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Achievement and Challenge
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14617 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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5 / 1988 |
2,792 Words |
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Bernard Reich
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Israel's origins were inauspicious. On Independence Day, the neighboring Arab states declared war with the intention of preventing the state from coming into being. The world's only Jewish state gained independence through the diplomatic process, but was forced to fight a war of independence to retain that right. Israel at forty remains a country at war with its neighbors and in turmoil at home.
Despite continuous conflict and other challenges Israel has built a liberal democratic political system unlike that of any other in region and has melded immigrants from more than seventy countries into a uniquely Israeli population. This ingathering of the exiles--the immigration and integration of more than a million Jews--demonstrated Israel's ideological and practical resolve to absorb a population nearly twice its size, despite substantial obstacles. In a country almost devoid of natural resources, it has developed a thriving economy, and its people have achieved a high standard of living comparable to that of some Western European countries. Life expectancy levels are among the highest in the world, and it has maintained a high level of social services for its population. It has become known for its scientific achievement and educational accomplishment and it has become a respected military power.
A Jewish state
Israel is a Jewish state with an overwhelmingly Jewish population but there have been tensions, and sometimes open clashes, between two main trends--the Orthodox and the secular--concerning the power of the Orthodox religious community and its desire to mold the system in its preferred image. The Orthodox faction insists on the primacy and enshrinement of Jewish religious values, while the secularists seek to limit the role of religion. Each has various and different answers to the question of how to run a modern Jewish state. In reality, neither group has the answer that can be adopted by the system and that will satisfy the other. Consequently, this leads to political disputes and public clashes.
The religious question has a political dimension. A number of religious political parties have been represented in the Knesset (parliament) since the inception of the state. They hold a small number of seats, some 10 to 15 percent often divided among three or more parties, but have been able to exercise substantial political power and influence because of their roles in government coalitions. This has had controversial and problematic results. The religious groups have used their political power to impose certain Orthodox Jewish practices on the community as a whole: interurban public transportation is banned on the Sabbath, only religious marriages and divorces are authorized, and only kosher food is served in public facilities, among other requirements. At the formal level Israel is very much a Jewish state, often abiding by the strict percepts of halakah (Jewish religious law); at the practical level the various groups enjoy a great deal of latitude. A status quo compromise has prevailed, but occasionally this has broken down and clashes have developed. A clear definition of the Jewish nature of the state remains to be devised.
The oriental question
Geographically and demographically Israel is an oriental country, but its culture and political system are primarily Western in nature and orientation. The Western
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