ABSTRACT
This case study discusses the realization of the nineteenth-century Zionist dream to create a Jewish state via mass immigration from Europe to the lands of ancient Israel. Extensive lobbying in Britain, the colonial power in control of the Mandate of Palestine, and extensive political preparation for Israel’s initial political institutions preceded independence. Israel retained the legal system and many of the administrative institutions from the mandate and later gradually reformed them. From the beginning it had universal adult suffrage. As a result its institutions enjoyed widespread legitimacy among the Jewish population. The Arab population of the region, however, attacked Israel within hours of its independence in 1948. During the eight-month war that followed, Palestinian land ownership droppedfrom 87.5 to 22.6 percent and has remained a divisive issue ever since. Israel has faced a major war every decade since independence. Despite high defense expenditures, it has a thriving economy and a far higher general standard of living than any other country in the region. Substantial economic aid from Jews internationally, the United States, and Germany has contributed to Israeli prosperity.
