ABSTRACT
Israel's intellectuals always remained committed to the continuance of dialogue, and they expressed their fear that the failure to examine critically political options may result in disaster. Intellectuals debated options for Israel that were out of touch with facts and processes taking place in the environment. The Begin era was characterized by defiance of that tie between Jewish nationalism and Western humanism. The feeling that the heir apparent had been ousted by the pretender to the throne, a feeling shared by many intellectuals and a major motif in their writing, led them to a reassertion of their role as social critics devoted to an evaluation of society from a universal, humanistic point of view. One cannot ignore the role of right-wing ideologues, such as Israel Eldad and Yuval Ne'eman, in helping blur the distinction between religious and strategic or political thinking, especially as regards the occupied territories.
