ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the process of change, namely the sources, scope, and implications for the division of power in Israel's political economy. It focuses on the liberalization of the Israeli telecom and energy sectors by various Israeli governments from the end of 1970s, especially from the second half of the 1980s. The old international telecom regime was based on the principle of national autonomy in the provision of services on the one hand, and, on the other, international coordination of international transfers of voice, video, and data between these nationally-organized providers. Liberalization, namely the introduction of competition, has been the aim of state-led reform in the Israeli energy sector since the second half of the 1980s. Four sector-oriented explanations may be raised to account for the relative success of the introduction of competition into the telecom sector and its relative failure in energy.
