In David Ben-Gurion and the Foundation of Israeli Democracy, Nir Kedar offers a poignant study of the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Kedar provides an explication of the making of Israeli democracy in terms of its institutional-legal structures and social-cultural underpinnings. David Ben-Gurion and the Foundation of Israeli Democracy connects the formal structures of democracy to the fundamental principles that they were constructed to serve—human freedom and dignity.

A narrative chronicle of Israeli democracy that defines historic phases and follows thematic challenges to democracy, including: competition between religion and the rule of law; the statist society and chaotic minoritocracy; modern illiberal populism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The comprehensive portrait exposes endemic flaws of democracy in Israel, but also shows that Israel has considerable capacity – and responsibility – to fulfill the promise of democracy.

A specialist in the Arab-Israeli conflict and Israel's defense policy, Shalom (Ben-Gurion U.) looks at the first prime minister's views on politics and security and the forces that shaped his positions regarding the Arab world between the War of Independence and the Sinai campaign. He highlights the fundamental difference between political theory and the praxis of applications, and finds in the gap the truism that no policy can reflect in absolute terms a leader's purity of will and aspiration. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Politics in Israel is an incisive guide to Israel’s rich past, unpredictable present, and promising but undoubtedly turbulent future. In his new second edition, Asher Arian again takes a comprehensive look at the country’s history, demography, economy, and sociology—and provides cogent analysis of its ever-changing role in the Middle East. Informed by the latest opinion polls, survey data, and election results, Arian clarifies the major issues facing Israeli culture and politics, and explains the complexities of Israel’s political institutions, political behavior, and public policies. He chronicles the significant events in this dynamic nation's relatively brief experience of self-governance and introduces readers to the exceptional personalities who have defined its domestic landscape. New and expanded coverage in the second edition features: the impact of immigration from the former Soviet Union the adoption and cancellation of the direct election of the prime minister the constitutional revolution occasioned by the expansion of judicial review the weakening of political parties the decentralization of the economy and emergence of a stronger capitalist ethic the political impact of the second intifada and the dominance of Ariel Sharon