Being Israeli
The Dynamics of Multiple Citizenship

The authors speculate on the relationship between identity and citizenship in Israel.

Gershon Shafir (Author), Yoav Peled (Author)

9780521796729, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 14 February 2002

412 pages, 9 tables
22.8 x 15.3 x 2.4 cm, 0.65 kg

'… a great contribution to the study of Israel and its internal contradictions and conflicts.' Shofar

A timely study by two well-known scholars offers a theoretically informed account of the political sociology of Israel. The analysis is set within its historical context as the authors trace Israel's development from Zionist settlement in the 1880s, through the establishment of the state in 1948, to the present day. Against this background the authors speculate on the relationship between identity and citizenship in Israeli society, and consider the differential rights, duties and privileges that are accorded different social strata. In this way they demonstrate that, despite ongoing tensions, the pressure of globalization and economic liberalization has gradually transformed Israel from a frontier society to one more oriented towards peace and private profit. This unexpected conclusion offers some encouragement for the future of this troubled region. However, Israel's position towards the peace process is still subject to a tug-of-war between two conceptions of citizenship: liberal citizenship on the one hand, and a combination of the remnants of republican citizenship associated with the colonial settlement with an ever more religiously defined ethno-nationalist citizenship, on the other.

1. Introduction
Part I. Fragmented Citizenship in a Colonial Frontier Society: 2. The virtues of Ashkenazi pioneering
3. Mizrachim and women: between quality and quantity
4. The frontier within: Palestinians as second-class citizens
5. The wages of legitimation: Zionist and non-Zionist Orthodox Jews
Part II. The Frontier Reopens: 6. New day on the frontier
7. The frontier erupts: the Intitfadas
Part III. The Emergence of Civil Society: 8. Agents of political change
9. Economic liberalization and peacemaking
10. The 'Constitutional Revolution'
11. Shrinking social rights
12. Emergent citizenship groups? Immigrants from the FSU and Ethiopia and overseas foreign workers
13. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Constitution: government & the state [JPHC], Anthropology [JHM], Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies [JFSL1], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Asian history [HBJF]