Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Israel is given disproportionately large attention in the Western media, and often the atten-
tion involves criticism and the misrepresentation of Israel and its actions. In certain foreign
nongovernmental organizations and international bodies, Arab countries, Muslim-majority
states, and other countries push hard to condemn Israel. The treatment of Israel as a pariah
state, or at least an attempt to put it into such a category, has become a major feature of con-
temporary international relations.
Attitudes in foreign countries toward Israel vary in three distinct groups: policymakers,
opinion makers (journalists, academics, intellectuals, and cultural fi gures), and the general
public. It is with the second group — often the most visible though not the most important in
policy terms — that Israel faces the greatest problems.
None of these developments, however, have made Israelis feel insecure, nor have they af-
fected the pursuit of policies deemed necessary for the nation's security and interests.
THE FUTURE OF ISRAELI GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
The political questions that Israel has struggled with for many years will not go away. Two spe-
cifi c issues — those relating to its security situation and the role of religion — go to the heart of
Israeli democracy. What does it mean to be a Jewish and a democratic state? What will happen
with Israel's Arab minority? What is the role of religion in a democracy? And what does it mean
for a democracy when the security situation is so dire?
On the domestic front there is also debate over whether the country's idealism and its citi-
zens' willingness to put the community before the individual have eroded beyond some point
of no return. There is also disillusion with existing leaders and parties due to corruption.
These problems are countered by a high level of national consensus on key issues, the near
resolution or decline of many past issues, lowered expectations, and a sense of national self-
confi dence that coexists with intense self-criticism.
Despite internal scandals, popular disillusionment with politics, and especially the chal-
lenges arising from the confl ict with the Palestinians and Israel's neighbors, Israeli democracy
remains vibrant and resilient.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amara, Muhammad H. “Israeli Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority.”
MERIA Journal: The
Mid-
dle East Review of International Affairs
4, no. 1 (March 2000).
http://www.gloria-center.org /
Arian, Asher.
The Second Republic.
Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1998.
Arian, Asher, and Michal Shinar. “A Decade Later, the World Had Changed, the Cleavage Structure Re-
mained: Israel, 1996 -2006.”
Party Politics
14, no. 6 (2008): 685 -705.
Bick, Etta. “A Party in Decline: Shas in Israel's 2003 Elections.”
Israel Affairs
10, no. 4 (Summer 2004):
98 -129.
Brown, Cameron S. “Israel's 2003 Elections: A Victory for the Moderate Right and Secular Center.”
Diskin, Abraham.
Elections and Voters in Israel
. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 1991.
