Sylabus
ISRAEL: POLITICS & SOCIETY
Summer Semester 2018/19
Charles University
Lecturer
Irena Kalhousová
Email: i.kalhousova@lse.ac.uk
Course Description
Israel, a geographically small Mediterranean country of fewerthan nine million people, is one of the most debated countriesin the world. However, this debate is often characterized by a lack of understanding of Israel’s complex history, heterogeneous society, and a fragmentedpolitical system. This class aims to help students to understand the intricacies of the Israeli politics and society. This course will be divided intofour parts, each of them representing one of the main pillars of the Israeli polity. The first part focuses on the ideological foundation of the State of Israel. The second part addresses cleavages and identities within Israeli society and their impact on the political system and political culture in Israel.The third part looks at the political system of Israel, with a special focus on the main actors like state institutions, parties, and the military. The last part looks at Israel in the international context. In other words, by looking at Israel’s politics with respect to the regionaland international development, it aims to generalize beyond the Israeli case.
Course Objectives
After attending the course, students should:
- Understand better the complexities of Israel’spolitics;
- Be familiar with the main political actors in Israel;
- Be able to analyse core issues like the peace process, religion-state dynamics, main left-centre-right, religious-secular, Jewish-Arab, narratives in Israel’s politics etc.;
- Learn to read critically political texts regarding Israel;
- Develop oral presentation skill through debates and simulations.
Course Requirements
This course puts an emphasis on in-class debates and independent study. For each class (except forthe first one), students are expected to read assigned literature BEFORE each lecture. Do not come to class without properpreparation as you will not be able to participate in debates.
- Active Participation: 20 points
- 3 Online Quizzes: 30 points- focused on the understandingof the assigned reading (published on Moodle, will take place before classes 2,3,4)
- Final Essay: 50 points- each student is required to submit a final essay (3000 words max.) The information about the deadline and topics will be distributed during the third class.
Plagiarism will not be tolerated! Any written assignment composed by the student shall be an original piece. The practices of plagiarism, defined by the Dean’s Provision no. 18/2015, are seen as “a major violation of the rules of academic ethics” and “will be penalized in accordance with Disciplinarian Regulations of the faculty.” If you have any questions about what constituted academic dishonesty, please come for a consultation.
Evaluation
General Grade
Grade Specification
Percentage
A
Excellent 100 – 91
B
Very good 81 - 90
C
Good 71 – 80
D
Sufficient 61 - 70
E
Sufficient, meeting minimal criteria 51 – 61
F
Fail 0 - 50 91% and more: A (excellent performance; the student has shown originality and displayed an exceptional grasp of the material and a deep analytical understanding of the subject) 81-90%: B (very good performance; the student has mastered the material, and understands the subject well and has shown some originality of thought and/or considerable effort) 71-80%: C (fair performance; the student has acquired an acceptable understanding of the material and essential subject matter of the course, but has not succeeded in translating this understanding into consistently creative or original work) 61-70%: D(poor performance; the student has shown some understanding of the materialand subject matter covered during the course) 51-60%: E (barely passed; the student has barely succeeded in mastering the subject matter) 0-50%: F (fail; the student has not succeeded in mastering the subject matter)
Class Schedule and Reading
Introductory Class (90 minutes)
In this class,we will talk about why to study Israel and students will get information about the course structure and requirements.
Part I: Historical Background and Ideological Foundations of the State of Israel (180 minutes)
This lecture covers the historical origin of the modern State of Israel and the birth of the Jewish nationalist movement. We will also address the critical perspective on Zionism.
Reading:
Garfinkle, Adam (2000) Politics and Society in Modern Israel: Myth and Realities(Routledge, 2ndedition), Chapter 2
Avineri, Shlomo (1996) “The Presence of Eastern and Central Europe in the Culture and Politics of Contemporary Israel,” in East European Politics & Societies, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 163-172
Avineri, Shlomo (1981) The Making of Modern Zionism (Basic Books), pp. 88-124
Gutwein, Daniel (2001) “Left and Right Post‐Zionism and the Privatization of Israeli Collective Memory,” Journal of Israeli History, Vol. 20, No. 2-3, pp. 9-42.
Documents:
Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State (1896)
The Balfour Declaration (1917)
State of Israel Proclamation of Independence (1948)
The Law of Return (1950)
Part II: The Cultural Map of Israel (180 minutes)
This lecture maps various cleavages in Israeli society – religious-secular, Jewish-Arab etc. – and the translation of those cleavages to Israel’s politics. We will look at the changing status of women vis-à-vis the state and withinthe society, the role of the settlement movement in Israel, and identity and representation of Arabs living in Israel. We will focus on the tension between nationhood, religion, and citizenship in today’s Israel.
Reading:
Dowty, Alan (2001) The Jewish State. A Century Later (University of California Press), Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10
Newman, David (2005) “From Hitnachalut to Hitnatkut: The Impact of Gush Emunim and the Settlement Movement on Israeli Politics and Society,“ Israel Studies, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 192-224
Halperin-Kaddari, Ruth & Yaacov Yadgar (2010) “Between Universal Feminism and Particular Nationalism: politics, religion and gender (in)equality in Israel,” Third World Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 905-920
Agbaria, Ayman K, & MuhanadMustafa (2011) “Two States for Three Peoples: The ‘Palestinian-Israeli’ in the Future Vision Documents of the Palestinians in Israel,” Ethnic & Racial Studies,Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 718–736
Part III: Political System of Israel (180 minutes)
This lecture looks at political parties, institutions, and the votingsystem in Israel. We will look at the electoral behaviour and political culture and its impact on the formulationof Israeli politics.
Reading:
Asher, Arian (2005) Politics in Israel: The Second Republic(CQ P