Israel

Israel presents a panoramic display of fresh interpretations and new research findings related to Israel's first decade of independence. Those years of rapid change are widely regarded as a formative period in the development of the state and the society. As new archival materials have become available for scrutiny, a new generation of historians and social scientists has begun to re-examine old issues and to raise new questions. In this context of academic ferment, scholars in diverse disciplines, of different generations and of opposing ideological orientations, have collaborated in this book in examining the period anew. Thirty-two authoritative essays offer new understandings from the diverse perspectives of history, political science, sociology, literary criticism, geography, anthropology, and law. The intention is to provide a wide-ranging reconsideration of post-independence Israel that will serve as a benchmark for future study and research.

List of Tables List of Figures Acknowledgements An Introduction to Research on Israel's First Decade S. ILAN TROEN AND NOAH LUCAS PART I POLITICS IN THE NEW STATE 1   Israel's First Decade: Building a Civic State ALAN DOWTY 2   The Structural Foundation for Religio-Political Accommodation in Israel: Fallacy and Reality MENACHEM FRIEDMAN 3   The Road Not Taken: Constitutional Non-Decision Making in 1948-1950 and Its Impact on Civil Liberties in the Israeli Political Culture PHILIPPA STRUM 4   New Challenges to New Authority: Israeli Grassroots Activism in the 1950s TAMAR HERMANN PART II POLITICAL THOUGHT: PROPENSITIES AND ALTERNATIVES 5   The "Utopian Leap" in David Ben-Gurion's Social Thought, 1920-1958 YOSEF GORNY 6   Sharett's "Line", Struggles, and Legacy GABRIEL SHEFFER 7   Political Religion in a New State: Ben-Gurion's Mamlachtiyut ELIEZER DON-YEHIYA PART III POLITICS OF THE HOLOCAUST 8   Mapai and the "Kastner Trial" YECHIAM WEITZ 9   The Commander of the "Yizkor" Order; Herut, Holocaust, and Survivors HANNAH TOROK YABLONKA PART IV SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC TRANSITIONS 10 The Economic Regime during Israel's First Decade NACHUM T. GROSS 11 The Crisis in the Kibbutz Movement, 1949-1961 HENRY NEAR 12 The Kibbutz in the 1950s; A Transformation of Identity ELIEZER BEN-RAFAEL 13 The Contribution of the Labor Economy to Immigrant Absorption and Population Dispersal during Israel's First Decade YITZHAK GREENBERG 14 Israeli Nationalism and Socialism before and after 1948 NOAH LUCAS PART V LITERATURE AND POPULAR IMAGES 15 The Fiction of the "Generation in the Land" EZRA SPICEHANDLER 16 Israeli Literature as an Emerging National Literature GLENDA ABRAMSON 17 War and Religiosity: The Sinai Campaign in Public Thought YONA HADARI-RAMAGE 18 Early Social Survey Research in and on Israel RUSSELL A. STONE AND S. ILAN TROEN PART VI PHYSICAL PLANNING AND SETTLEMENT POLICY 19 The Transfer to Jewish Control of Abandoned Arab Lands during the War of Independence ARNON GOLAN 20 New Departures in Zionist Planning: The Development Town S. ILAN TROEN 21 Planning, Housing, and Land Policy 1948-1952: The Formation of Concepts and Governmental Frameworks RUTH KARK 22 Creating Homogeneous Space: The Evolution of Israel's Regional Councils DAVID NEWMAN PART VII IMMIGRANTS AND IMMIGRATION 23 Styles of Ethnic Adaptation: Interpreting Iraqi and Moroccan Settlement in Israel ALEX WEINGROD 24 Mapam and the European and Oriental Immigrations ELI TZUR 25 The Silent Partner: Holocaust Survivors in the IDF HANNA TOROK YABLONKA PART VIII THE ARMY 26 The Civilian Components of Israel's Security Doctrine: The Evolution of Civil-Military Relations in the First Decade MOSHE LISSAK 27 Utopia in Uniform ZE'EV DRORI PART IX THE ARAB MINORITY 28 An Uneasy Coexistence: Arabs and Jews in the First Decade of Statehood ILAN PAPPÉ 29 Crime and Law Enforcement in the Israeli Arab Population under the Military Government, 1948-1966 ALINA KORN PART X ISRAEL AND THE DIASPORA 30 The Zionist Movement and the State of Israel, 1948-1952: A Formation of Normal Interrelations YOSEF GORNY 31 Philanthropy and Politics: Modes of Interaction between Israel and the Diaspora ERNEST STOCK 32 Defining Relationships: The Joint Distribution Committee and Israel, 1948-1950 DALIA OFER 33 American Jewry and Israel: The First Decade and Its Implications for Today MELVIN I. UROFSKY Information on Contributors Index