ABSTRACT
The scope of the term “Israeli Politics” needs to be clarified at the outset, however, in order to provide the reader with a realistic indication of the contents of the index. Five specific issue areas immediately come to mind as illustrations of concepts which are almost uniquely of major political consequence in the Israeli political system. These topics are: religion, Zionism, military security, immigration and social tension, and territorial sovereignty. Studies of the constitutional heritage of Israel primarily focus upon the “Westminster Model” nature of its constitutional system, its “unwritten” character, and the several sources of its parentage. Religious political parties have their own literature, which examines both the special needs of religious political parties, as well as the unique role they play in the Israeli polity. The issue of religion and politics has been of great significance in Israel since before the creation of the State.
