Israeli Social Movements

Abstract

Israeli social movements mobilize diverse social groups and deploy various practices. Israel's citizenship regime, which fuses liberal, republican, and ethnonational principles, shapes the composition, timing, and practices Israeli social movements deploy, and conditions the state's response to these challenges. Israel's citizenship regime strikes a wedge between different groups. The Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are entirely excluded from Israeli citizenship. They face harsh military repression, with little support from other groups. Palestinian citizens of Israel enjoy liberal citizenship rights but are excluded from political decision‐making. Their exclusion from the dominant ethnonational community limits their ability to establish coalitions with Jewish groups. Within the dominant Jewish ethnonational community, the republican principle powerfully structures social movement struggles. The republican principles privileges reserve soldiers and other groups who legitimately claim to contribute to Israel's security. These groups' efforts resonate broadly, and the state tends to accommodate or co‐opt these challenges rather than repress them.