Israel’s Political Institutions and Identity.
Israel’s political institutions and identity.
The birth of a national identity among the Jewish population at the beginning of the century is the main reason for the birth of the State of Israel. Actually, this is the “Zionist collective memory” that “provided the ideological framework for understanding and legitimizing its vision of the future” , that is, the creation of a State for the Jewish people in Palestine. Zionism, by turning narratives into myths and rituals of national importance, helped creating a strong national identity that was necessary for the birth of the democratic State of Israel. The particular national identity and aim of the Zionist ideology led to a particular kind of democratic State, as it must be the land of the Jewish people: it actually gave birth to an ethnic-democratic State, which shows that from the very beginning a tension lies between the nature of the State (democratic) and the aim of its creation (to be the land of Jewish people, their “homeland”, the land that favors them).
It is thus interesting to analyze the nature of Israel’s political institutions that were created at that time in relation to Israel’s identity or identities.
We will first see that the relationship between Israel’s political institutions and identity is reciprocal by analyzing the influence of the Zionist ideology on the creation of the State’s institutions in the middle of the century, and then by showing how those institutions have in turn reinforced or shaped the Israeli national identity.
We will then focus more particularly on the fact that the founders of the State of Israel wanted to create a democratic State and we will thus examine the Israeli democratic system to show the way it has been highly influenced by Israel’s national identity, which has led to the discrimination of minorities in Israel.
The Israeli national identity was born through the Zionist movement at the beginning of the 20th century. The characteristics of this
The birth of a national identity among the Jewish population at the beginning of the century is the main reason for the birth of the State of Israel. Actually, this is the “Zionist collective memory” that “provided the ideological framework for understanding and legitimizing its vision of the future” , that is, the creation of a State for the Jewish people in Palestine. Zionism, by turning narratives into myths and rituals of national importance, helped creating a strong national identity that was necessary for the birth of the democratic State of Israel. The particular national identity and aim of the Zionist ideology led to a particular kind of democratic State, as it must be the land of the Jewish people: it actually gave birth to an ethnic-democratic State, which shows that from the very beginning a tension lies between the nature of the State (democratic) and the aim of its creation (to be the land of Jewish people, their “homeland”, the land that favors them).
It is thus interesting to analyze the nature of Israel’s political institutions that were created at that time in relation to Israel’s identity or identities.
We will first see that the relationship between Israel’s political institutions and identity is reciprocal by analyzing the influence of the Zionist ideology on the creation of the State’s institutions in the middle of the century, and then by showing how those institutions have in turn reinforced or shaped the Israeli national identity.
We will then focus more particularly on the fact that the founders of the State of Israel wanted to create a democratic State and we will thus examine the Israeli democratic system to show the way it has been highly influenced by Israel’s national identity, which has led to the discrimination of minorities in Israel.
The Israeli national identity was born through the Zionist movement at the beginning of the 20th century. The characteristics of this