ABSTRACT
The Palestinian issue and Greater Israel have become secondary to a struggle among a multiplicity of groups, each of which wants to redefine the nature of Israeli society. In contrast to views, according to which collective identities are being obliterated in postmodern societies. The struggle over predominance of Jewish versions of Christian Western values as against Moslem Mediterranean ones is partly linked to the former and will also have its imprint on the future nature of Israeli society. In shedding Jewish religion, however, Zionists had to find a substitute justification for their claim to their patrimony, a claim which had been based on the Bible which is undeniably a Jewish religious text. The Religious Zionists had always distinguished themselves from the orthodox by accepting modernity, religious toleration and especially, Israeli democracy and its institutions. The 1 million immigrants from the former Soviet Union comprise a large number of persons considered non-Jews by religious standards.
