Israel: The First Decade of Independence

Front Cover
S. Ilan Troen, Noah Lucas
SUNY Press, 1995 M05 4 - 779 pages
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.
 

Selected pages

Contents

An Introduction to Research on Israels First Decade
1
POLITICS IN THE NEW STATE
29
Israels First Decade Building a Civic State
31
The Structural Foundation for ReligioPolitical Accommodation in Israel Fallacy and Reality
51
The Road Not Taken Constitutional NonDecision Making in 19481950 and Its Impact on Civil Liberties in the Israeli Political Culture
83
New Challenges to New Authority Israeli Grassroots Activism in the 1950s
105
POLITICAL THOUGHT PROPENSITIES AND ALTERNATIVES
123
The Utopian Leap in David BenGurions Social Thought 19201958
125
PHYSICAL PLANNING AND SETTLEMENT POLICY
401
The Transfer to Jewish Control of Abandoned Arab Lands during the War of Independence
403
New Departures in Zionist Planning The Development Town
441
Planning Housing and Land Policy 19481952 The Formation of Concepts and Governmental Frameworks
461
Creating Homogeneous Space The Evolution of Israels Regional Councils
495
IMMIGRANTS AND IMMIGRATION
521
Styles of Ethnic Adaptation Interpreting Iraqi and Moroccan Settlement in Israel
523
Mapam and the European and Oriental Immigrations
543

Sharetts Line Struggles and Legacy
143
Political Religion in a New State BenGurions Mamlachtiyut
171
POLITICS OF THE HOLOCAUST
193
Mapai and the Kastner Trial
195
The Commander of the Yizkor Order Herut Holocaust and Survivors
211
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC TRANSITIONS
229
The Economic Regime during Israels First Decade
231
The Crisis in the Kibbutz Movement 19491961
243
The Kibbutz in the 1950s A Transformation of Identity
265
The Contribution of the Labor Economy to Immigrant Absorption and Population Dispersal during Israels First Decade
279
Israeli Nationalism and Socialism before and after 1948
297
LITERATURE AND POPULAR IMAGES
311
The Fiction of the Generation in the Land
313
Israeli Literature as an Emerging National Literature
331
War and Religiosity The Sinai Campaign in Public Thought
355
Early Social Survey Research in and on Israel
375
The Silent Partner Holocaust Survivors in the IDF
557
THE ARMY
573
The Civilian Components of Israels Security Doctrine The Evolution of CivilMilitary Relations in the First Decade
575
Utopia in Uniform
593
THE ARAB MINORITY
615
An Uneasy Coexistence Arabs and Jews in the First Decade of Statehood
617
Crime and Law Enforcement in the Israeli Arab Population under the Military Government 19481966
659
ISRAEL AND THE DIASPORA
681
The Zionist Movement and the State of Israel 19481952 A Formation of Normal Interrelations
683
Philanthropy and Politics Modes of Interaction between Israel and the Diaspora
699
Defining Relationships The Joint Distribution Committee and Israel 19481950
713
American Jewry and Israel The First Decade and Its Implications for Today
733
INFORMATION ON CONTRIBUTORS
751
INDEX
759
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About the author (1995)

S. Ilan Troen holds the Sam and Anna Lopin Chair in Modern History, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and is Senior Associate Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

Noah Lucas is Fellow in Israeli Studies at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Hebrew Centre Lecturer in Politics at the University of Oxford, and Senior Associate Member of St. Antony s College, Oxford.

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