Külügyi Szemle - A Teleki László Intézet Külpolitikai Tanulmányok Központja folyóirata - 2003 (2. évfolyam)
2003 / 1. szám - KÖZEL-KELET - Gazdik Gyula: The evolution of the Israeli party system
Gyula Gazdik the Likud - can also be found in the Labour Party. The „neo-nationalists" enjoy substantial political and financial support from the mainstream American neoconservative ruling elite. The ethnically, culturally and politically diverse neonationalists are in unison with respect to the creation of a new cohesive force in the fragmented Israeli society by invoking religious and nationalist values. Shinui was another ostensibly successful party by surpassing its own potentials. The Tommy Lapid-led party benefited mostly from the decline of the left, however, it remains an open question with regard to its ability to maintain this advantage in case of a Labour Party recovery. Once again, the victorious Ariel Sharon wants to establish a national unity government, however, in light of the world changing political realities, only time will tell whether he succeeds or not. End Notes 1 As'ad Ghanem, a prominent scholar of Arab minority affairs at the University of Haifa, Israel, pointed out that while theoretically there is equality between the Jewish and Arab ethnic groups, in practice inequality exists in many areas of social life. Consequently, the writer observes that Israel as an ethnic state and as such it cannot be called a democratic state. As'ad: The Palestinian minority in Israel: The „challenge" of the Jewish state and its implications. Third World Quarterly, 2000/1. p.102. 2 The data also includes the Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem and the occupied territories. 3 The Sephardim Jews lived mainly in the Iberian Peninsula from the Middle Ages until their persecution and mass expulsion from those countries in the last decades of the 15th century. The Sephardim initially fled to North Africa and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. 4 These ten Basic Laws comprised the following: Israeli Lands /1960/; the Presidency /1964/; State Economy /1975/; the Army /1976/; Jerusalem /1980/; the Judiciary /1984/; State Comptroller /1988/; Human [Lights and Freedoms /1992/; the Government /1992/; the Law of Return /1994/ 5 Beyme's typology In: Fisichella, D.: A politikatudomány alapvonalai. (Tire fundamentals of political science) Észak-magyarországi IC(P) Rt. 1991.pp. 208-211. 6 http://www.knesset.gov.iL/history/eng 7 Jewish immigration to Palestine began in 1882 as a result of the pogroms in Russia. 8 The Al-Aqsa Intifada was sparked off after the visit of General Sharon to the Temple Mount on the 28th of September 2000. While Palestinian and to some extent, international public opinion put the blame on Sharon; the Israeli side deny that this had been the main cause of the paralysis of the Oslo process. Tire Mitchell Fact-Finding Committee- mandated to examine the precursors of the conflict and the options for the resumption of the negotiations - published a report in April 2001, noting that Sharon’s visit in itself was not the reason for the Al-Aqsa Intifada, although it was ill-timed and its „provocative nature may have been foreseen"/Report of the Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee, April 30, 2001. www.meridian.org/ 9 http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/politics/meretz.html 10 http://www.knesset.gov.il/history/eng 11 Mendes-Flohr, P. R.-Reinharz, J./ed/: Tire Jew in the Modern World, A Documentary History, Oxford University Press, 1980. pp. 462M65. V. Jabotinsky: A betári eszme /The betar tenet/ In: Ambrus Katalin-Bassa László /Vál. sz./ /Sei. ed./: Jabotinsky, 1990. pp. 82-98. 58 Külügyi Szemle
