Israel's societal security dilemma and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process

Nationalism and Ethnic Politics

Volumn 17, Issue 4, 2011, Pages 382-401

  Olesker, Ronnie ^a  

^a ST LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ETHNIC CONFLICT; INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT; INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS; NATIONAL IDENTITY; NATIONAL SECURITY; PEACE PROCESS;

ISRAEL; PALESTINE;

EID: 84855514305     PISSN: 13537113     EISSN: 15572986     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13537113.2011.622641     Document Type: Article

References (129)

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3. Securitization refers to an act that moves an issue from a nonsecurity policy realm into an exceptional status, thereby granting the state the authority to treat the issue as a matter of 'national security' and exercise extraordinary authority.
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19. This case would be similar to cases of unnecessary war identified by defensive realists such as Robert Jervis.
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23. In ethnic conflicts that result from a regular or loose security dilemma, there is a high accountability of the actors for the violence. This is different than the cases in which conflict is a result of misperceptions and violence is desired by none of the actors. Thus, the different interpretations of the dilemma in its tight, regular, or loose forms, bring with them different implications for the causes of ethnic conflicts and the responsibility of actors.
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29. Greater Israel refers to the policy of territorial expansion through settlements in the Occupied Territories.
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31. Israel has a combined 621,000 soldiers (176,000 standing and 445,000 reserves). Egypt's military consists of approximately 450,000 soldiers, Syrian forces include 320,000 and Iran has 665,000 (125,000 of which are members of the Revolutionary Guards). Arab-Palestinians do not serve in the Israeli military.
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56. Or Casheti, "Revealing Incitement of Hostile Elements Within the Education System," Israeli Channel 10, 13 Aug. 2003.
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58. Adalah News Update, 28 June 2005, available online at http://www.adalah.org/eng/pressreleases/pr.php?file=050628-1 (accessed 24 Oct. 2011).
59. Roe, Ethnic Violence, 62.
60. As'ad Ghanem, Nadim N. Rouhana, and Oren Yiftachel, "Questioning 'Ethnic Democracy': A Response to Sammy Smooha," Israel Studies 3(2): 253-267 (1998).
61. Ghanem et al., "Questioning Ethnic Democracy," 256.
62. Nadim Rouhana, Palestinian Citizens in an Ethnic Jewish State: Identities in Conflict (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997), 44.
63. Ghanem et al., "Questioning Ethnic Democracy," 254.
64. Peled "Ethnic Democracy," 432.
65. Oren Yiftachel, Ethnocracy: Land and Identity Politics in Israel/Palestine (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006).
66. Yoav Peled argues that there is a clear legal and practical distinction between the system practiced within the pre-1967 border and the system of control practiced in the Occupied Territories. The rejection of this distinction renders the debate over Israel's democratic character meaningless since the system of control in the Occupied Territories is undoubtedly undemocratic. Yoav Peled, in a review of Ethnocracy: Land and Identity Politics in Israel/Palestine.
67. Oren Yiftachel, Middle East Journal 61(2): 356-357 (2007).
68. Interestingly, and similar to my argument, Peled notes that the developments since 2000 have brought Israel closer to the ethnocracy model, specifically with legislations such as a Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, which I discuss in detail later in the article.
69. Alexander Yakobson and Amnon Rubinstein, Israel and the Family of Nations: The Jewish Nation-State and Human Rights (New York: Routledge, 2009).
70. Yakobson and Rubinstein, Israel and the Family of Nations, 140.
71. Dowty, "Is Israel Democratic," 5.
72. Ruth Gavison, "Jewish and Democratic? A Rejoinder to the 'Ethnic Democracy' Debate," Israeli Studies 4(1): 44-72 (1999), 48.
73. Ruth Gavison, "Jewish and Democratic? A Rejoinder to the 'Ethnic Democracy' Debate," Israeli Studies 4(1): 44-72 (1999), 50.
74. Ruth Gavison, "Jewish and Democratic? A Rejoinder to the 'Ethnic Democracy' Debate," Israeli Studies 4(1): 44-72 (1999), 50.
75. Peleg and Waxman analyze all four 'vision documents.' They conclude that the issue of contention is not merely discriminatory policies of the state but its legitimacy. For example, the historical connection of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is completely ignored in the documents despite being recognized in the partition resolution of the UN in 1947. The authors note that by ignoring this resolution, in effect, the vision document seeks to deny Israel's legitimacy.
76. Dov Waxman and Ilan Peleg, "Neither Ethnocracy Nor Bi-Nationalism: In Search of the Middle Ground," Israel Studies Forum 23(2): 55-73 (2008), 50-60.
77. Peleg, "Jewish-Palestinian Relations," 419.
78. Peleg, "Jewish-Palestinian Relations,"., 429.
79. Peleg, "Jewish-Palestinian Relations," 433.
80. Ilan Peleg, Democratizing the Hegemonic State: Political Transformation in the Age of Identity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).
81. Gavison, "Jewish and Democratic," 60.
82. There are significant disparities in respondents' answers depending on political affiliation among those who vote for Zionist political parties (54% support) and those who voted for Arab parties (19% support).
83. Nadim Rouhana and Ahmad Saabeb, "Equality Between Arabs and Jews and Related Issues," in Nadim Rouhana, ed., Attitudes of Palestinians in Israel on Key Political and Social Issues Survey Research Results (Haifa: Mada al-Carmel, 2007), 2-7.
84. Rouhana and Saabeb, "Equality of Arabs," 3-5.
85. Nabilal-Saleh, "Interview with Muhammed Zidan, the Chair of the Arab High Follow-Up Committee: Ramifications of Recognizing Israel as a Jewish State," Jadal 5 (Dec. 2009), 3.
86. Review of the democracy indexes from 2000 (with particular emphasis on the 2003-2010 period) reveals a consistency in attitudes of Jewish Israelis to the questions highlighted in this article.
87. This number has been consistent. For example in 2003, 77% of the population expressed the same opinion.
88. For extensive and consistent monitoring reports on this subject matter.
89. Mada Al-Carmel, "Israel and the Palestinian Minority: Political Monitoring Report." www.mada-research.org (accessed 22 March 2011).
90. Protocol No. 47 of the meeting of the Knesset's Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, 14 July 2003.
91. Protocol No. 47.
92. Basic Law: The Knesset (Amendment No. 35)-2002. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/19501959/Basic%20Law-%20The%20Knesset%20-1958-%20-%20updated%20translatio (accessed 24 April 2006).
93. Proposed Citizenship Law (Amendment-Declaration of Loyalty, No. 5769)-2009.
94. Avi Sagi and Yedida Stern, "Loyalty is Not a Value," (Hebrew) Haaretz, 15 Oct. 2010, available online at http://www.haaretz.com.il/opinions/1.1225283 (accessed 25 Oct. 2011).
95. Chaim Levinson and Jonathan Lis, "Netanyahu Wants Loyalty Oath Bill to Include Jews as well," Haaretz, 18 Oct. 2010, available online at http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahuwants-loyalty-oath-bill-to-include-jews-as-well-1.319864 (accessed 24 Oct. 2011).
96. Joshua Mitnick, "Israel Loyalty Oath Bill Stirs Arab-Israelis Unease," Christian Science Monitor, 7 Oct. 2010, available online at http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/1007/Israel-loyaltyoath-bill-stirs-Arab-Israeli-unease (accessed 24 Oct. 2011).
97. The National Committee for the Heads of the Arabs Local Authorities in Israel, 'Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel,' in Adalah Newsletter (Dec. 2006). http://www.adalah.org/newsletter/eng/dec06/tasawor-mostaqbali.pdf (accessed 10 Oct. 2010). Cited as 'Future Vision.'
98. "Future Vision," 5.
99. The Haifa Declaration followed the 'Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel' report. The report rejects Israel as a Jewish State, calls for the right of return for all Palestinian refugees and denies Jewish right of return. The Haifa Declaration was issued by Mada al-Carmel, representing prominent Arab scholars and activists and, to a large extent, presents similar arguments.
100. For more on the discrimination of the Palestinian minority in Israel,
101. Nadim Rouhana, Palestinian Citizens in an Ethnic Jewish State.
102. Nadim Rouhana and As'ad Ghanem, "The Crisis of Minorities in Ethnic States: The Case of the Palestinian Citizens of Israel," International Journal of Middle East Studies 30(3): 321-346 (1998)
103. David Kretzmer, The Legal Status of the Arabs in Israel (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990)
104. Ian Lustick, Arabs in the Jewish State
105. Peled, "Ethnic Democracy"
106. As'ad Ghanem, The Palestinian Minority in Israel, 1948-2000 (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001)
107. Peleg, "Jewish-Palestinian Relations"
108. Gideon Fishman and Arye Rathner, eds., Justice for All? Jews and Arabs in the Israeli Criminal Justice System (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998)
109. For up-to-date data, see Sikkuy reports The Equality Index of Jewish and Arab Citizens of Israel. http://www.sikkuy.org.il/english/reports.html (accessed 24 June 2011).
110. Roe, Ethnic Violence, 62.
111. The full text of Netanyahu's foreign policy speech at Bar Ilan is available at http://www.haaretz.com/news/full-text-of-netanyahu-s-foreign-policy-speech-at-bar-ilan-1.277922 (accessed 12 Nov. 2010).
112. 'Netanyahu Offers Settlement Freeze in Return for Recognition as Jewish State, Palestinians Say No,' Haaretz, 10 Nov. 2010, available online at http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahu-offerssettlement-freeze-in-return-for-recognition-as-jewish-state-palestinians-say-no-1.318447 (accessed 24 Oct. 2011).
113. Herb Keinon, "Netanyahu: Abbas Must Say He Accepts 'The Jewish State,'" Jerusalem Post, 26 June 2011, available online at http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=226378 (accessed 25 Oct. 2011).
114. In some cases sanctions can assist in incentivizing states to reinterpret security requirements, but because of Israel's inherent suspicion of the international community, this is unlikely to succeed in this case.
115. Roe, Ethnic Violence, 161-162.
116. Peleg, "Jewish-Palestinian Relations," 416.
117. Earlier research suggests that minority rights cannot be transformed and desecuritized so that minorities no longer regard the maintenance of distinct ethnic/national identities as subjects of societal security. Minority rights can be managed in such a way as to mitigate the societal security dilemma between majorities and minorities. I suggest here that the inclusion of the minority in the peace process can provide such a management strategy.
118. Paul Roe, "Securitization and Minority Rights: Conditions of Desecuritization," Security Dialogue 35(3): 279-293 (2004)
119. Paul Roe, "Reconstructing Identities or Managing Minorities? Desecuritizing Minority Rights: A Response to Jutila," Security Dialogue 37(3): 425-438 (2006).
120. Peled, Review of Ethnocracy, 357.
121. Waxman and Peleg, "Neither Ethnocracy Nor Bi-Nationalism," 66.
122. Netanyahu reiterated this point recently, stating that there will be no "substate" for the Arabs in Israel.
123. Keinon, "Netanyahu: Abbas Must Say."
124. Ten out of 14 democracies with minorities above 20% have used power-sharing techniques in their ethnic relations policies.
125. Dowty, "Is Israel Democratic," 10.
126. For more in-depth discussion of the possible solutions to ethnically divided polities.
127. Peleg, "Jewish-Palestinian Relations," 427-430
128. Dowty, "Is Israel Democratic," 11-13
129. Waxman and Peleg, "Neither Ethnocracy Nor Bi-Nationalism," 67-68.