Likud Leaders

This book is an exploration of the history and ideology of Revisionist Zionism--the stream of Zionism represented by the ruling Likud Party in Israel--from its inception in the 1920s under Vladimir Ze'ev Jabotinsky through its modification under Herut Party leader Menahem Begin to the present. The main features of Revisionist Zionism under Jabotinsky are discussed, with each of the four Likud Party leaders receiving two to three chapters covering his early life, early career and rise to party leadership and his legacy for the party and the state. An overview is given of the 1940s underground careers of Menahem Begin as leader of the paramilitary organization Irgun Zvai Leumi, and Yitzhak Shamir as leader of the Lohemei Herut Israel. In conclusion the author examines common characteristics that the five leaders share and how the party may evolve in the future.

This research discusses the second-generation Likud leaders, known as the Princes, who have dominated Israeli politics for most of the last three decades: their relations with their parents and the extent to which they have followed in (or diverged from) their footsteps. The main theme seeks to explore the unique, perhaps unprecedented, socio-political phenomenon of generational duplication in a western-type democracy. This volume examines the ways and means through which the disciples of Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky managed not only to maintain lasting control of their mentor's creation – to transform after Israel's establishment from a small opposition party into the country's dominant and ruling party – but also hand down this political pre-eminence to their descendants. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the son of Ben-Zion Netanyahu, "foreign minister" of Jabotinsky's movement. President Reuven Rivlin is the son of resistance warrior Rachel Rivlin. MP Benny Begin is the son of Menachem Begin. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni and many others were also part of those "Princes". A breakthrough in the world’s inter-generational research, the book is for readers interested in political science, sociology, and the politics of Israel and the Middle East.

Appraise critically the Likud government's rule from 1977 to 1992 and the version of Zionism that is Central to Likud's ideology.

Speaking before a group of foreign ambassadors to the United Nations on one of his final days in office, President Reuven Rivlin in New York issued a plea to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to "forget about the past" and work together with Israel to achieve peace. "We are not doomed to live to together, we are destined to live together. It's our role to end conflict," Rivlin said in a speech at the tail-end of his farewell tour in the United States. "Let's forget about the past. Let's build confidence. There are opportunities to achieve a bright future for our peoples. We are interested in continuing to work with the UN in order to meet the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza, with whom we have no conflict," Rivlin said. Hence it is imperative that peace and harmony are manifested in Israel-Palestine; and that all parties concerned start working towards a just and fair Middle East peace plan - as well as restoring human rights, human dignity and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in the region. It is also imperative that the Bennett-Lapid government is fair and just; and that policies implemented are free from systemic injustices, so that equal rights and legal equality can be manifested in the land. This also means that Hamas's extremist leaders - in particular Mr. Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa - need to reconcile and make peace with Israel. Otherwise the Gazans must find a new leadership, so that the Gaza blockade can finally be lifted, and the UDHR can be restored in the land. It should also be noted, that more than 2.5 million Palestinians live under Israeli rule but cannot vote in national elections. This must change. All people in the land should be eligible to vote and stand for election - as stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This also means that legal equality and equal rights must be manifested in Israel-Palestine by legislation. Hence it is imperative that the Knesset implements the necessary legislation that ALL people in the land are equal under the law, and eligible to vote and stand in national elections. Failure to do so, will increasingly label Israel as an Apartheid State. That is the reality of the situation, Mr Naftali Bennett and Mr Yair Lapid! In other words, the Israeli judicial system alone, will not be able to manifest legal equality in the land. The Knesset - in particular the Bennett-Lapid government - will also have to do its part.

The 2006 elections constitute a major redrawing of the political map in Israel due to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s exit from the Likud party and his creation of a new centre party, Kadima. Following Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, Sharon formed Kadima taking many former Likud MKs, and prominent members of the Labour party with him. Focusing particularly on the various political parties, the election campaign in the media and the main issues at stake in the election including: foreign and defence policies, social and economic issues, as well as, the issue of corruption, this book examines the impact of this reorganization of the political map. The impact of events in the Palestinian Authority and other external factors are also discussed, as well as the challenges for the new government, in the wake of the election results. This book was previously published as a special issue of Israel Affairs.

An analysis of the development of the Israeli Labour Party, from its origins in the labour movement at the turn of the century, up to and including its defeat in the 1996 elections.

The results of the June 1992 Israeli elections at first indicated a normal transition of power from Likud to Labor in the tradition of Western democracies, rather than an upset. However, one and one-half years later there were signs of a major change. Israel at the Polls, 1992 looks at the parties, election campaigns, major institutions, and analyzes the policies of the new government's first year. Co-published with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

Conntributors to this volume tackle the question of how to define the contours of current religious fundamentalism, examining the private & public postures of fundamentalist rhetoric, the importance of its regional variants, & the damage it can do to regional & national educaton systems.