Q Taylor & Francis ~ Taylor & Francis Group http:! /taylo ra ndfra nc i s.com CHOSEN PEOPLE, PROMISED LAND &P ROPHETIC TRADITION IRA SHARKAN SKY ~~ ~~~!~~n~~~up LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2005 by Transaction Publishers Published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2004058004 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sharkansky, Ira. Governing Israel : chosen people, promised land, and prophetic tradition / Ira Sharkansky. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7658-0277-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1.Israel—Politics and government. 2. Judaism and politics—Israel. 3. Jews—Election, Doctrine of. 4. Palestine in Judaism. 5. Prophecy— Judaism. 6. Rhetoric—Political aspects—Israel. I. Title. DS126.5.S4437 2005 320.6'095694—dc22 2004058004 ISBN 13: 978-0-7658-0277-4 (hbk) Contents Preface vii 1. The Chosen People in the Promised Land 1 2. The Prophetic Tradition 27 3. A Politicized Economy, a Cumbersome Giant 55 Governing a Country with Unlimited Aspirations, Severe Problems, and Limited Resources 73 4. Religion: Contentious from the Time of the Bible to Yesterday and Today 75 5. Palestinian Terror, External Constraints, and Domestic Dispute 101 6. Misplaced Hyperbole: Traffic Deaths and Social Policy 127 7. University Management: Aspirations and Problems in the Promised Land 149 8. A Place with Too Much History 163 9. Decision Rules: Coping, Simplicity, and Non-Decision 183 Index 203 Q Taylor & Francis ~- Taylor & Francis Group http://taylorandfrancis.com Preface Some years ago, while I was still at the University of Wisconsin, a visiting Israeli political scientist commented on the local newspapers. Compared to those in Israel, he found them terribly parochial, with virtually no news about international affairs or foreign countries. When I moved to Israel, I found that he was right. Israeli papers provide lots of information about the Jews of Europe, the United States, Central Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere. I never made a system- atic survey, but I do not find them more cosmopolitan than American counterparts with respect to their coverage of non-Jewish events over- seas. Soon into my life in Israel, I became even more impressed with how fervent the people could be in describing the country. My daugh- ter came home from school with a report that a friend had insisted that Israel is the most beautiful country in the world. She had never trav- eled overseas, but a teacher said that Israel is the most beautiful coun- try. Eventually I recognized the hyperbole that serves as the focus of this book. Journalists, political activists, and academics seemed less restrained than those I knew from elsewhere in their use of superla- tives to praise or criticize their surroundings. If Israel is not the best, it is the worst. Criticism is more typical than praise. That observation led me to the importance of the prophetic tradition. I found it essential to become familiar with Jewish texts in order to stay in touch with Israeli conversations. The more I read, the more I perceived connections between ancient and modern discourse. The hopes and expectations of the Zionists had ancient roots that boosted aspirations and sharpened disappointments. The Promised Land had not proven to be a Paradise for the Jews, and certainly not for their neighbors. The biblical prophets had expressed themselves like some of my university colleagues. Condemnation was far more prevalent vii viii Governing Israel than praise. There is little moderation in the words of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, or Jeremiah. My first effort to deal with these observations was an article en- titled, “The Promised Land of the Chosen People Is Not All That Distinctive: On the Value of Comparison.”1 It criticized Israelis for asserting that their country performed horribly on important traits, while systematic research found that it was within normal ranges as defined by comparable countries.2 Readers familiar with my work can find traces of that piece in this book, along with a number of other articles and books I have written along the way. The purpose of this book is to describe prominent aspects of how Israelis govern themselves. It focuses on the style of public discourse or political culture. And within this segment of public life, it focuses more narrowly on features of political style that have their roots in the Hebrew Bible. Biblical themes of the Chosen People, Promised Land, and the style of the prophets appear in Israeli politics, even if they are not the only influences on the country, and even if they do not necessarily affect the nature of Israeli policy. They leave their mark on the style of how politicians and other activists express themselves. Biblical themes are less important in affecting the decisions that officials actually make about public policy. Chapters concerned with religion, national security, and social policy cover what are arguably three of the most problematic fields of Israeli policymaking. A chapter on university management deals with issues that are lower in public salience, but still important to university stu- dents and their parents, to university staff members, and to the country’s future. In each of these fields there is a style that draws on biblical roots, while non-biblical features of current events are also prominent in explaining the actions of public bodies. Another chapter surveys a problem even lower on the country’s scale of priorities: preserving historical landmarks. Israel has too much history. Preservationists in- vest much emotion in their demands, but there is too little money to save and maintain everything that is worthy. A chapter on the economy points to one of the reasons why the country has not realized the dreams of its people. The World Bank places Israel among the wealthiest countries, but it is near the tail end of that group. A high degree of governmental centralization is suitable to a tiny country without strong attachments to internal regions. Cen- Preface ix tralization permits maximum control over available resources. Yet even the advantages of centralization do not produce a government budget that is large enough to pay for defense and the other programs activists demand for the Promised Land. The combination of being the Chosen People, living in the Prom- ised Land, and inheriting the prophetic tradition make self-fascination and hyperbole prominent themes. Here and there this hyperactive na- tional ethnocentrism gets in the way of a more thoughtful and dispas- sionate, analytic approach to national problems. Rather than lamenting the nature of Israeli politics, I accept it for what it is. The country is a political hothouse that suffers from a serious problem of national secu- rity and a chronic imbalance between aspirations and resources. Israel’s history, culture, and substantial problems hinder dispassionate plan- ning and the disciplined implementation of proclaimed policy. The result is coping with a great deal of dispute, partial treatments metered out to the most severe of immediate problems, and unsatisfied activists demanding more resources for programs they consider to be essential. Notes 1. Israel Affairs, vol. 5, nos. 2 & 3, Winter-Spring 1999, 279–92. 2. For an example of applying comparative insights to a claim often made about the United States, see Christopher Howard, “Is the American Welfare State Unusually Small?” PS Political Science & Politics XXXVI, 3, July 2003, 411–416.