Jewish State Research Articles

Racial Capitalism: From British Colonialism to the Settler Colonial Apartheid State

This article explores the development of capitalism in Palestine under British colonialism and the Zionist settler colonial project. It examines first, Israel's internal and external capitalist dynamism, including its treatment of its non-European citizens, namely indigenous Palestinians, and non-Ashkenazi (Arab) Jewish settlers. Second, it explores the state's interdependent relationship with Western, especially US imperialism. The article argues that the British colonial state was crucial in enabling the Zionist project to materialize, leading to weakening the socio-economic fabric of the Palestinians in their own lands and homeland, creating a favourable condition for the Zionist project to gradually penetrate the land of Palestine and dispossess its population. As a European (Jewish) settler colonial movement, Zionism, founded on racism and racialization, aimed at establishing a new Jewish enclave separate and independent from the indigenous Palestinians. This separateness made it resemble apartheid South Africa, yet the historical specificity of Palestine, where the Zionist settlers did not just alienate, exclude and when needed, use and exploit the Palestinians, but also expelled the indigenous Palestinians and claim Palestine as a ‘pure’ Jewish state.

Between moral and commercial debt: Israel, Holocaust compensation, and the Conference on German External Debt, 1951–52

ABSTRACT In early March 1951, the Chancellor of West Germany, Konrad Adenauer, announced to the three Western powers occupying his country – the United States, Great Britain, and France – that his government was ready to acquiesce to their demands and settle the external debts Germany had accumulated before and after World War II. This announcement was made at roughly the same time that Israel presented its claim for reparations, which was added onto two other kinds of compensation claims the Jewish world had been already promoting in the aftermath of the Holocaust: claims for restitution of property and personal indemnification. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (IMFA) was gravely worried about the possibility that West Germany would not be able to settle its moral debt to the Jewish people and the Jewish state due to the need to repay its commercial debts in the international arena. The present article examines the policy implemented by Israel with the aim of avoiding such a scenario.

Understanding Turkey’s attitude towards the dispute in Palestine from late 1947 to early 1949

Turkey was among the countries that refused the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine which was put to vote on 29 November 1947, and this was celebrated by many Arab governments. Nevertheless, Turkey would be also the first Muslim-majority country to recognize the State of Israel on March 1949. This article explores these two seemingly contradictory decisions and the various aspects of the government’s attitude throughout the process that stretches from late 1947 to early 1949. Using predominantly Turkish primary sources, including some recently declassified diplomatic correspondences, we indicate that Turkish policy was formed by considering several factors simultaneously. These factors include the efforts to maintain friendly relations with the Arab countries, growing integration with Western countries, as well as fear of Soviet expansionism and of an eventual communist Jewish state. Through this perspective and exploring relevant documents of the period, we argue that the change which occurred in less than sixteen months does not really mean a major policy shift, that Turkey never fully supported the Arab thesis, and that it always avoided being at odds with the USA and Britain.

Longing for Auschwitz: The Ultimate Aims of the War Against the Jewish State Would Rival the Worst Horrors of Our History

Longing for Auschwitz: The Ultimate Aims of the War Against the Jewish State Would Rival the Worst Horrors of Our History

The Black Lives Matter Movement, Jewish Allies, and the Long Legacy of Black Anti-Zionism

Abstract: From the emergence of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, massive numbers of Jews, committed to resuming the Black-Jewish coalition of the civil rights era, became its avid allies. They failed to recognize that this alliance, which foundered and was sundered by the late 1970s, had increasingly been replaced by Blacks' identification with "their Brown Palestinian siblings," which rendered the conflict with Israel in stark racial terms. After the Six Day War, Black militants promoted a narrative that replaced Jews as a fellow oppressed group with Jews as iniquitous Zionists, who had established an illegitimate settler-colonial state that ethnically cleansed and victimized indigenous people of color—a narrative upon which their successors in the BLM movement drew heavily. With the rise of the BLM movement, the Black-Palestinian alliance was solidified—their wide divide on issues of race, gender, and homosexuality overridden by their shared anti-Zionism. In 2016, when the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), a constituent partner of the BLM umbrella organization, issued a policy platform identifying Israel as "an apartheid state," committing "genocide against the Palestinian people," leading Jewish organizations appeared confounded and dismissed these views as a minority position. Spokespersons of secular and religious Jewish associations condemned what they labeled BLM's "anti-Israel rhetoric," which they insisted was "totally unrelated" to the movement's "social justice work." They appeared to be unaware that far from mere "rhetoric," the denigration and delegitimization of the Jewish state had long been at or near the core of the anti-racist ideology propounded by the Black militants revered by BLM leaders and activists. Thus, in 2020, organizations allegedly "representing over half of Jewish people in America" published a statement that endorsed the BLM movement "unequivocally," while several of the signatories released additional statements condemning those Jews who had rejected the movement once it posted the policy platform. The Jewish community fractured over the issue of Black antisemitism, but unlike in earlier periods, far more Jews, identifying as "progressives," continued to support a movement whose leaders and activists espoused or tolerated antisemitism, albeit lightly cloaked in anti-Zionist garb.

The Individual Spaces of Interpretation for the Collective Social Construction of the Jewish Sabbath in Israel

AbstractThis study focuses on the tension between the national, public, and social restrictions that apply to the Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) in Israel and the way that Jews from a variety of religious streams understand Shabbat as leisure time that allows for a subjective choice of practices and self-realization. Jewish law provides clear rules and instructions for behavior on Shabbat, including a prohibition on different types of melacha (different kinds of creative activity), with the goal of “remembering” and “keeping” the Sabbath. While in Israel there are many Jews who do not follow these laws, they also make Shabbat special in other ways. Since Israel is a Jewish state, there is no clear separation between religion and state; today there are laws, regulations, expectations, and customs relating to Shabbat in the public sphere. To understand the diversity of views of Israelis about Shabbat, qualitative interviews were conducted with 66 secular, religious, formerly religious, traditional, and Ultra-Orthodox Jews, aged 25–50. Analysis of the survey data shows that Israeli Jews have a variety of perspectives regarding Shabbat, and do not describe Shabbat being structured and experienced as collective, homogeneous, and restrictive. Among the interviewees, religious and secular alike, Shabbat is described as a time full of variable subjective content, based on free choice and free from other obligations. On the one hand, even the religious and Ultra-Orthodox prioritize the individual and their family, sometimes more than religious faith or halachic obligation. On the other hand, even for those who do not keep the Shabbat halachically, resting on Shabbat forms an organizing principle for the weekend, lending this time its unique quality.

Settling a State—Settling for a State: Reinterpreting One Hundred Years of Zionist–Arab Relations

Abstract In recent years, a more coherent, widespread critique of Zionism as a form of settler colonialism has developed in Western academia. Despite its critical assumptions regarding Zionism, this conversation has yet to influence one of the core images of the Zionist-Arab encounter, mainly that of Palestinian intransigence versus Zionist political flexibility. According to this stereotypical image, these contrasting political characteristics played a central role in allowing a Jewish state to be established in a large part of historical Palestine, while an Arab one did not materialize. By examining political encounters between Zionists and Palestinians over the course of more than a hundred years, this article shows that, in fact, Palestinian leadership and Palestinians generally were willing to settle for an internationally recognized Arab-Palestinian state at key points. By contrast, Zionists usually exhibited greater ambivalence toward the idea of a recognized state, preferring to settle for something else, mainly expansionism. By adopting a counterintuitive approach, this article seeks to contrast the colonial dimension of Zionism with the more flexible and ultimately more state-and norm-oriented quality of Palestinian nationalism.

Counterpublics in Search of Infrastructures: Lessons from German Anti-Antisemitism

Abstract Loyalty to Israel has been described as a fundamental aim of the German state (a Staatsräson), and a stifling ideological consensus tars virtually any criticism of Zionism with the brush of “antisemitism.” Some on the Left, belonging to the so-called Anti-German (antideutsche) movement, consider support for “the Jewish state” to be a way of atoning for German sins—an ideology it ironically shares with some of the most outspoken of German nationalists. The result? Accusations and cancellations are visited on academics and artists; under McCarthyite conditions, the public sphere withers. “Counterpublics in Search of Infrastructures” analyzes some of the new kinds of counterpublicness that have emerged in response, particularly on social-media apps. The article considers historical theorizations of the counterpublic in order to address contemporary conditions and challenges. Discussing artistic and academic groups on social media as well as projects in exhibition spaces, it culminates in an inquiry into the notion of abstraction, both in accounts of the public sphere as consisting of abstract legal persons—as embodied by the male white bourgeois—and as certain theorizations of antisemitism as a phobic rejection of capitalist exchange value. Now that the dominant discourse once again pits property-owning and rights-bearing white subjects against racialized and dehumanized others, we need to ask: How can abstraction be performed otherwise? What are the kinds of relations that can enable a qualitatively different forms of publicness?

Свобода слова в военное время: опыт Израиля

The article focuses on freedom of speech in the State of Israel in the context of the ongoing war with Hamas. Throughout its modern history the Jewish state has faced national security threats from some neighboring countries and military groups in the Middle East, that is why freedom of speech regulation has had to reflect these factors. However, parties’ compliance with the rules and customs of war (international humanitarian law) is not within the scope of this article. The first part of the study shows the evolution of the legislation, as well as key precedents of the Supreme Court of Israel, where the highest court of the land consistently considered freedom of speech as a core element of Israeli democracy. Then, the author moves on to current challenges, namely anti-war student protests on campuses and foreign media coverage of the war. Regarding freedom of speech at universities, Israeli legislation is quite ambiguous, leaving wide discretion to the administration of educational institutions and creating legal uncertainty. In contrast, foreign media face the opposite problem, i.e. the rigid regulation and military censorship. Consequently, both situations present equal challenges to freedom of speech in the country that require Israeli legislature and courts to act. In conclusion, the author fully acknowledges that the State of Israel, faced with military aggression, has a legitimate and justified interest in ensuring national security and it may lead to certain restrictions on freedom of speech. Meanwhile, it is important that such restrictions are clearly formulated in the statutes, balanced and proportionate. Today, more than ever, it is important that Israel preserves its democratic values that have always formed the very foundation of the Jewish state.

Legacy of the British Mandate: Eliminating The Palestinian Right to Self‐Determination

AbstractIn February 2024, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a plan for the “postwar” Gaza Strip that envisions Israel's military as unilaterally and indefinitely patrolling the enclave while an unnamed third party runs the local government. While even allies like the United States criticized this scheme, Palestine has never enjoyed autonomy as a state, and the institutions and practices of Israel's far‐right government—and even of the Palestinian elite—are rooted in the settler colonialism facilitated by the British mandate, 1922–1948. This period was the first and last time in modern history that Palestinian Arabs and Jews were administered as a single polity, albeit on radically unequal terms. This article examines how international law was used to suppress the Palestinians and privilege the creation of a Jewish state of Israel. The legacy of this regime can be seen in the present‐day thwarting of Palestinian self‐determination through Israel's use of the military for civil administration, digital surveillance, and the right‐wing agenda for annexation of the West Bank and perpetual war in Gaza.

“Daring and Heart-Wrenching Jewish Film”— Reception of Aleksander Ford’s “Border Street” in Israel

The main subject of the paper is the distribution and critical reception of the film Border Street (dir. A. Ford, 1948) in Israel at the end of the 1940s. Conducting a review of archival diplomatic reports and texts published in the Israeli press of the time, the author reconstructs the strategic rationale behind the film’s export to the Jewish state and analyzes its reception in local media. The conducted analysis demonstrates the significant popularity of the film in Israel and the considerable role Border Street played in the context of broader cultural and diplomatic relations between the two nations.

“A normal nation in our land”: Reproductive righteousness, redemptive politics and LGBTQIA+ opposition in contemporary Israel

This article examines the political rhetoric and policy pursuits of a right-wing nationalist party in Israel (‘Noam’), showcasing how opposition to gender and sexual diversity is centered within an exclusionary vision of Jewish purity. Discursive analysis of political materials show how Noam frame gender and sexual diversity as potent proof of moral decline and as contaminating forces, which can only be saved by righteous (heterosexual) saviors. From billboards and election manifestos to policy, Noam's vision of a ‘Jewish state’ is underpinned by an idea of ‘normality’ that is ethno-nationalist, heteronormative and patriarchal. Their attempts to construct threats to the ‘normal’ Jewish nuclear family help to gain broader public support and forge alliances with hegemonic political parties. Situating this particular Jewish-Israeli exclusionary logic of reproductive righteousness is part of a broader feminist study of emerging alliances within right-wing movements in an increasingly globalized identity politics of opposition to gender and sexual diversity.

משק האנרגיה של היישוב היהודי בארץ ישראל בשלהי המנדט הבריטי

This article discusses the energy sector of the Jewish Yishuv in Palestine during the late British Mandate period, from late 1947 to the Declaration of Independence in mid-May 1948. The article examines how the Yishuv’s leaders and those in charge of its energy supply prepared for the British withdrawal from Palestine and the measures taken to ensure the Yishuv's energy needs during this period. Until then, the Mandate authorities had seen to the Yishuv’s energy needs, a responsibility that would now be transferred to the institutions of the Jewish state upon its establishment. Were their actions solely focused on the preparations for war or also on preparations for the creation of the state? Archival and other primary sources were used by the author. In addition to analyzing technical information, the article seeks to highlight the individuals who were involved in preserving and securing the energy supply of the Jewish Yishuv. These were resourceful and visionary individuals who used creativity, initiative, and boldness to enable the Yishuv to solve its problems and to navigate between various political and economic interests and the needs of the economy and the military. They successfully steered the rickety ship of the energy sector during the intercommunal war in Palestine and prepared the infrastructure for the energy sector of a sovereign state after the Declaration of Independence.

إرث بلفور: بريطانيا والصهيونية والطريق المثير للجدل إلى قيام إسرائيل

The research provides an overview of the rise of the Zionist movement, starting from the establishment of the Jewish Colonial Society in 1891 by Maurice de Hirsch, leading to the formation of the World Zionist Organization and the creation of the Jewish National Fund in 1901. It discusses the controversial debates over the location of a Jewish homeland, including the Uganda Scheme, and the advocacy for Palestine by figures like Herzl. The impact of World War I on the Middle East was influenced by the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 and the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which supported the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. The British Mandate in Palestine, established after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, had significant impacts on Jewish immigration, Arab displacement, and the road to statehood. The United Nations eventually issued a resolution in 1947 to divide Palestine into two states, one for Jews and one for Arabs. This was accepted by Jews but rejected by Arab states. Great Britain's actions towards the end of the mandate aimed to frustrate the establishment of the Jewish state envisioned by the United Nations plan. Drawing on primary and secondary sources from esteemed archives such as the British Library and personal accounts, this research seeks to elucidate the complex historical backdrop, contextualizing key decisions and conflicts that ultimately shaped the creation of the State of Israel. The analysis aims to provide nuanced insights into divergent perspectives held by Palestinians and Israelis regarding the resolution of this enduring conflict, rooted in a legacy of geopolitical manoeuvring and ideological fervour.

‘Allenby, O’ Allenby’: John Huston Finley’s Internationalist Case for a British Mandate in Palestine

ABSTRACT As the First World War drew to a close, the head of the American Red Cross’s Commission to Palestine, John Huston Finley, stepped into ongoing debates over the future of the Holy Land when he called for an international trusteeship in Palestine. Supporters and opponents of the Zionist movement – as well as the few scholars that have since engaged with Finley’s views – primarily understood Finley’s proposal as anti-Zionist. While Finley certainly presented his plan as an alternative to a Jewish state in Palestine, this article demonstrates that Finley’s proposal was much more directly a case for a British mandate that was rooted in Finley’s experiences working with the British – as well as his personal fascination with General Edmund Allenby. Finley believed and argued that Allenby’s person, character, and conduct demonstrated that the interests of ‘civilization’ could best be secured in Palestine by a British trusteeship. In his 1919 A Pilgrim in Palestine, published amidst the post-war debates over mandate assignments, Finley presented Allenby as a symbol of trusteeship’s possibilities in making an American case for British rule.

이스라엘의 하레디 유대인들은 누구인가

This paper analyzes the political characteristics of Haredi Jews and evaluates their impact on Israeli political development. This paper analyzes and utilizes information from Jewish organizations and Haredi Jewish organizations, papers published in Haredi professional journals and religious journals, books on Haredi Jews, materials from Israeli government and Knesset, and Israeli, British, and American newspapers. I re-wrote this below This paper analyzes the political characteristics of Haredi Jews and evaluates their impact on Israeli political development by utilizing information from Jewish organizations, the academic literature, materials from Israeli government, and Israeli, British, and American newspapers. Historically, most Haredi Jews have pursued the political and economic interests of their community while changing their positions on the state of Israel and Zionism. In recent years, Haredi political parties have emerged as important influential actors in Israeli politics. Haredi Jews are a key element of Israel's identity as a Jewish state. However, the active participation of Haredi Jews in politics can be a fatal weakness and a major obstacle to Israel's development into a modern democratic state.

Zionism and Jewish statehood as expressions of Jewish modernisation

ABSTRACT The adaptation to modernity generated among the Jews different amalgamations between European and Jewish concepts and brought about diverse and often opposed ideological trends and movements. One was Zionism, built on a concoction between Jewish tenets such as Shivat-Zion (Return-to-Zion) and European nationalism and secularisation. The result, Jewish statehood, failed to eradicate or diminish the tensions between non-Jews and Jews with the old Jew-hatred now transferred to Israel. This article examines the ideological background of the Zionist idea and the interaction among its components.

‘It's not a genuine elite’: partial habitus of advantage among Palestinian graduates of elite schools in Israel

ABSTRACT Within the marginalized Palestinian minority in Israel, a small elite has emerged; they are uniquely challenged as elite within their national group yet marginalized as citizens of the Jewish state. Through the perspectives of an elite private high school in Northern Israel, this qualitative study sought to elucidate this complicated reality. We asked graduates how they integrate their school experiences into their life narratives, understand and negotiate their elite identity in higher education and at work. We also wanted to know how their elite and minority national identities intersect and mutually influence each other. Similar to others' findings, their elite education facilitated academic distinction and distinguished careers. Yet, despite accomplishments, they view success primarily as an individual achievement, with limited collective impact. Their elite status is only partially realized due to constraints in translating privileges into broader action. Our research contributes to debates regarding elite education and stigmatized minority status.

Jews and Israel 2024: A Survey of Canadian Attitudes and Jewish Perceptions

Most Canadian Jews feel unsafe and victimized. They perceive a rise in negative attitudes toward Jews in recent months and years. Most doubt the situation will improve. The main reason they feel this way is that extreme anti-Israel statements andactions have proliferated in recent months. Because support for the existence of a Jewish state in Israel is a central component of their identity, most Jews regard extreme anti-Israel statements and actions as a threat to their existence as Jews.
 Most non-Jewish Canadians do not have negative toward Jews. However, non-Jewish university students, Quebecois, and especially Muslim Canadians tend to have significantly more negative attitudes towards Jews than does the non-Jewish population as a whole.
 Non-Jewish Canadians’ attitudes toward Israel tend to be significantly more negative than their attitudes toward Jews. The groups with the most negative attitudes toward Israel are, in order, Muslims, non-Jewish supporters of the New Democratic Party, and non-Jewish university students.
 Among non-Jewish Canadians, the correlation between attitudes toward Jews and attitudes toward Israel is positive, statistically significant, and at the low end of moderate. This means that, although some critics of Israel have negative attitudes towardJews, most do not. Exceptions include Muslims, who tend to score relatively high on negative attitudes toward Jews and Israel; and people who identify as hard right, supporters of the Conservative and People’s Parties, and Canadians over the age of sixty-four, who tend to score relatively low on negative attitudes toward Jews and Israel.
 On the whole, Canadian Jews have experienced a reduction in their emotional attachment to Israel because of the Israel-Hamas war and the rightward drift of Israeli government policy.
 The trends just listed are derived from a survey conducted between 1 and 28 February 2024. The survey was based on four broadly representative independent samples of Canadian residents: 1,121 non-Jewish adults, 1,010 non-Jewish university students, 312 Muslim adults, and 414 Jewish adults, for a total of 2,857 respondents. In addition to providing an analysis of the survey results for the educated non-specialist public, this report seeks to place its findings in social context and in the context of prior survey research on attitudes toward Jews and Israel.

The Rise and Fall of Israel’s Anti-Apartheid Policy: The Case of Israel’s Relations with the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) During the 1960s

ABSTRACT In contrast to the strained relationship between Israel and South Africa’s anti-apartheid movements in recent decades, the 1960s witnessed Israel actively championing an anti-apartheid stance. From the early 1960s onwards, various anti-apartheid groups sought assistance from Israel in their fight against white supremacy, viewing the Jewish State as a natural ally in their struggle against racism. This led to the formation of a relationship between Israel and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), a significant development often overlooked in contemporary historical narratives. Despite its brevity – spanning less than a decade – this alliance offers valuable insights into African nationalism and its interaction with global Cold War dynamics, while also shedding light on Israel’s multifaceted engagement in Africa. This article aims to reconstruct this historical relationship in detail, emphasizing its significance in elucidating the intricate connections between the Arab-Israeli conflict and the racial conflict in South Africa during the 1960s.