The Israeli triangle

The physical borders of the state of Israel have been in heated contention since the establishment of the state less than a century ago. There has also been another border dispute, much less visible to the outside world, but just as critical to the definition of the Israeli nation-state: what is it to be Israeli? Despite Arabs comprising 20 percent of the Israeli population, since the founding of the Jewish state, being Israeli has been understood to be at its core Jewish. As the state matures, and absorbs various populations, it wrestles with liberal and republican citizenship discourses as well as how to define itself, its Jewish and its long-standing and newer non-Jewish members. In part, this unclear identity is nothing more than a continuation of centuries-old questions of the nature of Jewish peoplehood, so inimical to both internal and external Jewish questions in Europe. In part, the question reflects the hybrid nature of the Israeli state, ¹ composed of both European and Middle Eastern Jews, geographically situated in the Middle East while politically, culturally and economically at the crossroads of Africa, Asia and Europe. Finally, it engages the core question of the nature of a Jewish and democratic state in Israel. As an ethnocracy, ² Israel has traditionally given preference to members of the nation of Jews over the non-Jewish citizens of Israel. But, as the number of non-Jewish citizens and residents has grown, the state, as well as state and non-state institutions, are now forced to ascertain ‘what is the definition of Israeli?’