Less than two years after winning the 2013 elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to dissolve his government, paving the way for general elections. While the initial impression was that the upcoming elections were "pointless" and "unnecessary", the campaign gradually turned into a passionate and dramatic political competition, which reflected - and reenergized - the ideological, social, ethnic and cultural divides of Israeli society. This book describes and analyses a great variety of political, sociological and cultural dimensions of the 2015 elections for the 20th Knesset. Covering issues such as voters' behaviour, coalition formation, figures of leadership, political identities, political communication and persuasion, this rich collection of essays offers a unique and comprehensive perspective on Israeli political culture in general, and on the Israeli society in the midst of the 2015 elections in particular. It also offers theoretical insight to anyone interested in parliamentary politics and party systems in general. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Israel Affairs.

Less than two years after winning the 2013 elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to dissolve his government, paving the way for general elections. While the initial impression was that the upcoming elections were "pointless" and "unnecessary", the campaign gradually turned into a passionate and dramatic political competition, which reflected - and reenergized - the ideological, social, ethnic and cultural divides of Israeli society. This book describes and analyses a great variety of political, sociological and cultural dimensions of the 2015 elections for the 20th Knesset. Covering issues such as voters' behaviour, coalition formation, figures of leadership, political identities, political communication and persuasion, this rich collection of essays offers a unique and comprehensive perspective on Israeli political culture in general, and on the Israeli society in the midst of the 2015 elections in particular. It also offers theoretical insight to anyone interested in parliamentary politics and party systems in general. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Israel Affairs.

The 2013 elections took place less than two years after the overwhelming wave of social protests of summer 2011. At first, the election campaign did not raise much public interest, but the emergence of new players and young political forces energized the political race. Polls conducted throughout the campaign greatly deviated from the final results, which eventually enabled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a cabinet again, despite a loss of 11 seats for his list. This book describes and analyses a variety of political and sociological developments in Israel both before and after the elections. These include the nature of the campaign, the developments in the National Camp, among religious Zionists, the ultra-Orthodox parties, and the Russian vote. Furthermore, it assesses the impact of media, including new media. The variety of subjects makes the book suitable for undergraduate and graduate students in Middle-Eastern, Israeli, and Jewish studies, as well as political science and liberal arts in general. Israel at the Polls has been updated and published regularly for thirty-five years, providing readers with up-to-date analysis and continuity of scholarship. This book offers a long-term assessment of Israeli politics. This book was published as a special issue of Israel Affairs.

The 2013 elections took place less than two years after the overwhelming wave of social protests of summer 2011. At first, the election campaign did not raise much public interest, but the emergence of new players and young political forces energized the political race. Polls conducted throughout the campaign greatly deviated from the final results, which eventually enabled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a cabinet again, despite a loss of 11 seats for his list. This book describes and analyses a variety of political and sociological developments in Israel both before and after the elections. These include the nature of the campaign, the developments in the National Camp, among religious Zionists, the ultra-Orthodox parties, and the Russian vote. Furthermore, it assesses the impact of media, including new media. The variety of subjects makes the book suitable for undergraduate and graduate students in Middle-Eastern, Israeli, and Jewish studies, as well as political science and liberal arts in general. Israel at the Polls has been updated and published regularly for thirty-five years, providing readers with up-to-date analysis and continuity of scholarship. This book offers a long-term assessment of Israeli politics. This book was published as a special issue of Israel Affairs.

The 1973 Yom Kippur War did not only have external implications on Israel, but also some dramatic internal implications, particularly with regards to the civil-military relations as well as the fields of psychology and political sociology. To this day, the consequences of this war are still prevalent in Israel, in terms of drafting security policies and the military doctrine. After the war, new identities were formed in the Israeli civil society, which began to function as active agents in shaping security policy. These players are not a unique Israeli case, yet their actions in Israel serve as a case study that illuminates their significant impact in other countries as well. This is due to the fact that the "Israeli Laboratory" is a liberal democratic society living with an ongoing conflict; it has a mandatory army that is sensitive to fluctuations in public opinion, culture and the media; and issues of national security and military conduct are always a top public concern. Consequently, this book examines the rise of five identities and agents that were formed after the 1973 War and highlights the effects they had on the formation of Israeli defense policy from then on. The book also clarifies the importance of exposure to these agents' activities, referring to the psycho-political social factors that may actually dictate a state's international policies. It therefore forms a study that connects sociology, political psychology, international relations, the field of culture studies and studies of strategy planning. Thus, the book is of interest to both the domestic-Israeli field of research and to the global scholarly discourse, particularly to academic disciplines engaged in civil-military relations (political sociology, political science).