ABSTRACT
Established in 1948, the State of Israel is a young and evolving democracy with an exceptional mix of modern and traditional values. As described by Lowenstein and Doron (2013), Israel is a modern ‘Western’ country with relatively high standards of living, education, technology and health. At the same time however, Israel also has a strong traditional and family-oriented culture that mixes the Jewish majority’s traditions and religious values with those of the country’s Muslim, Christian and Druze minorities (groups that constitute about 20% of Israel’s population). Even within its Jewish majority, the Israeli society is a multi-cultural mix of secular, traditional and orthodox groups, which in themselves represent diversity in origins and socio-economic backgrounds (Brodsky, Shnoor, & Be’er, 2013). Finally, recent social trends, such as modernization, urbanization and a shift to a more neo-liberal political culture, have to some extent eroded familial and communal commitments to elder care. For example, in some Arab communities, where traditionally care for older persons was provided by family members within multi-generational shared households, new institutional and residential care settings have been established for the first time (Azaiza, Lowenstein, & Brodsky, 1999).
