The Israeli Response to Jewish Extremism and Violence Defending
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RJEPR 8/15/02 11:13 AM Page i THE ISRAELI RESPONSE TO JEWISH EXTREMISM AND VIOLENCE RJEPR 8/15/02 11:13 AM Page ii New Approaches to Conflict Analysis Series editor: Peter Lawler Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Department of Government, University of Manchester Until recently, the study of conflict and conflict resolution remained comparatively immune to broad developments in social and political theory. When the changing nature and locus of large-scale conflict in the post-Cold War era is also taken into account, the case for a recon- sideration of the fundamentals of conflict analysis and conflict resolu- tion becomes all the more stark. New Approaches to Conflict Analysis promotes the development of new theoretical insights and their application to concrete cases of large-scale conflict, broadly defined. The series intends not to ignore established approaches to conflict analysis and conflict resolu- tion, but to contribute to the reconstruction of the field through a dialogue between orthodoxy and its contemporary critics. Equally, the series reflects the contemporary porosity of intellectual borderlines rather than simply perpetuating rigid boundaries around the study of conflict and peace. New Approaches to Conflict Analysis seeks to uphold the normative commitment of the field’s founders yet also recognises that the moral impulse to research is properly part of its subject matter. To these ends, the series is comprised of the highest quality work of scholars drawn from throughout the international aca- demic community, and from a wide range of disciplines within the social sciences. published M. Anne Brown Human rights and the borders of suffering: the promotion of human rights in international politics Karin Fierke Changing games, changing strategies: critical investigations in security Tami Amanda Jacoby and Brent Sasley (eds) Redefining security in the Middle East Deiniol Jones Cosmopolitan mediation? Conflict resolution and the Oslo Accords Helena Lindholm Schulz Reconstruction of Palestinian nationalism: between revolution and statehood Jennifer Milliken The social construction of the Korean War Tarja Väyrynen Culture and international conflict resolution: a critical analysis of the work of John Burton RJEPR 8/15/02 11:13 AM Page iii The Israeli response to Jewish extremism and violence Defending democracy AMI PEDAHZUR Manchester University Press manchester and new york distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave RJEPR 8/15/02 11:13 AM Page iv Copyright © Ami Pedahzur 2002 The right of Ami Pedahzur to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by Manchester University Press Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9NR, UK and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA Distributed exclusively in Canada by UBC Press, University of British Columbia, 2029 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z2 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for ISBN 0 7190 6372 8 hardback First published 2002 100908070605040302 10987654321 Typeset in Photina by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong Printed in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd, Guildford and King’s Lynn RJEPR 8/15/02 11:13 AM Page v CONTENTS List of tables and figures — vii Preface — viii Introduction: the ‘defending democracy’ in Israel – a framework of analysis 1 The defending democracy: the search for a definition 3 The defending democracy: a framework of analysis 5 The defending democracy: in between the ‘militant’ and the ‘immunised’ route 8 The Israeli political context 11 Outline of book contents 21 Data sources and methodology 24 1 The Israeli response to extremism: the parliamentary arena 30 The socio-political underpinnings of the response to extremism in Israel 31 Attitudes to far-right parties: between the ‘militant’ and the ‘immunised’ route 34 Conclusions 60 2 The State’s response to extremism: attitudes towards subversive movements and violent organisations 68 Israel’s early days: the predominance of the ‘militant route’ 70 The State of Israel from the 1950s to the 1970s: the institutionalising of the ‘extended criminal justice model’ 73 The State of Israel from the 1970s until the new millennium: towards a model of criminal justice 80 Issues accompanying the contraction of the ‘criminal justice model’ 82 Conclusions 96 3 The Israeli response to extremism: the social sphere 106 Civics education in Israel: the predominance of nationalist ideas in the first decades 108 Quandaries accompanying the efforts to reform civic studies 115 Educational reform in civics education in the new millennium: a quantitative assessment 122 Conclusions 130 v RJEPR 8/15/02 11:13 AM Page vi Contents 4 The role of ‘civil society’ in the ‘defending democracy’ 139 ‘Civil society’ in Israel 143 The ‘pro-democratic civil society’ in Israel: targets and prominent organisations 146 The emergence of the ‘pro-democratic civil society’ in Israel 157 Conclusions 165 5 The ‘defending democracy’: from the ‘militant’ to an ‘immunised’ route? 171 The ‘defending democracy’ in Israel: developments and challenges 171 The ‘defending democracy’ in comparative perspective 179 Conclusions 190 Index — 194 vi RJEPR 8/15/02 11:13 AM Page vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables 2.1 Commitment to democratic values and attitudes page 98 3.1 Effects of an education in democratic principles 126 3.2 Assessment of the effects of civic studies in relation to dependent variables (comparison between civics learners and non-civics learners) 129 3.3 Different levels of political knowledge acquired in civic studies courses (comparison between civic studies learners and non-civic studies learners) 130 Figures I.1 The defending democracy and its different routes 9 3.1 A quantitative content analysis of the contents of Israeli civics education books 110 4.1 Pro-democratic civil society and the targets of its activities 142 4.2 The emergence of a ‘pro-democratic civil society’ in Israel 1950–2000 157 vii RJEPR 8/15/02 11:13 AM Page viii PREFACE I started working on this book in the spring of 2000. At that time, the political atmosphere in Israel seemed calm. My biggest concern was about the possible results of an evacuation of Jewish settlements from Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip as part of a possible progress in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. I was worried that the ideological rift between the different seg- ments of Israeli society would manifest itself again in a violent way and that the events of 1994–95, which led to the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin could repeat themselves. Furthermore, I hoped that this time the Israeli State would use in its response to the growing wave of extremism measures that would not only be effective but would comply with the democratic nature of the State. During the months in which I was doing the research for this book, two things happened simultaneously. First, the political reality in Israel, and later in other parts of the world, shifted dramatically and the question of how democ- racies should respond to challenges of extremism and violence became less of a theoretical issue and much more of an acute problem for policy-makers. Second, the more I studied the ‘defending democracy’ concept the better I understood that this term is much broader and more diversified than I first imagined. In light of the issues involved, I sincerely hope that this book will contribute not only to the theoretical understanding of the means by which democracies can respond to extremist and violent challenges and still adhere to democratic principles. I hope that it will also encourage policy-makers to take into consideration the dif- ferent aspects and possible consequences of their policies and help them choose the ‘immunised’ route. Though this route requires more time and effort than the ‘militant’ one, it holds the potential for finding the ‘golden path’ in the defence of democracy from its challengers as well as from itself. The completion of this book would not have been possible without the gen- erous support of the Yitzhak Rabin Centre for Israel Studies as well as the Centre for the Study of National Security at the University of Haifa. I would like to thank both institutions for their generosity and for believing in the importance of this study. I owe a big debt of gratitude to three wonderful friends and col- leagues. Professor Yael Yishai, my mentor, who not only shared her ‘civil society’ data with me but read large parts of the manuscript and gave me some won- derfully helpful words of advice. I will always cherish her guidance and friend- ship. Professor Gabi Ben-dor, my teacher and friend, who is always there for me with his endless wisdom. I thank him for doing everything he could to help me at every step of the way. Last, but not least, my dear and beloved friend Profes- viii RJEPR 8/15/02 11:13 AM Page ix Preface sor Avraham Brichta, who spent so many precious hours talking to me, lifting my spirits and supporting my research. Thank you. I also thank those colleagues who offered me a shoulder to lean on over the last few years, and who helped me put my ideas together: Dr Bruce Hoffman, Dr Magnus Ranstorp, Dr Cas Mudde, Dr Giovanni Capoccia, Dr Raphael Cohen- Almagor and Professor Michael Minkenberg. A special word of gratitude to my friends in the Department of Political Science, at the University of Nevada, Pro- fessor Leonard Weinberg and Professor William Eubank, who made me feel at home during my stay in Reno and supported me through the last stages of com- pleting the manuscript.