Oxford Handbook on Israeli Politics and Society Edited by Reuven Y. Hazan, Alan Dowty, Menachem, Hofnung, and Gideon Rahat
The intense interest in Israel in the media and academia highlights the importance of a resource that enhances understanding of key aspects of Israeli politics and society. This recently published Handbook is examining major issues and topics that generate international attention and provide analytical and theoretical context that benefits scholars and students of comparative politics and international relations as Israel is in many ways a test case of how democracy functions in a deeply-divided society and a state engaged in intense conflict.
While Israel is, like any country, in certain respects unique, from a comparative perspective it is informative given its diversity and the pressure-cooker environment. The bulk of the Handbook is devoted to key concepts in comparative politics as electoral behavior, political culture, and parties and the party system. The study of Israel provides insight into communal cleavages, about deep-set clashes over religion, and about ethnic divisions in a conflictual democratic environment. I suggest to present a roundtable examining the Handbook as a resource and updated teaching tool to the study of Israel and its society.