ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a concise analysis of the construction of Israeli politics from its inception using the concept of dynamic political space. The core problem of Israeli politics is the absence of physical and symbolic borders as a containing framework for conflicts, opposing interests, and rival views. Several distinctive historical periods are examined in terms of the existence or absence of borders, how this impinges upon democratization, and how the blurring of borders serves to close political space. According to the matrix of three arenas, the closing of political space for the Palestinians has fostered violence, and it also served to close political space for the Jews before 1948 and after 1967.
