Issue 2

Table of Contents 47(2): Special Issue on Israeli Studies

  • Author: The Editors
  • Institution: Polish Political Science Yearbook (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 157–160
  • DOI Address: -
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/contents_ppsy2018_2.pdf

Polish Political Science Yearbook, 47(2): Special Issue on Israeli Studies. Published online: August 20, 2018. The Polish Political Science Yearbook is international peer-reviewed journal indexed in: American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES) Online, BazHum, Central and Eastern European Online Library, Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (cejsh.icm.edu.pl), Columbia International Affairs Online, Cosmos Impact Factor, Directory of Open Access Journals, Electronic Journals Library, ERIH Plus, Gale PowerSearch, Google Scholar, HeinOnline, IBR – International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scholarly Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences, IBZ – International Bibliography of Periodical Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences, ICI Journals Master List, International Political Science Abstracts, Open Academic Journals Index, POL-Index (Polska Bibliografia Naukowa) and The Lancaster Index.

 

European Association of Israel Studies Przemysław Turek Artur Skorek Przemysław Zawada Jackob Ericsson Joanna Dyduch table of contents

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Editorial

  • Author: Przemysław Zawada
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Author: Jacob Ericsson
  • Institution: University of York (United Kingdom)
  • Author: Joanna Dyduch
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 161–164
  • DOI Address: -
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018200_editorial.pdf

Dear Readers, this Special Issue of the Polish Political Science Journal on Israel Studies, which we are happy to present, is a result of the cooperation between the European Association of Israel Studies (EAIS), the University of Wrocław, and the Jagiellonian University. The cooperation began at the EAIS 6th Annual Conference on Israel Studies held in September 2017 in Wrocław, Poland. The aim of the conference was to bring together international scholars from a variety of disciplines, who are engaged in research in any aspect of Israel studies – including Politics, Literature, Security, Minorities, Social Studies, History, Economics, Law, Culture, Film, Music, and Art. 

EAIS israeli studies special issue European Association of Israel Studies ediorial Israel

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What is Left from the Identity of the State of Israel Proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence?

  • Author: Mordechai Schenhav
  • Institution: Strasbourg University (France)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 167–187
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018201
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018201.pdf

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, to look at the Identity of Israel as both Jewish and democratic State in its Declaration of Independence and the status it acquired over the years within the Constitutional and law system. The second, to examine, through the evolution of the enounced principle of equality in the situation of economic, gender, religious and national minorities, how it was implemented and what has changed after 70 years. From the outset, the Declaration was not given a constitutional status but later the Supreme Court gave it an interpretive quality. With the two Basic Laws on Human Rights, limited as they were, it gave the Supreme Court much more advantage to intervene and impose the Identity of the State as Jewish and democratic in its interpretations of laws in spite of strong criticism and even to influence and criticize the Knesset legislation. However, Israel is still not a true liberal Democracy since the rights within it are determined more according to the ethnic-national religious belonging of the person that according to its citizenship and the principle of equality is only partially adopted in practice with different degrees as regards the various minorities. In some aspects, it even moves away from the original intended Identity of an exemplary liberal Democratic Nation State.

Basic Laws of 1992/94 principle of equality Declaration of Independence Israel’s identity

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Keeping Parties Together? The Evolution of Israel’s Anti-Defection Law

  • Author: Csaba Nikolenyi
  • Institution: Concordia University in Montreal (Canada)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 188–200
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018202
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018202.pdf

In 1991, the Knesset passed a package of legislation with the aim of preventing the rampant party switching and defections by elected representatives. At the time of its adoption, the so-called anti-defection law was supported by an all-party consensus. Although the legislation has remained in effect, its apparent continuity conceals the way in which it has become transformed from what was at first an “efficient” institution to a “redistributive” one (Tsebelis 1990). In this paper, I review the development of the Israeli anti-defection law and argue that whereas at the initial moment of its adoption the anti-defection law was considered to benefit all parties in the system, over time it has become an instrument in the hands of the governing coalition to manipulate divisions and engineer further defections among the opposition in order to shore up its often fragile legislative base.

party unity party switching anti-defection law Knesset

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Benjamin Netanyahu’s Long Premiership and the Rise of the New Political Center: Is there a Qualitative Change in the Israeli Party System?

  • Author: Artur Skorek
  • Institution: Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 201–214
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018203
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018203.pdf

Israel’s party system has been characterized by the bipolar rivalry between the left-wing and right-wing blocks since the late 1970s. In recent years we could have seen at least two trends that seem to diverge from this model. For the last 9 years, the Likud party has formed three successive governments which have made Benjamin Netanyahu the longest continuously serving prime minister in the history of Israel. Another new occurrence is the preservation of a significant representation of the centre parties for four Knesset terms in the row. The aim of the paper is to verify whether Israel’s party system has departed from the two-blocs bipolar model. Based on the empirical data (election results, government formation, party’s political platforms) it examines whether the parties’ rivalry in the years 2009–2018 differed qualitatively from the previous period. To answer this question the paper investigates three hypotheses. First – Likud has become a dominant party in Israel. Second – a dominant and stable Israeli right-wing parties’ bloc has formed. Third – an enduring and relevant centre sector has emerged in Israel’s party system.

left-wing right-wing center Likud Italian party system Israel

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From Religion to Pragmatism: Habayit Hayehudi’s Attitude toward Judea and Samaria

  • Author: Paweł Pokrzywiński
  • Institution: University of Wroclaw (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 215–226
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018204
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018204.pdf

Judea and Samaria became a really important element in Israeli right-wing and religious debate following the Six Day War because the State of Israel began to control it militarily and politically and started settling in this area. Nonetheless, Judea and Samaria had a deeper meaning within Religious Zionist ideology and its main representative Mafdal (NRP). After 1967 Religious Zionists were also influenced by the Messianic ideology, thus biblical territories accelerate Redemption. Hence, the NRP insisted on creating and developing Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, both in leftist and rightist governments. The situation has changed since the Oslo Accords and Sharon’s disengagement from Gaza. Both were shocking for the Religious Zionism camp, the state was no longer a steady defender of Jewish settlements. In 2008 the Mafdal was absorbed by the newly created Habayit Hayehudi (the Jewish Home) which was treated as a hope for Religious Zionism to restore its former glory. The head of the Jewish Home – Naftali Bennett – called his party a real right-wing camp. He is thought to be a representative of settlers but he also tries to widen his electorate with secular citizens. Habayit Hayehudi is the best example of a party which wants to achieve ideas of Religious Zionism in the new political reality after Oslo. The article will analyze the attitude of the Jewish Home party towards Judea and Samaria and the party’s ideological course.

Jewish Home Mafdal Israeli right Naftali Bennett political right Religious Zionism Judea and Samaria

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Israel’s Neoliberal Turn and its National Security Paradigm

  • Author: Arie Krampf
  • Institution: Ben Gurion University of the Negew (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 227–241
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018205
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018205.pdf

Since the early 2000s, Israel has adhered to a particularly virulent strain of economic neoliberalism which has led to an unprecedented rise in nationwide levels of poverty and inequality. Attempts to explain this phenomenon have ignored a key aspect: The need of Israel – and especially its right-wing governments – to create an economic reality that reduces the pressure Israel faces from the international community in the wake of its continued occupation of the territories.

Israel hawkish neoliberalism market nationalism cosmopolitan neoliberalism

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The Domestic Dimension of Israeli Public Diplomacy

  • Author: Jitka Pánek Jurková
  • Institution: Charles University in Prague (the Czech Republic)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 242–253
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018206
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018206.pdf

The paper adds to the body of recent scholarly literature that emphasizes the role of domestic publics in public diplomacy – a field until recently examined with only minor attention to the domestic realm. It suggests conducting an analysis of the domestic dimension of public diplomacy on three levels: individual, organizational, and national. By doing so, we are able to understand in a complex manner the environment from which public diplomacy practice grows, and thus also its specific dynamics. Applying this model of analysis to the case of Israel, the paper describes major domestic factors shaping Israeli public diplomacy: the culture of individual engagement (individual level), the clash of organizational ethea of institutions responsible for public diplomacy (organizational level), and the intertwining of public diplomacy and nation-building (national level). The analysis also allows us to better grasp the dilemma faced by Israeli public diplomacy between efficiency and democratic character

Israel public diplomacy Hasbara divided society the domestic dimension of public diplomacy

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Understanding the Dispute over the Treatment of Products Exported to the European Union from the Occupied Territories in the Context of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

  • Author: Oskar J. Chmie
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 254–264
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018207
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018207.pdf

While the European Union (EU) does not recognize any legal Israeli sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, it does not grant preferential access to the EU market for goods produced in the Israeli settlements in this area, contrary to the preferential treatment for goods produced in Israel. This situation is different, however, as regards the United States (U.S.) trade policy, which does not make any distinction between goods produced in Israel and in the Occupied Territories, since it grants the preferential access to both. Furthermore, the currently suspended negotiations of the super-regional trade agreement called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), spurred the enacting of a law that set the principal negotiating objectives of the U.S. regarding commercial partnerships, which included some provisions to discourage politically motivated economic actions against the State of Israel. As TTIP embraced the free trade agreement between the EU and the U.S., the EU differentiation policy could become problematic for the two partners, which despite the failure of the negotiations, revealed much about economic diplomacy. Consequently, this article attempts to show the different approaches adopted by the two trading powers, in order to deal with the dispute over the treatment of products exported to the EU from the Occupied Territories.

European Union Israel Occupied Palestinian Territories the United States trade negotiations TTIP

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Israeli Innovation Policy: an Important Instrument of Perusing Political Interest at the Global Stage

  • Author: Karolina Olszewska
  • Institution: University of Wroclaw (Poland)
  • Author: Joanna Dyduch
  • Institution: University of Wroclaw (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 265–283
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018208
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018208.pdf

Israel is perceived in the international environment as one of the top leaders in innovation. This is proven by the progressively high position of this country in international rankings and the participation of Israeli scientists and technologists in prestigious international programs. In this article, we claim that the aims of Israeli innovation policy, which has the biggest impact on the shape and content of the innovation ecosystem, are highly politicized. The status quo driven by the key assumption of the state strategy, according to which obtaining a competitive predominance in the political international environment will be achieved through economic instruments, primarily technological innovation. Therefore the aim of this article is to critically analyze Israeli innovation policy and the innovation ecosystem, paying special attention to the state interest and the government activities in this realm. For the purpose of this analysis, some basic assumptions of the neoliberal economy redefined by Arie Krampf will be utilized. Furthermore, to better describe and explain the link between politics and economy in the Israeli innovation ecosystem we will refer to the K.N. Waltz considerations on mechanisms of the political and economic system in a globalizing world.

international-political competitiveness R&D research and development hi-tech technology and science innovation ecosystem Israeli innovation policy Israel

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The Diversity of Citizenship of Palestinians and its Impact on their Mobility: Passport and Visa Issues

  • Author: Maciej Cesarz
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 284–301
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018209
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018209.pdf

This article explores the formal impact of various citizenships and travel documents held by Palestinians on their freedom to engage in international travel. Based on a theoretical analysis of passports and the global visa regime, it claims that international recognition is not only pre-requisite of statehood but also affects the scope of mobility in cases of citizens of de facto states, including the Palestinian Authority. The research is focused on the following themes: the status of the population holding a Palestinian Authority Passport in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in comparison to Palestinians who are citizens of Israel and carry passports of this state, the exceptional situation of East Jerusalemites as well as the case of Palestinians with Jordanian passports. Visa availability and other formal barriers for international travel are also examined. The argumentation is supported by the analysis of visa restriction indexes referring to the Palestinian Authority and to Israel. The article concludes that the mobility of Palestinians varies to a large extent depending on travel documents held and the recognition of a citizenship and the passport that comes with it is strictly dependent of the recognition of state sovereignty. Although in some cases citizenship can be divorced from the international recognition, the scope of visa-free mobility related to passports is always impaired.

Palestinian Authority Passport Israeli passport Palestinian mobility Palestinian citizenship visa restrictions State of Palestine recognition

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Dual Citizenship in Poland and in Israel: Selected Legal Aspects in a Comparative Perspective

  • Author: Przemysław Zawada
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 302–318
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018210
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018210.pdf

The tragic years of World War II, followed by the unfriendly communist policy in Poland towards the Jewish community, changed the country from a multicultural into the most homogeneous state in the European Union nowadays. At the same time, Israel, as a meeting place for various cultures, enjoys the influence of inhabitants from nearly all over the world. The dissimilar experiences and problems faced by the governing bodies should influence different approaches to dual citizenship in Poland and Israel. In view of the above, in the presented work the author would like to analyze the issue of the legal approach to dual citizenship both in Poland and in Israel. The main goal of the paper, beyond comparison of the effectiveness of the legislation, is finding the answer to the question: what is the state’s attitude towards the issue of the dual citizenship of their citizens? The hypothesis that the article will verify states, that due to the small number of people with dual citizenship in Poland, Polish legislation devoted to this topic is not extensive and has dissimilarities to the law in Israel, which, in contrast, is more complex and better response to the needs of society. The reason for comparing Poland and Israel is the fact that Polish citizenship has been very popular among the citizens of the Jewish state, especially since 2004 when Poland became a member of the European Union. This issue, in the long run, may be one of the key determinants of Polish-Israeli and Polish-Jewish relations.

international relations legal analysis dual citizenship passport Poland Israel

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Beyond “Recognition”. The Polish Perspectives on Israeli and Palestinian National Identities: Preliminary Assumptions of Research

  • Author: Marcin Szydzisz
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Author: Jarosław Jarząbek
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 319–330
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018211
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018211.pdf

The paper aims to provide an overview of the main streams of perception of Israeli and Palestinian national identities by Polish authorities and society, as well as analyze their sources. The study covers the period of time when both of the national identities took shape, that is since the beginning of the mass Jewish migration to Palestine at the beginning of the XXth century until the present time. As the Jews have for a long time been an important part of Polish history and society, Poles have a strong perception of Jewish, and consequently also Israeli, identity. Polish Jews, who played a crucial role in establishing the Israeli state and shaping Israeli national identity, were treated by many Poles as “our Jews”. This perception was conditioned by internal factors, such as social relations, cultural proximity, historical memory or political views. In contrast, a  perception of the Palestinian identity from the very beginning was conditioned externally, because it resulted from international political developments and a narrative imposed by foreign powers. Another special feature of the Polish perception of Israeli and Palestinian identity is the fact that public opinion very often differs significantly from the political position of state authorities.

national identity Israelis Palestinians perception Polish perspective

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Israeli-Ukrainian Relations after ‘the Euromaidan Revolution’ – the Holocaust and the New Ukrainian Identity in the Context of the European Aspirations of Ukraine

  • Author: Jakub Bornio
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 331–345
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018212
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018212.pdf

The Euromaidan revolution totally reoriented Ukraine’s policy in both internal and external dimensions. The new Ukrainian authorities facing Russian aggression and domestic instability started to build a new national identity in order to consolidate social cohesion. Due to the fact that Kiev’s new historical narrative glorifies the Ukrainian nationalists from the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) who contributed to the Holocaust of Jews and committed mass murders on the representatives of other nationalities, such a  policy may be a  serious obstacle in the context of Ukraine’s external relations. The present article investigates particularly Israeli-Ukrainian relations after the Euromaidan revolution. The article analyses the impact of the new Ukrainian identity on bilateral relations as well as attempting to answer whether or not it may influence Kiev’s cooperation with the European Union. The article contains a brief description of the new identity building process in the post-Euromaidan Ukraine with special consideration of those elements of it, which are related to “Ukrainian Nationalism”.

European Union Ukraine Israel Euromaidan national identity Ukrainian Nationalism historical narrative Holocaust OUN UPA

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Creating a National Identity through Agricultural Education in Mandatory Palestine

  • Author: Esther Yankelevitch
  • Institution: University of Haifa (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 346–354
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018213
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018213.pdf

Formation of agricultural education in high schools was a milestone in the early 20th-century history of Zionist education, and in the Jewish society in Mandatory Palestine in general. Agricultural education was a means of changing the character of the Jewish people by imparting agricultural knowledge and training. Candidates came from agricultural settlements, but mainly – and this was its uniqueness – they also came from the towns. In addition, agricultural education provided a framework for absorbing immigrant youth. This educational framework was, among other things, ideological because those who joined it were usually motivated by a desire to change the character of the Jewish society, return to the land and work it. The cost of funding agricultural schools was high for the local Jewish community, and therefore these schools remained dependent on private initiative and philanthropy. In spite of the widespread ideological support, not many students actually took part in agricultural education due to the high cost of tuition on the one hand, and the need to help support their own families on the other. It can also be said that during this period, parents who had the means to provide their children with higher education, favoured the “Gymnasium” high school model, which could lead to them engaging in other professions.

Agricultural education Mandatory Palestine Zionist ideology Jewish society high school identity

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The Response of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to the Crisis of Soviet Jewish Émigré Dropouts (Noshrim) in the 1970s

  • Author: Fred Lazin
  • Institution: Ben Gurion University of the Negev (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 355–367
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018214
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018214.pdf

The JDC is an American Jewish organization that assists overseas Jewish communities in distress. It is responsible to “American Jewry” and those organizations that fund it. Bauer (1974, 19) argued that the JDC has been guided by its founding “pledge of impartiality – it steers clear of political involvements” and takes pride in being “probably the only really non-partisan organization in Jewish life.” This paper examines the role of the JDC in caring for Soviet émigrés who left on visas for Israel but chose to resettle elsewhere. They were known as “dropouts” (Noshrim in Hebrew). It also deals with the JDC policy toward recently settled Russian Jews who left Israel to resettle elsewhere. In its work with Soviet Jewish emigres did the JDC serve the interests of the Israeli government, its donors and or the emigres? Did the JDC abide by its pledge of impartiality? Did the JDC try to force them to resettle in Israel against their wishes? The paper focuses on the spring of 1976 when the number of dropouts outnumbered those resettling in Israel. This led to a joint committee of Israelis and American Jews to coordinate a response. The ‘freedom of choice’ debate ensued; should Soviet Jews resettle in Israel or have the freedom to choose where to resettle? The findings here are based on archival records in the JDC, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), the CJF (Jewish federations) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC). The author also conducted interviews and reviewed secondary sources. The paper should contribute to a better understanding of the JDC and its past ties to Israel and the American Jewish community.

JDC dropouts refugees transmigrants resettlement organizations Jewish organizations Soviet Jews

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Matrilineality as a Historical and Cultural Context of Ethical Reflection on the Use of In Vitro Fertilization in Israel

  • Author: Teresa Marcinów
  • Institution: Wrocław University of Science and Technology (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 368–378
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018215
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018215.pdf

On one hand, Israel is a leader in the field of high-tech industry, but on the other, it remains a country focused on traditions. In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is one of the most common treatments among many possibilities which were created in the field of assisted reproductive technology (ART). Indeed, the number of Jewish women as intensive consumers of IVF has increased in the past few years. Due to the great importance of motherhood and raising families in Jewish tradition, Israel strongly supports health care procedures assisting Jewish adults in becoming parents. There is no doubt that for Jews life is the most precious value in its religious and political meaning, however, they are quite flexible in accommodating modern technologies in order to serve life. The State has historically focused on increasing birthrates and nowadays a woman’s biological clock is an important element not only in the context of matrilineal descent and for the answer to the question of Jews identity but it is also intervening as a part of the reproductive industry.

matrilineality Israel IVF new technologies reproductive technology

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Deconstructing the Topos of Poland as a Jewish Necropolis in Texts by Israeli Authors of the Third PostHolocaust Generation

  • Author: Jagoda Budzik
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 379–389
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018216
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018216.pdf

The paper aims at recognizing and describing the ways of deconstructing the topos of Poland as a Jewish necropolis, a process that in the last decade appears more and more often in the works of Israeli authors of the third generation after the Shoah. The generation concept – as I argue – can serve here as a useful tool for understanding the shift which occurred in the specific national context of Israeli Holocaust discourse and strongly influenced the image of Poland in Israeli literature and culture. Poland depicted as a Jewish necropolis has become one of the central motifs present in Israeli literary as well as the artistic canon of Shoah representations. As the central space where the Shoah occurred, Poland was obviously perceived as a land marked by death and formed exclusively by the experience of the Holocaust. However, in the aftermath of two major shifts that have occurred in the last decades: a meaningful change in the Israeli Holocaust discourse and the new reality of Poland after 1989, and also as a consequence of the growing time distance separating yet another generation from the events themselves, numerous authors born in Israel mostly in the 1970s and in the 1980s began approaching the above-mentioned motif critically. This tendency, one of the few typical for the third generation, is demonstrated either through the motif ’s deconstruction and subversive usage or, more radically, by employing the genre of alternate history and changing the place’s identity (e.g. Tel Aviv by Yair Chasdiel). The topos of Poland as a necropolis has therefore been turned into a part – or even a starting point – of the reflection on collective memory patterns (e.g. Kompot. The Polish-Israeli Comic Book), stereotypes (e.g. Bat Yam by Yael Ronen), and on the authors’ own roots and identity (e.g. The Property by Rutu Modan). By analyzing the abovementioned texts, I will explore the process of constant interaction occurring between collective and the individual memory, between the Israeli national perspective and Polish landscapes, between an author and space and, finally – between the category of the third generation and its representatives themselves.

Israel Holocaust memory Israeli literature topos of Poland topos of cemetery third generation

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Israeli Identity on the Run: the Quest for a NonNational Position in Contemporary Israeli Literature

  • Author: Shira Stav
  • Institution: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 390–405
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018217
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018217.pdf

My essay discusses a new attempt in young Israeli novels to break out of the suffocation and stagnation of the dominant literary protagonist. The discussion revolves around Ilai Rowner’s recent novel, Deserter (2015), which suggests ‘desertion’ as an option of to overcome nationalized structures of the self and of break new ground for its existence. The protagonist’s escape and a quest for a non-national position are destined to failure, however, reflecting the current state of political consciousness among young Israeli authors, and, I argue, the unthinkability of political exile in contemporary Israeli novels. The discussion presented here follows the renewed interest in Hanna Arendt’s exemplary essay “We Refugees” (1943) in light of the current refugees’ crisis in Europe among scholars such as Giorgio Agamben, Amal Jamal and Itamar Mann. While Agamben develops a phenomenology of being-a-refugee, severing the bond between nation and territory, his work lacks an experiential account of being a refugee. In light of this absence, I argue that Rowner’s protagonist remains blind to the particular identities he encounters, actively erasing the profound differences between deserters and refugees, persecutors and persecuted. While he recognizes the haunted element in him, Rowners’ protagonist’s obliviousness to the specific experiential trappings of his own story effectively sterilizes the novel’s political acuity through the effort to adopt an all-human perspective.

refugees Contemporary Israeli Literature Israeli Nationality Desertion Hanna Arendt Giorgio Agamben

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The Hero’s Wife: The Depiction of Female Holocaust Survivors in Israeli Cinema Prior to the Eichmann Trial and in its Aftermath

  • Author: Liat Steir-Livny
  • Institution: The Open University of Israel (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 406–413
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018218
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018218.pdf

Israeli culture in the 1940s and 1950s was dominated by ideological considerations. Zionist films, as other aspects of Eretz-Israel and Israeli culture, distinctively propagated Zionist ideas. As a consequence of their sociopolitical focus, these films neglected the complexities of the relationship between Holocaust survivors and the native Jews in Eretz Israel. Instead, Holocaust survivors were reduced to a homogeneous entity that bore distinct negative connotations. Films depicted female Holocaust survivors as mentally unstable, unfit mothers, and often played up negative sexual stereotypes. In these films, the women were “cured” or went through a process of “purification” thanks to the Zionist establishment. Historical research often cites the trial of Adolf Eichmann (1961) as being a turning point in the Israeli public’s perception of the Holocaust, and its representation in Israeli culture. This article will focus on an analysis of the film The Hero’s Wife (Peter Frye, 1963) that was produced in the aftermath of the trial. It will discuss the innovative representations of this unresearched film and will seek to answer the questions of why, and in what way, its narrative comprises a subversive antithesis to the narrative shaped by Zionist fiction films made prior to the Eichmann trial.

Holocaust cinema Holocaust survivors The Eichmann trial Holocaust commemoration

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Choice of Language and the Quest for Israeli Identity in the Works of Tuvia Ruebner and Aharon Appelfeld

  • Author: Michal Ben-Horin
  • Institution: Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 414–423
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018219
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018219.pdf

Immigration highlights the question of language and raises the dilemma of the relationship between the mother tongue and the language of the new land. For writers this question is even more crucial: should they write in the language of the place and its readers? Immigration to Israel is not exceptional, of course. What choices are open to those writers, and how are they to convey the complexities inherent in the formation of an Israeli identity? This paper focuses on two writers who demonstrate the role played by the “chosen language” in the cultural construction and deconstruction of Israeli identity. Tuvia Ruebner emigrated from Bratislava, Aharon Appelfeld from Bukovina. Ruebner shifted from German to Hebrew and back to German; Appelfeld wrote only in Hebrew. In both cases, their arrival in Israel enabled them to survive. However, the loss of their families in Europe continued to haunt them. Inspired by Walter Benjamin’s concept of ‘translation’ and responding to Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s concept of ‘minor literature’, the paper shows how their work conveys a multilayered interrelation between national and foreign languages, and between images of exile and homeland, past, present and future – all of which shed light on contemporary issues of Israeli identity.

immigration Franz Kafka Tuvia Ruebner Aharon Appelfeld Bilingualism modern Hebrew Literature

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Hebrew and Polish: Mutual Influences and Their Contribution in Creating a Polish Criminals’ Jargon

  • Author: Angelika Adamczyk
  • Institution: University of Warsaw (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 424–435
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018220
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018220.pdf

In this paper, I wish to present the complexity of Jewish-Polish relations from the 19th century until the interwar period, with emphasis on sociolinguistic issues. I will illustrate the circumstances of the contact between the Polish and Hebrew languages. Poles and Jews, who lived side by side, developed successful relationships, but mainly in the criminal underworld. That was reflected in a sociolect – a dialect of criminals that constituted a mixture of Polish, Yiddish, Russian, and several other languages, including quite a few Hebrew words, which with time adopted new meanings. Moreover, I  will provide some examples of Hebrew words used in Polish criminal jargon, as well as those which have been coined in every-day Polish. Then I will refer to some Hebrew words that are not connected with a world of crime and are still in use in spoken Polish.

sociolect criminal jargon Hebrew Polish-Jewish relations Polish language interlingual contacts spoken language

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Some New Suggestions for Solving the Israeli–Palestinians Disputes

  • Author: Gideon Biger
  • Institution: Tel Aviv University (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 439–447
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018221
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018221.pdf

Many suggestions have been presented for solving the Israeli – Palestinian dispute. As for now, none of those suggestions, presented during more than thirty years of negotiations, have been accepted by both sides. As for this, some new ideas have to be entered into the arena. Here some new, “out of the box”, geographical proposals are presented, based on actual events and geographical realities which exist in other areas. These proposals could be seen as un-human or politically wrong suggestions but as all other proposals were rejected, the decision makers of both sides, as well as the leaders of the world, can use the presented suggestion as a base for future negotiations.

Israel Palestine enclave national state Citizenship peace agreement

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Discussing Israeli Identities

  • Author: Karolina Zielińska
  • Institution: University of Warsaw (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 448–449
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018222
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018220.pdf

The paper reports from the proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference on Israeli Studies Israeli Identities: Past, Present and Future which took place at the University of Wrocław on September 10–12, 2017. The report reflects on the discussions which took place during plenary sessions of the conference and on the contents of the conference panels. Furthermore, it assesses the importance of this international event for the field of Israeli studies.

conference report European Israeli Studies Association israeli studies modern Israel international relations EAIS

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