ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book. The book presents the transformation of the Israeli economy and society since 1974. It focuses on the liberalization of two key sectors of the Israeli economy, namely: telecommunications and energy, and illustrates that liberalization, in Israel as elsewhere, is a much more complex and complicated process than simply the retreat of the state and the expansion of the market. The book analyzes the "constitutional revolution" that took place in Israel in 1992, with the passage of two constitutional "basic laws" protecting human rights, and places it in the context of the general neo-liberal transformation of the society. It problematizes the meaning of social and economic liberalization on at least three levels, namely: the very nature of the process of liberalization, in any society; its particular manifestation in Israel; and its political consequences. The book examines directly the interaction between economic transformation and the peace process.
