Local Communities and the Israeli Polity, livre ebook

This book represents the first systematic effort to analyze the role of local communities and regions in Israel's national politics. Traditionally portrayed as either elitist and highly centralized, or as pluralistic with very active interest groups, Israeli politics have seldom accounted for local and regional forces.

The authors demonstrate the growing importance of these communities in the politics of the country. Their analyses are based on the concept of "spatial sector," and eight sectors are covered: The West Bank and Gaza Strip Arabs, Israeli Arabs, development towns, renewal neighborhoods, religious neighborhoods, Gush Emunim settlements, kibbutzim and moshavim, and Jerusalem.

List of Tables and Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. National and Spatial Divisions in Israel
Efraim Ben-Zadok
PART I: THE ARAB-JEWISH CLEAVAGE
2. Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip: Contested Domains
Donna Robinson Divine
3. The Changing Strategies of Mobilization among the Arabs in Israel: Parliamentary Politics, Local Politics, and National Organizations
Majid Al-Haj
PART II: THE ETHNIC-CLASS CLEAVAGE
4. Oriental Jews in the Development Towns: Ethnicity, Economic Development, Budgets, and Politics
Efraim Ben-Zadok
5. The Integration of Renewal Neighborhoods into the Mainstream of Israeli Society: Illusion or Reality
Hana Ofek
PART III: THE RELIGIOUS-SECULAR CLEAVAGE
6. The Emergence of Ultra-Orthodox Neighborhoods in Israeli Urban Centers
Yosseph Shilhav
7. Gush Emunim New Settlements in the West Bank: From Social Movement to Regional Interest Group
Giora Goldberg
PART IV: THE LEFT-RIGHT CLEAVAGE
8. Kibbutzim and Moshavim: From Ideological Symbol to Interest Group
Neal Sherman
PART V: CLEAVAGES IN THE CITY
9. Jerusalem: Central Authority and Local Autonomy
Ira Sharkansky
Glossary
List of Contributors
Index