ABSTRACT
The Likud came to power in 1977 after an extended period of Labor dominance of the political system. This chapter focuses on selected decisions and activities of the Ministerial Committee on Symbols and Ceremonies (MCSC). From the records of twenty years of the MCSC's activities, the chapter examines two cases that are illustrative of the process through which the Likud's leaders, building on past decisions and practices of previous Labor governments, unsuccessfully attempted to shape political culture according to their own unique interpretation of reality. The first case is the memorialization (and near deification) of Vladimir Zeev Jabotinsky, the ideological guru of the Revisionist movement and of Herut. In the second case, the chapter explores the implications of the elaborate state funeral that was given by the Likud government for the reputed remains of the fighters and followers of Shimon Bar Kochba, the leader of the last Jewish revolt against the Romans.
