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Israel
The Society and Its Environment
THE SOCIETY OF MODERN ISRAEL has diverse sources, but the majority
of these sources stem ultimately from Judaism and the modern political
movement called Zionism. Crystallizing in the late nineteenth
century as a response to both the repression of Jews in Eastern
Europe and the non-Jewish European nationalist movements of the
time, Zionism called for the reversal of the Jewish dispersion
(Diaspora) and the "ingathering of the exiles" to their biblical
homeland. Although only small numbers of Jews had resided in Palestine
since the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in A.D.
70, the "new Yishuv" (as opposed to the "old Yishuv" consisting
of traditional Orthodox Jewish residents), or prestate Jewish
community in Palestine, dates from 1882 and the arrival from Russia
of a group called Hibbat Tziyyon (Lovers of Zion), intent on settling
the land as part of its fulfillment of the Zionist ideal.
As a nationalist movement, Zionism largely succeeded: much of
the Jewish Diaspora was dissolved, and the people were integrated
into the population of the State of Israel--a self-consciously
modern Jewish state. Along with this political achievement, a
cultural achievement of equal, if not greater, importance took
place. Hebrew, the ancient biblical language, was revived and
became the modern spoken and written vernacular. The revival of
Hebrew linked the new Jewish state to its Middle Eastern past
and helped to unify the people of the new state by providing them
with a common tongue that transcended the diversity of languages
the immigrants brought with them.
Despite these political and cultural achievements--achievements
that Israeli sociologist S.N. Eisenstadt sees as comprising "the
Jewish re-entry into history"--modern Israeli society is still
beset by problems, some of them profound. Among these are problems
found in all industrial and economically differentiated social
systems, including stratification by socioeconomic class, differential
prestige attached to various occupations or professions, barriers
to social mobility, and different qualities of life in urban centers,
towns, and rural localities. For example, there are significant
differences between the quality of life in the so-called development
towns and the rural localities known as kibbutzim (sing., kibbutz--see
Glossary) and moshavim (sing., moshav), respectively collective
and cooperative settlements that are strongly socialist and Zionist
in history and character.
Other social problems that Israel faces are unique to its own
society and culture. The role that traditional Judaism should
play in the modern state is a major source of controversy. The
tension between religious and secular influences pervades all
aspects of society. For example, religious practices influence
the education system, the way ethnic groups are dealt with, how
political debate is conducted, and there is no civil marriage
in Israel.
The division between the Ashkenazim (Jews of European or American
origin) and Oriental Jews (Jews of African or Asian origin) is
another serious problem. This divisiveness results from the extreme
cultural diversity in the migratory streams that brought Jewish
immigrants to Israel between the late nineteenth century and the
late 1980s. Already-settled members of the receiving society have
had difficulty absorbing immigrants whose cultures differ so greatly
from their own and from each other. Adding further to cultural
disharmony is the problem of the place of non-Jews in the Jewish
state. In Israel non-Jews are primarily Arabs (who are mostly
Muslims, but also Christians and Druzes) a small number are non-Arab
Muslims (such as the Circassians) or Christians (such as the Armenian
residents of Jerusalem). Jewish Israelis also distinguish between
Arabs who reside within the pre-June 1967 War boundaries of Israel
and Arabs who live in the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the
Gaza Strip--the latter group is perceived as having no loyalty
to the state.
The rift between Arabs and Jews in Israel is, of course, related
to Israel's position in the contemporary Middle East. By Israeli
count, the 1982 invasion of Lebanon was the fifth major Arab-Israeli
war since 1948. This does not count smaller military actions or
larger, more celebrated military actions, such as the Entebbe
raid of July 1976. American political scientist Bernard Reich
has written that "Israel is perhaps unique among states in having
hostile neighbors on all of its borders, with the exception, since
1979, of Egypt." He adds that this fact has dominated all aspects
of Israeli life since 1948, when the state was established and
was invaded by Arab armies. It might be noted that security concerns
were a striking feature of life (especially after 1929 and Arab
violence against Jews) in the Yishuv as well. To the tension caused
by cleavages between Oriental and Ashkenazi Jews, between the
religious and the secularists, and between Jews and non-Jews must
be added the profound social and psychological stress of living
in a society at war with, and feeling itself to be under siege
by, its neighbors. Many Israelis would also cite the special stress
of having to serve as soldiers in areas regarded by Arab inhabitants
as "occupied territories," a situation characterized, especially
since December 1987, by increasing civil disobedience and violence.
Data as of December 1988
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