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THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
WASHINGTON D.C.
Department of Political Science
ISRAELI POLITICS AND SOCIETY
PSC 2994.12
Fall Semester 2013
Dr. Maurice M. Roumani, professor
Shusterman Visiting Professor
Class Meetings: Tue/Thu 2:20-3:35 PM
Office Hours: Tuesdays 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
E-mail: roumani@gwu.edu
Course description
This course traces the political, social, and cultural history of modern Israel. It examines the
factors that led to the emergence of Zionism in nineteenth-century Europe; the development of
Jewish society in Palestine; and the historical background leading to the establishment of Israel
in 1948. In analyzing the history of the new state, the course will examine the role of
immigration, ethnicity, and religion in shaping Israeli society, politics and culture. The course
will also attempt at defining the relationship between Israel, Diaspora and the new antiSemitism.
The course will be divided in four parts:
The first part will explore the circumstances leading to the development of modern Zionism, its
ideological legacy, and the early waves of immigration to Palestine.
The second part will survey the establishment of the state, the evolution of the political
process.
The third part will deal with the problem of absorption and integration of immigrants of the
1950’s, the new models of settlement in development towns, moshavim and kibbutzim.
In the fourth part the course will concentrate on the transformation of Israeli society in light of
the new internal and regional development that took place in the late 1990s and early 21 st
century.
Course requirements
Students are expected to have read the material assigned before each class. Class sessions will
offer a mix of lectures, discussions and videos. Formal presentations will focus on identifying
the major issues and findings in the readings, with discussions used to clarify, explore and
challenge them.
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Grades will be based on the following:
Students are required to bring to class each week, on Tuesdays a one page typed written
review of the main arguments or issues from the topics of the week’s reading assignment.
These reviews will be used in class for discussion and for answering questions. Students are
chosen at random to give their reviews as presentations in class.
Discussion and Presentations in class will count for up to 20% of the final grade.
Class discussions will demonstrate mastery of the readings, as well as being a forum for
examination and analysis of the reading material. There will be a midterm exam around the
middle of the semester (30%) and a final exam at the end of the semester (50%). Both exams
will be based on reading assignments, class discussions and presentations. Graduate students
and Honors students should consult the instructor for additional work to be completed to
secure appropriate credit.
Syllabus, outline and readings (per week)
1. WEEK, August 27
Introduction and Course Outline
Adam Garfinkle, Politics and Society in Modern Israel, N.Y. M.E. Sharpe, 2000, pp. 3-20
Michael N. Barnett, ed. Israel in Comparative Perspective: Challenging the Conventional
Wisdom, SUNY Press, 1996, pp. 3-17 “The Politics of Uniqueness: The Status of the
Israeli Case.”
2. WEEK, September 3
Jewish History as a prelude to Zionism
Adam Garfinkle, pp. 20-32
Bernard Lewis, Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice, N.Y.
W.W. Norton & Co. 1999, pp. 58-80
Walter Laqueur, A History of Zionism, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson,1972, pp.3-39,
(Out of the Ghetto)
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3. WEEK, September 10
Zionism: The Emergence of Jewish Nationalism
Adam Garfinkle, pp.32-55
Alan Dowty, The Jewish State, chapter 3
Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, “The Zionist Return to the West and the Mizrahi Jewish
Perspective, in Ivan Davidson Kalmar and Derek J. Penslar, eds. Orientalism and the
Jews, Mass.: Brandeis University Press, 2005, chapter 10.
Recommended reading: Walter Laqueur, chapter 2, The Forerunners
4. WEEK, September 24
Zionism and the Arab Question
Yosef Gorni, Zionism and the Arabs, 1882-1948: A Study of Ideology, Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1987. pp. 11-39.
Dan Horowitz, and Moshe Lissak. Origins of the Israeli Polity: Palestine under the
Mandate. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978, pp. 19-36, 120-157.
Michael Curtis, Should Israel Exist: A Sovereign Nation Under Attack by the International
Community. OK: Balfour Books, 2012, chapter 9.
Walter Laqueur, A History of Zionism, chapter 5, The Unseen Question.
5. WEEK, October 8
Social Development and Nation-Building
Alan Dowty, chapter 4
Adam Garfinkle, chapter 3
Yonathan Shapiro, “The Historical Origins of Israeli Democracy”, in Sprinzak, Ehud, and
Larry Diamond, eds. Israeli Democracy under Stress, London: Lynne Rienner Publishers,
1993 pp. 65-79.
6. WEEK, October 15
The Political System: Elections, Parties and Institutions
Arend Lijphart. “Israeli Democracy and Democratic Reform in Comparative
Perspective,”in Ehud Sprinzak and Larry Diamond, eds. Israeli Democracy Under Stress
(Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1993) pp. 107-123
Asher Arian, Politics in Israel: The second republic, Washington, D.C. CQ Press, 2005,
Introduction and chapter 9.
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7. WEEK, October 22
The Ethnic Divide: A Melting Pot or Pluralism?
Sammy Smooha, Israel: Pluralism and Conflict, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul,1978,
pp. 49-69.
Sergio DellaPergola, “Sephardic and Oriental”, Jews in Israel and Western Countries
Migrations, Social Change and Identifications, in Peter Y. Medding, Sephardic Jewry and
Mizrahi Jews, Volume XXII, pp. 3-44
Maurice M. Roumani, From Immigrant to Citizen: The Contribution of the Army to
National Integration in Israel, chapters 1, 2 and 3.
Ben-Refael, Eliezer, and Stephen Sharot, Ethnicity, Religion and Class in Israeli Society,
pp. 24-53; 192-203; 219-231.
Maurice M. Roumani, “The Ethnic Factor in Israel’s Foreign Policy”, in Reich, Bernard
and Gershon R. Kieval, eds. Israel’s National Security Policy. New York: Greenwood
Press, 1988, pp. 79-105.
8. WEEK, October 29
The National Divide: The Arabs in Israel
Sammy Smooha, “Arab-Jewish Relations in Israel: A Deeply Divided Society”, in Shapira,
Anita, ed. Israeli Identity in Transition. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2004, pp. 31-67.
Ben-Refael, Eliezer, and Stephen Sharot, Ethnicity, Religion and Class in Israeli Society,
pp. 232-242.
Alan Dowty, Jewish State, chapter 9
9. WEEK, Nolvember 5
The Political Economy of Israel
Michael Wolffsohn, Israel, Polity, Society and Economy 19882-1986, N.J. Humanities
Press, International, 1987. pp. 209-248
Asher Arian, Politics in Israel, The second Republic, chapter 3
See also: http://www.financeisrael.mof.gov.il/ The Israeli Economy, Fundamentals,
Characteristics and Historic Overview, Fall 2012.
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10. WEEK, November 12
Democracy and Religion
Charles S. Liebman, “Religion and Democracy in Israel”, in Sprinzak, Ehud, and Larry
Diamond eds. Israeli Democracy under Stress, pp. 273-342.
Daniel Gutwein, “From Melting Pot to Multiculturalism; or the Privatization of Israeli
Identity”, in Anita Shapira, ed. Israeli Identity in Transition, Praeger, 2004, pp. 215-231.
Dan Horowitz and Moshe Lissak. Trouble in Utopia: the Overburdened Polity of Israel,
Albany: State University of NY Press, 1989, pp. 195-230.
Alan Dowty, The Jewish State, chapter 10
Menachem Friedman, “The State of Israel as a Theological Dilemma,” in Baruch
Kimmerling, ed., The Israeli State and Society: Boundaries and Frontiers (Albany:NY:
SUNY Press, 1989) pp.165-215
11. WEEK, November 19
The Question of Diverse Identities in Israel and in the Diaspora
Liebman, Charles S. and Yaacov Yadgar. “Israel Identity: The Jewish Component”, in
Shapira, Anita, ed. Israeli Identity in Transition, pp. 163-183; pp. 185-207.
Ben Refael, Eliezer. “Israeli-Jewish Identities”, in Ben Refael, Eliezer, Yosef Gorny, and
Yaacov Ro’i, eds. Contemporary Jewries: Convergence and Divergence, pp. 93-117.
Della Pergola, Sergio. “World Jewish Population at the Dawn of the 21th Century”, in
Ben Refael, Eliezer, Yosef Gorny, and Yaacov Ro’i, eds. Contemporary Jewries:
Convergence and Divergence, pp. 45-61.
Ro’i, Yaacov. “Soviet Jewry from Identification to Identity”, in Ben Refael, Eliezer, Yosef
Gorny, and Yaacov Ro’i, eds. Contemporary Jewries: Convergence and Divergence, pp.
183-193.
Nianick, Marina. “The Dilemma of Russian Born Adolescents in Israel”, in Ben Refael,
Eliezer, Yosef Gorny, and Yaacov Ro’i, eds. Contemporary Jewries: Convergence and
Divergence, pp. 235-252.
12. WEEK. November 26
The Globalization of Anti-Semitism: Old Wine in New Bottles
Bernard Lewis, pp. 236-272
Walter Laqueur, The Changing Faces of Anti-Semitism: From Ancient Times to the
Present, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, chapters 7 and 10
Eunice G. Pollack, Racializing Antisemitism: Black Militants, Jews, and Israel, 1950Present, Jerusalem: Hebrew University, The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the
Study of Antisemitism , #36, 2013, pp. 1-44
Robert S. Wistrich, A Lethal Obsession, Anti-Semitism form Antiquity to the Global Jihad,
N.Y.: Random House, 2010, chapter 18
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13. Concluding remarks
Israel in Transition: A State and Society in the Making
Michael Curtis, Should Israel Exist: A Sovereign Nation Under Attack by the
International Community. OK: Balfour Books, 2012, chapters 2, 5 and 6.
Oz Almog, “The Globalization of Israel: Transformations”, in Anita Shapira, ed. Israeli
Identity in Transition, pp. 234-256.
Judith T. Shuval, “The Structure and Dilemmas of Israeli Pluralism,” in Baruch
Kimmerling, ed., The Israeli State and Society: Boundaries and Frontiers (Albany, NY:
SUNY Press, 1989) pp. 216-236
Suggested for reference and further reading
Ben Refael, Eliezer, Yosef Gorny, and Yaacov Ro’i, eds. Contemporary Jewries:
Convergence and Divergence. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2003.
Ben-Refael, Eliezer, and Stephen Sharot, Ethnicity, Religion and Class in Israeli Society.
Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 191.
Gorny, Yosef. Zionism and the Arabs, 1882-1948: A Study of Ideology. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1987.
Halpern, Ben, and Jehuda Reinharz. Zionism and the Creation of a New Society. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Horowitz, Dan, and Moshe Lissak. Trouble in Utopia: the Overburdened Polity of Israel.
Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989.
Kimmerling, Baruch, ed. The Israeli State and Society: Boundaries and Frontiers. Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1989.
Penslar, Derek J. The Jewish State in Comparative Perspective. London: Routledge,
Taylor and Francis Group, 2007.
Reich, Bernard. Israel: Land of Tradition and Conflict. Boulder, CO: Westview Press,
1985.
Roumani, Maurice M. From Immigrant to Citizen: The Contribution of the Army to
National Integration in Israel. The Hague: Foundation of Plural Societies, 1979.
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Roumani, Maurice M. The Case of Jews from Arab Countries: A neglected Issue. Tel Aviv:
World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries, 1983.
Shokeid, Moshe, Shlomo Deshen. Distant Relations: Ethnicity and Politics among Arabs
and North African Jews in Israel. New York: J.F. Bergin Publishers, 1982.
Smooha, Sammy. Israel: Pluralism and Conflict. London and Henley: Routledge & Kegan
Paul, 1978.
Sprinzak, Ehud, and Larry Diamond, eds. Israeli Democracy under Stress. Boulder and
London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1993.
Weingrod, Alex, ed. Studies in Israeli Ethnicity: After the Ingathering. New York: Gordon
and Breach Science Publishers, 1985.
Students should consult the following journals and web sites:
Jewish Political Studies Review
Israel Studies Journal
www.memri.org
www.jcpa.org