Democratic and Anti-democratic Roots of the Israeli Political System

This article explores the ideological underpinnings of the major Jewish political camps in Israel and the Yishuv—the left, the Orthodox, the national right, the bourgeois center—and evaluates the extent to which they are compatible with liberal democracy as commonly understood in the West. It also a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Israel studies review 2019-09, Vol.34 (2), p.1-20
Main Author: Neuberger, Benyamin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Begin, Menachem
Camps
Democracy
Israel
Judaism
Liberal democracy
Liberalism
Morality
Political parties
Political science
Political systems
Religion
Talmud
Traditions
United Kingdom
Zionism
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Summary:This article explores the ideological underpinnings of the major Jewish political camps in Israel and the Yishuv—the left, the Orthodox, the national right, the bourgeois center—and evaluates the extent to which they are compatible with liberal democracy as commonly understood in the West. It also analyzes quasi-democratic and non-democratic aspects of older Jewish traditions based on the Torah, the Talmud, and the Halakhah. While the history of Zionism and the Zionist movement contained definite democratic components, Israel’s political system was shaped by a range of anti-democratic traditions whose resonance is still felt today.
ISSN:2159-0370
2159-0389
DOI:10.3167/isr.2019.340204