestinian people and its leadership, which some would call "Israel's Second Republic". These efforts include the failed Wye River Memorandum (under Bibi Netanyahu's leadership as PM in 1998), the failed Camp David Summit of 2000 (under the leadership of Ehud Barak), the "road map for peace" and the 2014 talks.

1921

resuming the World Zionist Congress (12th in Carlsbad)

Party Politics

tends to be hierarchical. This is the case because one single party in Israeli elections has never been able to achieve the 61 seats to form a coalition on their own. Thus, large parties like Likud and Labor were dependent on other parties and factions to join them and they needed to establish agreements and partnerships with them to entice them to join their coalition. The system of strict proportional representation produced an unusually large number of parties: 1936 - 10 parties 1948 - 30 parties 2009 - 33 parties ran in the elections, 13 factions were represented in the 18th Knesset(from the Likud, to Yisrael Beitenu, to Shas).Lacking a majority of one party in the system, smaller parties hold the balance of power in coalition formation, and can be witnessed in recent years, as individuals like Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) have used leverage to gain valuable positions in the government.

1921

the British subdivided their area into Transjordan and Western Palestine

First period of Israeli political history

took place from Israel's establishment as a state from May 14, 1948 up until the Six-Day War, which took place in June 1967. This period was dominated by efforts by the government to consolidate the state. Also, several wars and crises broke out during this time including the War of Independence, the Sinai Crisis, as well as the fact that the Labor (Mapai) party dominated Israeli politics.