The mention of Israel evokes images of the raging conflict in the Middle East between Palestinians and the Jews. This is one conflict that has dominated global politics for close to half a century now threatening to tear the world apart along religious lines. While the Jews- Palestinians relations remain a core issue in Israel, Israelis politics is more diverse than that in a way that has baffled many analysts. It represents unique pluralism, interracial and inter-religion differences that remain obscured internationally by the Middle East conflict; it is this diversity that continues to shape the countries politics and dominant policies.
A look at Israel reveals a fragmented nation where one is at pains of pinpointing the dominant citizenship model due to the lack of a distinct cultural and communal representation. What remains unique is how it has continually propagated itself as a democracy with some analysts observing that it is the only democracy in the Middle East, a point largely refuted by others. Israel was established on May 14, 1948 and immediately laid down democratic principles and institutions. Indeed since then, Israel can be said to be a demonstration of social and political pluralism in the Arab world. It is a superpower in the Middle East but its existence and supremacy has been compounded by the complexities surrounding its own identity. A critical look at these complexities reveals deep clefts that continue to impede on its formation of a single identity as a feasible Jewish state. (Clive & Emma 2002)
Pluralism can be referred to as a situation where different social, religious, ethnic and political groups co-exist in harmony and in clear pursuit of clear objectives. Pluralism represents the epitome of freedom and democracy. Israel has been able to achieve this though in a distinct way from the idealized western democracies. The understanding of this pluralism has to be based on the light of its unique history. Whereas in the nations such as the United States the ideals of tolerance are deeply ingrained in the Bill of Rights, Israel lacks such a clear documentation and the driving force lies in the collective will to safeguard the wellbeing of the Jewish people.
Israel’s population has grown almost exponentially since it was established in 1948 and also after 1975 when the war ended. This has brought with it new challenges to the idealized harmonious co-existence of the various racial, religious and ethnic groups. With an approximated population of 7.4 million citizens, of which only a one fifth is non-Jew, the peaceful coexistence of these groups represents a formidable challenge to the Jewish dominated government.
Israel is a conglomeration of different immigrants that have distinct interests resulting to intense internal conflicts. Of these, Palestinian-Jewish differences are the most dominant. Though this conflict has raged on from the very foundation of Israel, it intensified after the end of the 1967 war when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were subjected to Israel rule. This formed a disenfranchised lot amongst the Palestinians who were being subjected to military rule. This later was characterized by a peaceful coexistence between these two groups but would later get complicated after the 1973 war creating an unstable environment and a deep row over the occupied territories. Internal politics and especially the dynamism exhibited in the major parties have been influenced mostly by the raging conflicts between the Jews and the Palestinians. The Palestinians Jews too however do not coexist as a single front but rather too have internal divisions that are religious based. As Moshe & Noah (2004) have observed, “Palestinians comprise several religious groups, the largest being Moslems, followed by Christians and Druze.” (1) Though these groups may present themselves as unified in the national causes, they are merely brought together by the grievances that they share against the domination by the Jewish population.
After the Palestinians comes the Arab Jews, a group that has complicated relations between Israel and the neighboring countries. This is a group that represents 13% of the whole population and mainly refers to those Arabs that opted to stick in Israel after the end of the war that would see its formation in 1948. Compared to the Palestinians, Israel Arabs have coexisted cordially with the Jews and continue to enjoy political and civil rights while being gradually assimilated into the political mainstream. They continue to enjoy more mutually beneficial contacts with the Jewish population. Divisions however also arise amongst this group, these divisions although religious based have come to be manifested economically. There are the Druzes, Christians and Moslems. Though sharing similar language, differences arise in size with the Moslems being the majority while the Druzes are the minority. Politically, Druzes are the most favored by the political regime while Christians have dominated economically.
Jews represents that most dominant group and although too have divisions, they are not religious based but rather are sectarian and ideologically based. There are the Oriental and Ashkenazi Jews. The oriental Jews who comprise of the 55 percent of all Israel Jews owe their origin to the Northern Africa. Although they are the majority, they occupy a subtle role in the Jewish state. It is the Ashkenazim that have the grasp of power and resources. This refers to the group that established the Jewish society and owes their origin to Western and Eastern Europe. They introduced the western ideals and the political, social and economic institutions that run Israel. (Sammy 1978)
As can be observed from the outset, Israel’s stratification can be better understood by looking at the existing ethnic and religious divisions. The raging inequality seen today has a short history that dates back to almost two decades after independence. As ahs been observed Israel is a land of immigrants hoping to realize the dream of living in the biblical land. Though most arrived in Israel without much material possession, the groups that were politically endowed were able to slowly gather wealth and with time “economic gaps between the rich and the poor widened steadily.” (Moshe & Noah, 2004, 1) This can be best seen in the economic disparities among the Jews and the Arabs. They remain highly segregated socially, politically, culturally and economically. The Jews from Western and Eastern Europe were able to rise politically and economically due to their cultural and political ties with dominant groups as well as the key financiers from the western sympathizers. Jews from North Africa and the Middle East are still economically and politically subjugated. They are still looked down and are at the bottom of the social and economic hierarchy. The last few decades have also seen increased immigration of Jews, this is a new brand better equipped in terms of skills and education. With government support, they are rising in the social ladder leaving the Muslim Jews at the bottom of the hierarchy.
Indeed the Jewish democratic state remains a nation best characterized by diversity and also by the numerous differences that arise within the distinct ethnic and religious groups. The Ashkenazi Jews are the most dominant politically and remains well endowed economically compared to the rest of the population. Though Israel has been for long characterized by the Palestinians- Jews conflict, which remains highly publicized, the internal divisions defining the state are strong. A closer look reveals huge disparities and a highly stratified people that continue to fuel rivalry between the various groups.
References
Clive J., Emma M. (2002) Israel: challenges to identity, democracy, and the state.
Routledge.
Moshe S., Noah L. (2004) Stratification in Israel: class, ethnicity, and gender. Transaction Publishers.
Sammy Smooha (1978) Israel:Pluralism and conflict. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Haifa. Routledge & Kegan Paul.