The left parties are the oldest political institutions in Israel. They were founded before the es... more The left parties are the oldest political institutions in Israel. They were founded before the establishment of the State and were the dominant political force in its first decades. However, since the 1990s, there has been a consistent decline in their power, to the point where, in the last Knesset elections held in 2022, the left parties barely passed the threshold. This article explains the decline of the left parties and attempts to answer where the voters went. A combination of several local and global events that occurred in recent years caused the left parties to distance themselves from the narrative of Zionist Socialism characterizing them and to adopt a new narrative, which less inspires identification of Jewish voters. The article's main argument is that the voters did not disappear but only changed their political behavior from a state of party identification and voting for the left parties to a state of political opposition and voting against the rightist parties. To illustrate the pattern of behavior, voting data for the Knesset in two communities with different demographic characteristics are presented: Kibbutz Mizra, a socialist commune identified with left voters, and Beit-Shean, a town that is a stronghold of rightist voters. The conclusion is that the way for the left parties to return to dominance is through reintegrating the Jewish identity with the values of justice and equality.
The left parties are the oldest political institutions in Israel. They were founded before the es... more The left parties are the oldest political institutions in Israel. They were founded before the establishment of the State and were the dominant political force in its first decades. However, since the 1990s, there has been a consistent decline in their power, to the point where, in the last Knesset elections held in 2022, the left parties barely passed the threshold. This article explains the decline of the left parties and attempts to answer where the voters went. A combination of several local and global events that occurred in recent years caused the left parties to distance themselves from the narrative of Zionist Socialism characterizing them and to adopt a new narrative, which less inspires identification of Jewish voters. The article's main argument is that the voters did not disappear but only changed their political behavior from a state of party identification and voting for the left parties to a state of political opposition and voting against the rightist parties. To illustrate the pattern of behavior, voting data for the Knesset in two communities with different demographic characteristics are presented: Kibbutz Mizra, a socialist commune identified with left voters, and Beit-Shean, a town that is a stronghold of rightist voters. The conclusion is that the way for the left parties to return to dominance is through reintegrating the Jewish identity with the values of justice and equality.
The positions of the political parties in Israel on the central issues that concern the Israeli s... more The positions of the political parties in Israel on the central issues that concern the Israeli society reveal a struggle between two social orientations regarding the desired character of the State of Israel. At one extreme stands the Jewish ethnic identity that draws its origins from the Jewish tradition and aspires to guaranty the Jewish nature of the state. The civic liberal identity that stands at the other end represents the aspiration of an equal and democratic state in the spirit of the values of the French Revolution. For the first thirty years, Israel was ruled by left-wing socialist and secular parties who cultivated the civic identity. However, in 1977 a political upheaval occurred when the right-wing and religious parties took power and since then have operated to promote the Jewish ethnic identity. The strengthening of right-wing parties reveals a fundamental change in Israeli society. A consequence of the strengthening of the Jewish ethnic identity is the adoption of ...
Wydział Nauk Politycznych i DziennikarstwaW latach osiemdziesiątych XX w. kibuce w Izraelu znalaz... more Wydział Nauk Politycznych i DziennikarstwaW latach osiemdziesiątych XX w. kibuce w Izraelu znalazły się w poważnym kryzysie zarówno pod względem ekonomicznym jak i demograficznym, który zagroził utrzymaniem tych wspólnotowych kooperatyw. Niemożność rozwiązania kryzysu ruchu kibucowego w oparciu o dotychczasowe doświadczenia, doprowadziła do otwarcia się kooperatyw na rozwiązania, które można było zaadoptować z gospodarki rynkowej. Efektywność mierzona poprzez reguły wolnorynkowe oraz komercjalizacja zaczęły mieć wpływ na zmianę modelu wyborczych zachować mieszkańców kibuców w wyborach do Knesetu. Celem pracy jest ukazanie zmieniającej się tożsamości politycznej, a co za tym idzie, preferencji wyborczych mieszkańców kibuców. Należy podkreślić, że nowe reguły funkcjonowania kibuców wpłynęły na zmianę określenia jednostki w kategoriach społecznych i politycznych. Dawna, zbiorowa społeczna reprezentacja kibuca, która miała tak wyjątkowy charakter, została osłabiona na rzecz tworzącego się systemu wartości, w którym jednostka znajduje się w centrum. Skutkiem ubocznym tego procesu jest wypieranie lewicowych ugrupowań przez partie centrowe, jako bardziej odpowiadające społecznej tożsamości mieszkańców kibuców. Aby zobrazować zachodzące zmiany w politycznej tożsamości, zostały wybrane trzy kibuce znajdujące się w różnych stadium przemian społeczno-gospodarczym. Badania ankietowe zostały przeprowadzone w Kibbutz Deganya A, Kibbutz Mizra i Kibbutz Ein Dor. Przedmiotem badań było nie tylko wskazanie grupy w kibucu i zidentyfikowanie zmiany tożsamości politycznej, ale przede wszystkim zbadanie w jaki sposób można ją ukazać za pomocą nowej wiedzy społecznej. Teoretyczne rozważania opierają się modelu społecznej reprezentacji (Moscovici, 1984), w którym kładzie się nacisk na społeczną wiedzę jako źródło zachowania jednostki. Innowacyjną metodą zaproponowaną w badaniach jest możliwość wyjaśnienia społecznych koncepcji wynikających z określonej tożsamości politycznej i w ten sposób wypływającej na preferencje wyborcze jednostki. Dodatkowo rezultatem badań jest wskazanie na sporą różnicę w percepcji rzeczywistości społecznej i politycznej pomiędzy dwiema grupami wiekowymi. W przeciwieństwie do starszej generacji, młodsi reprezentanci kibuców opowiadają się neoliberalnym modelem społecznej reprezentacji i w ten sposób określają siebie i polityczny system. Partie lewicowe i ich programy uznawane są przez nich za nieefektywne i odbiegające od współczesnych realiów.In the 1980s the kibbutzim suffered a severe economic and demographic crisis, which endangered the continuation of their existence as cooperative communities. The inability of the kibbutz movements to identify the crisis or to resolve it through the existing social knowledge motivated them to adopt steps to increase efficiency, taken from the ideas of the free market and the capitalist method. Beyond the increase of economic efficiency, the arrangement of the community under new rules was accompanied by political influence, as can be seen in the change of the voting pattern of the kibbutzim members to the Knesset. This work focuses on the change of the political identity of the kibbutzim members in recent years. The main argument is that the arrangement of kibbutz society under the new rules brought into the kibbutz a new social discourse that completely changed the way in which the individual defines himself in social and political terms. The old social representations of the cooperative kibbutz, which were the source of the unique identity, weakened and began to give way to a new set of values in which the individual is found at the center. The political byproduct was that the left parties that in the past served as a prototype for the socialist identity were perceived as not relevant to the new social identity, in favor of steadily increasing support for the center parties. To track the change in the political identity, we chose to examine from up close three kibbutzim found at different stages of the change processes: Kibbutz Deganya A, Kibbutz Mizra, and Kibbutz Ein Dor. Every kibbutz member received a questionnaire, which asked about his understanding in a series of open questions. The objective was not only to identify which group in the kibbutz changed its political identity but primarily, to examine how the penetration of the new social knowledge contributed to this. The theoretical basis underpinning this research study is the Social Representations Theory (Moscovici, 1984), which emphasizes the constellation of social knowledge as the source of human behavior. The innovation of this research is in the ability to explain the social thinking behind the political identity and hence behind the voter's party preference. The characterization of the findings indeed revealed a large gap in the perception of reality primarily between two age groups in the kibbutz. Unlike the older generation, the younger employed neo-liberal social representations to define…
In the 1980s the kibbutzim suffered a severe economic and demographic crisis, which endangered th... more In the 1980s the kibbutzim suffered a severe economic and demographic crisis, which endangered the continuation of their existence as cooperative communities. The solution was to adopt steps, taken from the ideas of the free market. Beyond the increase of economic efficiency, the rearrangement of the community under new rules was accompanied by political influence, as can be seen in the change of the voting pattern of the kibbutzim members to the Knesset. The main argument is that the arrangement of kibbutz society under the new rules brought into the kibbutz a new social discourse that completely changed the way in which the individual defines himself in social and political terms. The political byproduct was that the Left parties that in the past served as a prototype for the socialist identity were perceived as not relevant to the new social identity, in favor of steadily increasing support for the center parties. To track the change in the political identity, we chose to examine from up close three kibbutzim found at different stages of the change processes: Kibbutz Deganya A, Kibbutz Mizra, and Kibbutz Ein Dor. The objective was not only to identify which group in the kibbutz changed its political identity but primarily, to examine how the penetration of the new social knowledge contributed to this. The findings revealed a large gap in the perception of reality primarily between two age groups in the kibbutz. Unlike the older generation, the younger employed neo-liberal social representations to define itself, the community, and the political system. The left parties, like the old kibbutz, were perceived as old, inefficient, and thus not relevant for it in the voting for the Knesset.
The positions of the political parties in Israel on the central issues that concern the Israeli s... more The positions of the political parties in Israel on the central issues that concern the Israeli society reveal a struggle between two social orientations regarding the desired character of the State of Israel. At one extreme stands the Jewish ethnic identity that draws its origins from the Jewish tradition and aspires to guaranty the Jewish nature of the state. The civic liberal identity that stands at the other end represents the aspiration of an equal and democratic state in the spirit of the values of the French Revolution. For the first thirty years, Israel was ruled by left-wing socialist and secular parties who cultivated the civic identity. However, in 1977 a political upheaval occurred when the right-wing and religious parties took power and since then have operated to promote the Jewish ethnic identity. The strengthening of right-wing parties reveals a fundamental change in Israeli society. A consequence of the strengthening of the Jewish ethnic identity is the adoption of a dichotomous world view by the Israeli government and uncompromising positions toward the international arena, including the EU. The current structure of Israeli society, together with the trend for the coming years, suggests the strengthening of the Jewish ethnic identity, and therefore the political gap between Israel and the EU widening.
The left parties are the oldest political institutions in Israel. They were founded before the es... more The left parties are the oldest political institutions in Israel. They were founded before the establishment of the State and were the dominant political force in its first decades. However, since the 1990s, there has been a consistent decline in their power, to the point where, in the last Knesset elections held in 2022, the left parties barely passed the threshold. This article explains the decline of the left parties and attempts to answer where the voters went. A combination of several local and global events that occurred in recent years caused the left parties to distance themselves from the narrative of Zionist Socialism characterizing them and to adopt a new narrative, which less inspires identification of Jewish voters. The article's main argument is that the voters did not disappear but only changed their political behavior from a state of party identification and voting for the left parties to a state of political opposition and voting against the rightist parties. To illustrate the pattern of behavior, voting data for the Knesset in two communities with different demographic characteristics are presented: Kibbutz Mizra, a socialist commune identified with left voters, and Beit-Shean, a town that is a stronghold of rightist voters. The conclusion is that the way for the left parties to return to dominance is through reintegrating the Jewish identity with the values of justice and equality.
The left parties are the oldest political institutions in Israel. They were founded before the es... more The left parties are the oldest political institutions in Israel. They were founded before the establishment of the State and were the dominant political force in its first decades. However, since the 1990s, there has been a consistent decline in their power, to the point where, in the last Knesset elections held in 2022, the left parties barely passed the threshold. This article explains the decline of the left parties and attempts to answer where the voters went. A combination of several local and global events that occurred in recent years caused the left parties to distance themselves from the narrative of Zionist Socialism characterizing them and to adopt a new narrative, which less inspires identification of Jewish voters. The article's main argument is that the voters did not disappear but only changed their political behavior from a state of party identification and voting for the left parties to a state of political opposition and voting against the rightist parties. To illustrate the pattern of behavior, voting data for the Knesset in two communities with different demographic characteristics are presented: Kibbutz Mizra, a socialist commune identified with left voters, and Beit-Shean, a town that is a stronghold of rightist voters. The conclusion is that the way for the left parties to return to dominance is through reintegrating the Jewish identity with the values of justice and equality.
The positions of the political parties in Israel on the central issues that concern the Israeli s... more The positions of the political parties in Israel on the central issues that concern the Israeli society reveal a struggle between two social orientations regarding the desired character of the State of Israel. At one extreme stands the Jewish ethnic identity that draws its origins from the Jewish tradition and aspires to guaranty the Jewish nature of the state. The civic liberal identity that stands at the other end represents the aspiration of an equal and democratic state in the spirit of the values of the French Revolution. For the first thirty years, Israel was ruled by left-wing socialist and secular parties who cultivated the civic identity. However, in 1977 a political upheaval occurred when the right-wing and religious parties took power and since then have operated to promote the Jewish ethnic identity. The strengthening of right-wing parties reveals a fundamental change in Israeli society. A consequence of the strengthening of the Jewish ethnic identity is the adoption of ...
Wydział Nauk Politycznych i DziennikarstwaW latach osiemdziesiątych XX w. kibuce w Izraelu znalaz... more Wydział Nauk Politycznych i DziennikarstwaW latach osiemdziesiątych XX w. kibuce w Izraelu znalazły się w poważnym kryzysie zarówno pod względem ekonomicznym jak i demograficznym, który zagroził utrzymaniem tych wspólnotowych kooperatyw. Niemożność rozwiązania kryzysu ruchu kibucowego w oparciu o dotychczasowe doświadczenia, doprowadziła do otwarcia się kooperatyw na rozwiązania, które można było zaadoptować z gospodarki rynkowej. Efektywność mierzona poprzez reguły wolnorynkowe oraz komercjalizacja zaczęły mieć wpływ na zmianę modelu wyborczych zachować mieszkańców kibuców w wyborach do Knesetu. Celem pracy jest ukazanie zmieniającej się tożsamości politycznej, a co za tym idzie, preferencji wyborczych mieszkańców kibuców. Należy podkreślić, że nowe reguły funkcjonowania kibuców wpłynęły na zmianę określenia jednostki w kategoriach społecznych i politycznych. Dawna, zbiorowa społeczna reprezentacja kibuca, która miała tak wyjątkowy charakter, została osłabiona na rzecz tworzącego się systemu wartości, w którym jednostka znajduje się w centrum. Skutkiem ubocznym tego procesu jest wypieranie lewicowych ugrupowań przez partie centrowe, jako bardziej odpowiadające społecznej tożsamości mieszkańców kibuców. Aby zobrazować zachodzące zmiany w politycznej tożsamości, zostały wybrane trzy kibuce znajdujące się w różnych stadium przemian społeczno-gospodarczym. Badania ankietowe zostały przeprowadzone w Kibbutz Deganya A, Kibbutz Mizra i Kibbutz Ein Dor. Przedmiotem badań było nie tylko wskazanie grupy w kibucu i zidentyfikowanie zmiany tożsamości politycznej, ale przede wszystkim zbadanie w jaki sposób można ją ukazać za pomocą nowej wiedzy społecznej. Teoretyczne rozważania opierają się modelu społecznej reprezentacji (Moscovici, 1984), w którym kładzie się nacisk na społeczną wiedzę jako źródło zachowania jednostki. Innowacyjną metodą zaproponowaną w badaniach jest możliwość wyjaśnienia społecznych koncepcji wynikających z określonej tożsamości politycznej i w ten sposób wypływającej na preferencje wyborcze jednostki. Dodatkowo rezultatem badań jest wskazanie na sporą różnicę w percepcji rzeczywistości społecznej i politycznej pomiędzy dwiema grupami wiekowymi. W przeciwieństwie do starszej generacji, młodsi reprezentanci kibuców opowiadają się neoliberalnym modelem społecznej reprezentacji i w ten sposób określają siebie i polityczny system. Partie lewicowe i ich programy uznawane są przez nich za nieefektywne i odbiegające od współczesnych realiów.In the 1980s the kibbutzim suffered a severe economic and demographic crisis, which endangered the continuation of their existence as cooperative communities. The inability of the kibbutz movements to identify the crisis or to resolve it through the existing social knowledge motivated them to adopt steps to increase efficiency, taken from the ideas of the free market and the capitalist method. Beyond the increase of economic efficiency, the arrangement of the community under new rules was accompanied by political influence, as can be seen in the change of the voting pattern of the kibbutzim members to the Knesset. This work focuses on the change of the political identity of the kibbutzim members in recent years. The main argument is that the arrangement of kibbutz society under the new rules brought into the kibbutz a new social discourse that completely changed the way in which the individual defines himself in social and political terms. The old social representations of the cooperative kibbutz, which were the source of the unique identity, weakened and began to give way to a new set of values in which the individual is found at the center. The political byproduct was that the left parties that in the past served as a prototype for the socialist identity were perceived as not relevant to the new social identity, in favor of steadily increasing support for the center parties. To track the change in the political identity, we chose to examine from up close three kibbutzim found at different stages of the change processes: Kibbutz Deganya A, Kibbutz Mizra, and Kibbutz Ein Dor. Every kibbutz member received a questionnaire, which asked about his understanding in a series of open questions. The objective was not only to identify which group in the kibbutz changed its political identity but primarily, to examine how the penetration of the new social knowledge contributed to this. The theoretical basis underpinning this research study is the Social Representations Theory (Moscovici, 1984), which emphasizes the constellation of social knowledge as the source of human behavior. The innovation of this research is in the ability to explain the social thinking behind the political identity and hence behind the voter's party preference. The characterization of the findings indeed revealed a large gap in the perception of reality primarily between two age groups in the kibbutz. Unlike the older generation, the younger employed neo-liberal social representations to define…
In the 1980s the kibbutzim suffered a severe economic and demographic crisis, which endangered th... more In the 1980s the kibbutzim suffered a severe economic and demographic crisis, which endangered the continuation of their existence as cooperative communities. The solution was to adopt steps, taken from the ideas of the free market. Beyond the increase of economic efficiency, the rearrangement of the community under new rules was accompanied by political influence, as can be seen in the change of the voting pattern of the kibbutzim members to the Knesset. The main argument is that the arrangement of kibbutz society under the new rules brought into the kibbutz a new social discourse that completely changed the way in which the individual defines himself in social and political terms. The political byproduct was that the Left parties that in the past served as a prototype for the socialist identity were perceived as not relevant to the new social identity, in favor of steadily increasing support for the center parties. To track the change in the political identity, we chose to examine from up close three kibbutzim found at different stages of the change processes: Kibbutz Deganya A, Kibbutz Mizra, and Kibbutz Ein Dor. The objective was not only to identify which group in the kibbutz changed its political identity but primarily, to examine how the penetration of the new social knowledge contributed to this. The findings revealed a large gap in the perception of reality primarily between two age groups in the kibbutz. Unlike the older generation, the younger employed neo-liberal social representations to define itself, the community, and the political system. The left parties, like the old kibbutz, were perceived as old, inefficient, and thus not relevant for it in the voting for the Knesset.
The positions of the political parties in Israel on the central issues that concern the Israeli s... more The positions of the political parties in Israel on the central issues that concern the Israeli society reveal a struggle between two social orientations regarding the desired character of the State of Israel. At one extreme stands the Jewish ethnic identity that draws its origins from the Jewish tradition and aspires to guaranty the Jewish nature of the state. The civic liberal identity that stands at the other end represents the aspiration of an equal and democratic state in the spirit of the values of the French Revolution. For the first thirty years, Israel was ruled by left-wing socialist and secular parties who cultivated the civic identity. However, in 1977 a political upheaval occurred when the right-wing and religious parties took power and since then have operated to promote the Jewish ethnic identity. The strengthening of right-wing parties reveals a fundamental change in Israeli society. A consequence of the strengthening of the Jewish ethnic identity is the adoption of a dichotomous world view by the Israeli government and uncompromising positions toward the international arena, including the EU. The current structure of Israeli society, together with the trend for the coming years, suggests the strengthening of the Jewish ethnic identity, and therefore the political gap between Israel and the EU widening.
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