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The State of Israel’s Values as a Jewish State

The State of Israel’s Values as a Jewish State

The phrase “Israel’s values as a Jewish and democratic state” reflects the uniqueness of the State of Israel and of Israeli society. We are not like all the nations; we are not like other states. We are a democracy, and our values are those of any democratic country. However, we are also a Jewish state, and are values are therefore the values of a Jewish state. Israeli society must contend with this duality.
01/05/2024
By: Aharon Barak
From Jewish State to “Jewish Supremacy”

From Jewish State to “Jewish Supremacy”

I am a concerned Israeli. I’m afraid that when the dispute over the values embodied in a Jewish state dissipates, we will end up with something much simpler, much cruder: Jewish supremacy; a supremacy based not on values or heritage, but on ethnicity. White supremacy in the United States, Jewish supremacy in Israel.
01/05/2024
By: Nahum Barnea
A State whose Everyday Life and Conduct Breathe Judaism

A State whose Everyday Life and Conduct Breathe Judaism

The “Jewish state” definition means a Jewish collective conducting its affairs in accordance with Jewish values and actualizing through the state the model of a people living in the public realm as a Jewish people.
01/05/2024
By: Menachem Brod
The Mission of the Jewish State

The Mission of the Jewish State

what is Israel’s mission as a Jewish state? To provide Jews with security in their national home, to strengthen Jewish existence around the world while aspiring to bring Jews abroad to Israel, and to set an example for other nations by demonstrating how a moral Jewish state takes an intelligent and inventive approach to the challenges posed by the complex world in which we all live.
01/05/2024
By: Naftali Bennett
What Zionism Lacks at 75: A Border

What Zionism Lacks at 75: A Border

The only way to avoid choosing between being either Jewish or democratic is for the conflict with the Palestinians to be resolved by providing the Palestinian people with the opportunity to fulfill their just collective right to self-determination in a separate state of their own.
01/05/2024
By: Jeremy Ben-Ami
A Nation Running from Itself

A Nation Running from Itself

The State of Israel, perhaps unique among the countries of the world, may be the only that refuses to refer itself by its nationality – “Israeli.” It disbelieves the existence of an Israeli nation, and as it grows older it has become ever more entrenched behind its “Jewish state” definition and has rejected the idea of “Israeliness.”
01/05/2024
By: Aluf Benn
A Return to the Bar-Yehuda Definition

A Return to the Bar-Yehuda Definition

The state will not be more Jewish if it keeps out people who see themselves as Jews or if it refuses to designate as Jews those whose fathers are Jews or whose attachment to their Jewishness is clear as day. On the contrary: Israel will be much more Jewish if it realizes the vision of Minister Yisrael Bar-Yehuda and opens up a civil pathway to the recognition of Jewishness, alongside the rabbinical pathway.
01/05/2024
By: Yossi Beilin
Between Myth and Detention Center

Between Myth and Detention Center

From a birds-eye view, the modern project of reestablishing Jewish sovereignty is one of the most stirring political stories of the new age. It is not surprising that some of the modern era’s greatest intellectuals were taken with the vision of a renewed Jewish state and of the Jews’ return to their ancient land. Despite being secular, I find great value in this romantic vision.
01/05/2024
By: Ofri Ilany
Why the Biblical Ruth Would Not Marry Boaz in the State of Israel

Why the Biblical Ruth Would Not Marry Boaz in the State of Israel

Israel never wanted to become Israeli: this is the tragic paradox of a nationalism that never dared to become one. What would it mean to become Israeli? It would mean for the state to let the diversity of definitions of Jewishness flourish and expand; it would mean building a common culture ample enough to become a meeting point for Jews and non-Jews. This would strengthen its democracy and, ironically, its Jewishness as well.
01/05/2024
By: Eva Illouz
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