Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA)

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Jews, Jewishness, and Israel’s Foreign Policy

October 2, 1990

This article seeks to clarify the nature and manifestations of the Jewish dimension in Israeli foreign policy. Sensitivity to the interests of diaspora communities is generally subordinated to raison d'etat. External Jewish intervention in Israeli foreign policy is negligible, though greater involvement on the part of diaspora leaders can be detected. The impact of Jewish psycho-cultural factors on Israels external relations is decreasing as a result of the secularization of Israeli society and the diminishing weight of Jewish cultural baggage.

The Origins of the National and the Statist Traditions in Zionist Foreign Policy

October 2, 1990

The dilemma of choosing between goals that emanate from the ethnonational setting of Israel as opposed to those serving the state is rooted in Zionist thought and international behavior. The origins go back to the founding fathers of Zionism in the nineteenth century who responded to different challenges of their environment. Two case studies in which the Zionist movement had to choose between its loyalty to the Land of Israel and the idea of an immediate materialization of a Jewish state are examined. One case is the Uganda controversy and the second is the partition debate of 1937.

The Jewish State and the Jewish People: Israeli Intellectual Thought from the Six-Day War to the 1980s

October 2, 1990

In what ways does the existence of the State of Israel shape the national consciousness and identity of different Jewish circles in Israel? This research explores that question through the perspective of three central concepts around which the conceptions of the different circles move. The first concept is defined as "general normalization," i.e., the view that perceives Jewish existence, whether in its religious expression in the diaspora or in its national-territorial expression in the State of Israel, as a moral phenomenon that does not differ from other nations or religions. The second is "unique normalization," an attitude prevalent among the majority of Jewish intellectuals in the U.S. who, on one hand, consider Jewish existence as similar to that of other ethnic groups in their country in its characteristics and status; on the other hand, they emphasize its unique relationship with the State of Israel.

Jewish Political Traditions and Contemporary Israeli Politics

October 2, 1990 | Alan Dowty

Israel as a Jewish State

October 2, 1990 | Daniel J. Elazar

Israel’s Public Health System: The Prospects for Change

September 2, 1990

Constitutional and Electoral Freedom

August 15, 1990 | Daniel J. Elazar

The Intifada in Judea and Samaria: A View From the Field

August 1, 1990

The Future of the “Peace Process”

August 1, 1990 | Raphael Israeli

The Ultra Orthodox in Israeli Politics

July 15, 1990

Israel’s Doubly Precarious Position

June 15, 1990 | Daniel J. Elazar

A Democratic Safeguard: Israel’s State Comptroller

June 1, 1990 | David Clayman

Zionist Voluntarism in the Political Struggle: 1939-1948

April 2, 1990

Some Key Questions Facing the Jewish Polity in the New Decade

March 1, 1990 | Daniel J. Elazar

Israelis Abroad: Discovering the Truth

February 1, 1990