ABSTRACT
As we have seen, Israeli political culture at the outset in 1948 combined several elements into a systemic whole: the combination of diaspora cultural traits with the self-willed character of the new Jew or Zionist; the unionparty-state symbiosis; the social and political compromise between secularists and religious traditionalists, nearly all of European origin; and the democratic infrastructure that allowed all of the aforementioned factors the flexibility to adjust to challenges with the passage of time. Since 1948, Israel has undergone a great many changes, but the essential elements of this systemic whole remain, albeit with some significant amendments.
