JWST 3500 Politics of Modern Israel

4 semester hours

This course examines the rise of Jewish nationalism, Theodore Herzl, and the rise of political Zionism. We will discuss Zionism after Herzl, the Balfour Declaration, the seeds of Arab-Jewish confrontation, Palestine in World War II, postwar Palestine, the war of independence, and the growth of the Israeli republic. Other topics include Israel’s search for peace and security, economic and social growth, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, the Likud era, peace with Egypt, and Israel’s involvement in Lebanon, Gaza, and its relationship with Iran. Israeli society is quite heterogeneous, and the many peoples of Israel will be examined from the perspective of nationality and ethnicity as well as from the perspective of religion, gender, and economic status.