ABSTRACT
One of the most striking developments in Israel in recent years is the reemergence of political polarization after nearly two decades of relative political quietude. This polarization, which differs in several important respects from the divisiveness of the earlier period, has been expressed largely through verbal violence, but there have also been dangerous signs of increasing physical violence as well. This chapter analyzes the key incidents that led to the intensification of the conflict between the two camps in the periods prior to and after the establishment of the state, and the "normalization" of relations in the later period. The incidents also led to the renewal of serious political strife in the period of Likud rule, and the relative normalization following the formation of the unity government in 1984. Avraham Diskin concludes that serious polarization exists in spite of the absence of extreme ideological distance between the two camps.
