Historical perspective on the ideological dimension of the 1977 political turnover in Israel

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article argues that since 1977 policy changes of the new Likud government were small, but they engendered a tremendous shift in consciousness, as well as a symbolic change. Israel’s character as a Jewish state was greatly augmented. A new Israeli identity emerged, grounded primarily in Jewish roots with a preference for communal over state identity. Political ideologies in democracies are poor. The ‘iron law of ideology’ states that political parties, principally those that form governments, do not realise their ideological principles. The case of Herut, the maternal party of Likud, is a typical example of this law.