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Terminal Ediacaran–late early Cambrian deposition, faunas and passive margin evolution of the north Indian margin are recorded in the Nigali Dhar syncline succession. Restudy of the upper Tal Group (upper lower Cambrian Koti Dhaman Formation, KDF) ichnofauna from the Khud-Drabil section reduces it to 18 confidently named forms. The lower KDF (Lower Quartzite Member) Cruziana-Rusophycus assemblage is in subtidal (not intertidal) sandsheet facies. The overlying black Shale Member (SM) records trans-East Gondwanan deepening, not intertidal facies, in the Palaeolenus Zone. The SM, with low diversity Planolites-Palaeophycus assemblage, is overlain by subtidal (not intertidal) sandsheet facies of the middle KDF (Arkosic Sandstone Member, ASM) with shallow burrowers and furrowers (Gordia marina assemblage, new; Cruziana ichnofacies). KDF faunas with Cruziana and Rusophycus are similar to coeval, shallow marine associations elsewhere in Gondwana and NW Laurentia. Interpretation of a second KDF section 20 km from Khud-Drabil has confused an understanding of Lesser Himalaya geologic evolution as it claims Ordovician Cruziana species in the ASM and an angular SM–ASM unconformity caused by the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary Kurgiakh orogeny. However, upper lower Cambrian microfaunas occur in and above the ASM, while the angular SM–ASM unconformity is consistent with submarine sliding. KDF-type ichnofaunas do not show a tropical location of Avalonia, which has the distinctive lithofacies and biotas of a high-latitude continent unrelated to Gondwana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black Laundry is a queer anti-occupation group which grew out of the feminist peace movement in Israel and adopted imaginative and humorous ways to re-imagine citizenship and solidarity in a nationalist militaristic context. The following essay describes the evolution of the group from the perspective of one of its co-founders, and focuses on the group's improvisational, non-exclusionary strategies, and on different reactions to the high visibility of the group's interventions during the Al-Aqsa Intifada years 2002–2003. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip following the 2021 and 2022 wars, placing these efforts in the context of previous reconstruction experiences after the 2008/09, 2012, and 2014 conflicts. Employing a mixed-methods approach that includes interviews, primary data analysis, and policy document reviews, the study uncovers the dynamics and challenges shaping the recent reconstruction processes. A key finding of this research is the marked slowdown and ineffectiveness of the post-2021 reconstruction, contrasting with earlier efforts. Unlike previous rounds where material flow restrictions due to the blockade were the predominant hindrance, the study identifies a critical shift in the recent context: a significant lack of funds emerged as the primary obstacle. This change reflects evolving political, economic, and security landscapes in the region, including donor fatigue and shifting international priorities. The paper explores continuities and discontinuities in the factors influencing reconstruction outcomes in Gaza, offering a nuanced understanding of how the changing context has impacted rebuilding efforts. It examines the implications of these findings for future reconstruction initiatives in Gaza and similar conflict-affected regions, providing insights into the complex interplay of financial, political, and logistical challenges in post-conflict reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into the intricacies of fostering bottom-up educational initiatives aimed at addressing power imbalances in societies marked by intractable conflicts. Focusing on the establishment of a Palestinian-Jewish integrated bilingual education program in Israel, the study examines archival materials and stakeholder interviews to uncover the divergent motivations of politicians, educators, and administrators. It highlights the multifaceted nature of NGO-government negotiations, emphasizing the entanglement of contexts and the presence of internal conflicts within each entity. By exploring the ideological and operational challenges faced at different administrative levels, from national ministries to local municipalities, the paper provides a nuanced understanding of the support mechanisms for integrated bilingual schools. Findings call for an in-depth examination of these complex dynamics and their broader implications for educational policy and practice in conflict-affected settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Processes of acculturation occur when there is a need to reconcile minority identity with the hegemonic majority culture. What acculturation strategies do minority students adopt in social contexts that are not dominated by either the minority or majority cultures? In order to address this question, this paper offers an ethnographic account of three classes of Arab-Palestinian minority high school students aged 15–17 over the course of 21 months in Israel before, during and after participation in a programme designed to increase understanding of and exposure to the innovation sector. I argue that this curricular programming, which exposes students to internationalisation, globalisation and multinationalism, constitutes a 'third space' that is distinct from both the Arab-Palestinian home/family context and the hegemony of Jewish-majority society in Israel. Within this third space, some Arab-Palestinian students adopt strategies of acculturation that are distinct from their strategies in mainstream Israeli society. The opportunity to partially circumvent or leave the context of Israeli society within third spaces facilitates this distinction. The paper accordingly develops a schema that links theories of acculturation to third space theory, and provides empirical examples of how third spaces can facilitate unique strategies of acculturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted, in part, as a response to the horrific antisemitism leading to the extermination of millions of Jews in World War II. Yet, today, organisations that utilise human rights instruments to criticise Israel's laws, policies and practices are themselves being cast as antisemitic. How has the contemporary human rights regime come to be charged with antisemitism? The ostensible answer is that the meaning of antisemitism has expanded to include anti-Zionism and harsh criticism of Israel. While scholars have debated the validity of this expansion, this paper interrogates three types of abstractions: those deployed by traditional antisemites, those emanating from human rights, and those mobilised by the new antisemitism doctrine. An analysis of these abstractions helps clarify the new hostility between antisemitism and human rights. Whereas Zionism aims to protect Jews by asserting a right to Jewish difference within the context of a nation-state, human rights aim to protect Jews by promoting an egalitarian distribution of rights among the population. The crux of the matter is that the solution human rights offer to antisemitism also threatens the Zionist project, since it challenges the racialized mode of governance that this political ideology has implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligence work is based on the gathering of information, including cartographic material for preparing new maps. This paper examines copies and re‐editions, produced by British, Egyptian, and PLO military authorities, of topographical maps of Israel on a scale 1:100,000, which were published from the later part of the Mandate (1930s and 1940s), up to the 1980s. Certain features in the copies reflect distinctive political attitudes to the local situation or illustrate a lack of cartographic awareness of their significance. No serious attempts were made to hide the sources of the maps. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

"Where are you from?" For Palestinian citizens of Israel travelling abroad, this simple question is anything but trivial. It raises dilemmas of identity and stigma and evokes emotions of embarrassment, guilt and pride. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the paper examines the repertoires of self-presentation of Palestinian Israelis during travel abroad. Their answer to the question changed depending on the country they were visiting. In Turkey, respondents presented themselves as Palestinian; in Arab countries, they were "Arabs of '48." In those Middle Eastern destinations, Palestinian Israelis concealed their Israeli citizenship to avoid stigma and risk. In Europe, by contrast, respondents typically presented themselves as Israeli citizens – a self-presentation also shielded them from stigmas against Arabs. The paper examines the splintered and strategic self-presentation of Palestinian Israelis in the previously-unexplored domain of international travel. Our findings show that during international travel, a minority ethnic background may actually be advantageous at times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a comparative study of Israel and Singapore to understand the national security policies of geographically smaller states. These states are militarily powerful, geographically small, and in close proximity with much larger potential adversaries. These states are also different in terms of their relationship with that much larger state as well as their independence narratives. Israel remains in a state of conflict with Iran through Syria and through terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel was created through war. On the other hand, Singapore has a complicated relationship with Malaysia based on suspicious cooperation. Malaysia also allowed Singapore independence given differences in the voting behavior of Singaporeans. Both states share a military strategy of preemption or prevention. Since these states are geographically small, striking first may offer Israel and Singapore a better chance at avoiding annihilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the experiences of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel (PAI) on entering Israeli higher education (HE). Adopting a sequential exploratory mixed methods design, seven online focus groups (n = 19) were conducted, followed by an online survey (n = 453). The findings indicate that PAI students experience academic, physical, social and cultural disorientation upon entering HE. This disorientation transforms with time into a persistent feeling of lagging behind others. Three structural barriers appear to impede PAI students' progress in HE: language, age and finances – all manifestations of larger systematic discrimination faced by PAIs in Israel. PAI students deal with these challenges by turning to one another for support and forming groups on campus. Variations across gender, parental education and institution type are explored. The paper concludes by discussing practical implications and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populism’s recent ascent to power in many countries has fueled the discussion of anti-populist responses. This paper investigates anti-populism’s implications for economic policy and policymaking. Anti-populism has been shown to manifest alongside and through both neoliberalism and technocracy; this paper investigates how anti-populism shapes the manifestation of neoliberalism and technocracy, and how they can be in turn employed to strengthen anti-populist logic. I consider the case of Israel’s anti-populist coalition (2021–2022), which replaced the populist former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After reviewing the existing literature on anti-populism, I discuss behaviour modification taxation’s role in and importance for anti-populist policy agendas. I analyse the discourse surrounding the implementation of behaviour modification taxation and its implications in Israel, showing that anti-populists can use such policies to not only hurt populist voters but also replace ‘the people’ in the political imagination with rational, incentive-driven individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, neo-Zionist discourse has gain prominence in Israel. This approach, which gives preference to the definition of Israel as a Jewish state over its definition as a democracy, is a specific version authoritarian populism. This paper explores how educational discourses, policies and curricular changes are being shaped by right-wing populist organization and politicians to strengthen New-Zionism, while delegitimising liberal-democratic values. The paper draws on three examples. The first focuses on the campaign to ban the activist groups 'Breaking the Silence' – a group of army veteran who collect testimonies on Israel's misconducts in the occupied territories – from entering schools. The second example is the case of 'Im Tirtzu', a right-wing organization, and their campaign against left-wing influences in the academy. A third example focuses on the changes to the compulsory civic curriculum – an example to the ways in which education is used to perpetuate a particular notion of Jewish nationalism. These cases help reveal the reactions of academic institutions to such actions, and the partial acceptance they have gained in recent years. They also show how the boundaries of the political were redrawn and the role education policy and institutions play in delegitimizing left-wing critique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing focus in political science on right-wing populist parties. But few comparative studies address their discourses and politics relating to family values, especially when involved with policy-making. Moreover, many comparative works about populism focus on a single region – often Western and Eastern Europe. This paper adopts a definition of populism with two different dimensions: the vertical (inclusive), which regards elites, and the horizontal (exclusive), which addresses 'foreigners'. The use of family values in political discourse and policy pertains to the two axes of populism. On the one hand are elites who are accused of being uncommitted to traditional values and morally corrupt. On the other hand are demographic concerns regarding declining birth rates among native populations and immigrants with large families. The stress on family values can also originate from a value orientation – or merely a tactical move – engendered by political competition. This paper specifically examines the politics of family values in the context of policies concerning gender equality, family planning and LGBT rights in three countries: Israel, Italy and Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science education projects are being used to improve attitudes between conflicting groups, but it is not clear which aspects of science make it an effective agent for this purpose. This paper investigates how attitudes towards intergroup cooperation relate to different perceptions of science. Regression analyses are conducted on questionnaire data (N = 246) collected from Arab-Palestinian minority high school students in Israel, comparing students who identify primarily as Israeli, Palestinian, and pan-Arab. The analyses indicate that perceiving science as global and international is strongly associated with a preference for mixed work or study environments. The paper suggests that for many students, science and technology in Israel have become globalised and internationalised to the point that science education represents a distinct social space from mainstream Israeli society. By border-crossing into the science classroom, students enter a 'global space' wherein the challenges associated with minority status and poor minority–majority relations are less salient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic conference, a site of possible changes in professional knowledge and hierarchy, is an area of academic life rarely studied. Through three main concerns this article illuminates this point for the first time with respect to the status of women and gender research at the last thirty-two annual meetings of the Israeli Geographical Society. First, although men still present the majority of the conference papers, women have increased their share and now constitute one-third of all active participants. Second, women's appearance as chairs of sessions and keynote speakers is significantly lower in proportion to their overall participation in the conference, and they are consistently more involved in its less prestigious aspects. Third, the production of geographic knowledge as reflected in conference papers is gendered, but its pattern differs from that in academia in general. The findings reveal a new facet of the gendered construction of academic life in general, and of Israeli geography in particular, and offer new avenues to revealing the impact of social exclusion on academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into Emmanuel Levinas’s political theology, as found in his Jewish writings, positing an analysis of a philosophical historiography, termed “eschatology” by Levinas. Within this framework, the narrative revolves around two pivotal entities: the West and Israel. Levinas contends that Israel embodies the ideal and telos of the West, portraying Judaism as the essence of Western civilization. The focus here centers on the adverse aspects, particularly three figures identified by Levinas’s eschatological political theology as problematic embodiments of Western civilization: Hitlerism, Christianity, and Rome. The paper asserts that, contrary to common assumptions, Levinas places Rome, not Christianity, in the closest and most significant rivalry with Judaism. Levinas posits that Judaism's primary role is political, not religious, and its historical struggle pertains more to the Empire than to matters of faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the state apparatus classifies who are the citizens to be symbolically included in the collective, and who are to be excluded by analysing interfaith marriages in the Israeli context, where ethno-national identity is society's main category organizer. I argue that the women's social-economic standing (working-class versus middle-class) and ethnic origin (Mizrahi Jews of Middle Eastern and North African ancestry versus Ashkenazi Jews of European ancestry) play an important role not only in their strategies but in the nationalist rhetoric against them. The paper also shows how interfaith marriages, although rather rare in Israel, determine that ethno-national boundaries are more permeable than they are first appear, although crossing and shifting them is never simple. Yet the importance of this phenomenon is not in its prevalence, but in its social and political impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The kibbutzim are unique communal settlements in Israel that aimed to establish an exemplary way of living and set a positive example for Israeli society. They sought to differentiate themselves from urban life and instead created a social structure based on socialist principles. This study delves into the cultural aspects of the kibbutzim, with a specific focus on their architectural representation, planning, and design. It demonstrates that architecture plays a pivotal role in shaping the kibbutzim way of life, with architects and members actively participating in the design process. Through their collective efforts, the kibbutzim strive to create physical spaces that embody their values and aspirations, reflecting their commitment to social equality and communal living. This paper thoroughly investigates the significance of developing tangible infrastructure to accommodate kibbutz culture. It examines the relationship between architecture and culture at three levels: the kibbutz’s master plan, the settlement’s cultural complexes, and the individual’s experience within the library space. At each level, this paper uncovers new insights, providing a fresh perspective on the relationship between the kibbutz society and its physical cultural structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few years, the civics curriculum for Israeli high-schools has become the centre of a heated political debate. Following this debate, in May 2016 a revised official textbook was introduced. This paper draws on an in-depth analysis of the revised official textbook, comparing it to the previous official textbook published in 2000. The analysis focuses on the discursive changes that took place regarding the ways in which the revised textbook conceptualises Israeli citizenship. A particular focus is placed on how the revised version of the official textbook often prioritises the ethno-national model of the nation state over and above the commitment to democratic values, including minority rights. The main argument of this paper is that these changes are a reflection of the penetration of a neo-Zionist discourse into the civics curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropologists have critically examined a range of reforms from education and land to finance and health. Yet the predominant way of looking at reforms has been through a lens focused on neoliberal governance. For example, prior studies of health reforms focus on insurance, financing, and access to care. Yet, seeing reform in this way fails to attend to other types of cultural work at play when calling a policy or law a reform. In this paper, we draw on ethnographic research on health policy reforms in Israel and Bolivia to examine the concept of reform and the work it does within national movements. We argue that while the language of reform often signals change or novelty, reforms also carry forward historical continuities and reifications of the past. By delving into the past and its relationship with ongoing health reforms, we attend to how reforms can reinforce and maintain health inequities in some cases, while creating a national language for new possibilities in others. Reform, as we will discuss in this paper, is not only about political ideology, neoliberal governance, or on-the-ground policy implementation, but centrally it is about representations of aspirations, and about crafting relationships between past, present, and future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homeland-construed perceptions of the diaspora can yield valuable insights into the discourse around the homeland's collective identity. I illustrate this claim using the debate surrounding the Kotel Compromise, a government plan designed to regulate pluralistic and non-Orthodox Jewish prayer at the Western Wall (Kotel in Hebrew). This plan has recently become a subject of contention between the State of Israel, where Orthodox Judaism has an institutional monopoly, and Diaspora Jews, many of whom identify with non-Orthodox Jewish denominations, such as Reform and Conservative Judaism. Drawing on protocols of the Knesset (Israeli parliament), I show how the different participants in this debate used their perceptions of Diaspora Jews not only to reaffirm external boundaries relating to Jewish peoplehood, but also to reconstruct internal boundaries relating to Judaism as religion. This paper suggests that analyzing homeland perceptions of the diaspora can widen our understanding of the construction of homeland identities and boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the adoption of brutalism in the work of Israeli landscape architects. Since the 1960s, Brutalism made its way from Europe to Israel by leading architects at the time. In parallel, landscape architects also considered Brutalism appropriate to the young state, and the use of concrete as a cheap and readily available construction material. They demonstrated creativity by constructing plazas, outdoor housing complexes, playgrounds and parks, essentially laying a cement carpet across the landscape. The absence of a well-established local outdoor material tradition, coupled with climatic and maintenance considerations, encouraged the burgeoning prominence of outdoor Brutalism in Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternating laminae of charred ash and packed earth uncovered in Field VI of Tel Gezer, Israel, have been interpreted as the remains of Iron Age threshing floors. Recent geoarchaeological research has, however, led to the reinterpretation of similar deposits elsewhere as the remains of a trash heap. This paper presents the results of analysis and dating of charred plant remains that were recovered from the laminated deposit of Gezer Field VI and reassesses their implications for the origins of the strata. A broad spectrum of potentially cultivated crops and arable weeds are identified, matching contemporary archaeobotanical assemblages elsewhere in the region. The archaeobotanical remains are found to be inconsistent with the residues expected to derive from a threshing floor. Rather, they appear to derive from a range of depositional pathways. This is consistent with a context into which numerous sources of plant remains were deposited, such as a midden. Evidence for the potential use of this space as a multi-purpose activity area will be a focus of future research. The dating of the archaeobotanical remains also aligns with a recently developed radiocarbon-based chronology to suggest that the laminated deposit is dated several centuries earlier than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water conservation campaigns (WCC) are a common tool for mitigating droughts and water scarcity by encouraging reductions in household consumption. This paper moves beyond examining the impact of WCCs on consumption to look at the ways in which these campaigns discursively construct notions of water resilience. By analyzing eight televised WCCs produced by the Israel Water Authority from 2008 to 2018 in response to recurring droughts, this paper shows how discourses of resilience are audio-visually and symbolically constructed and represented to the public. The results indicate that a variety of opposite and competing discursive strategies were used in these campaigns: motivational, instructive or informative, fear/hope, nationalistic/individualistic and eco-centric/anthropocentric. The longitudinal comparison reveals how the discourse of water resilience evolved over the years from resilience by resistance to transformation and adaptation, confined to depolitical ethical-individual behavioral change while ignoring government responsibility, systemic social-environmental causes of the problem, and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analysed the real-time coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre by the three main Israeli newspapers at the time: Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Haaretz. It found that while there were noticeable differences in the coverage of the event by the three papers, all of them framed the massacre as integral part of the black-and-white confrontation between Israel and Arab terrorism. Paradoxically, this 'us' vs. 'them' dichotomy seems to have played into the perpetrators' hands by casting them as part of a formidable global terrorist network rather than a small fringe group, on the one hand, and as a significant factor affecting the possible evolution of Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

History education has been instrumental in transmitting collective memories across generations while sustaining national traditions. Many nations use history education to instill national memories in their future citizens. In the current Jewish context, history is arguably a dominant cultural discourse. History education is deemed central to preparing future Jewish citizens of Israel. In particular, Zionist scholars and educators use the Bible as their primary text, providing an infrastructure of history and myths for this national ideology. In order to investigate the relationship between political ideology, education, and national memories, this paper explores the ways in which the Hebrew Bible and Jewish history are being taught interchangeably in Jewish-Israeli schools. Drawing on various source materials (such as political videos, school curricula, and textbooks), the paper retraces the origins of this conflation, critically examines its goals, and suggests possible effects it may have on the formation of children's and adolescents' collective memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the analysis of Israeli society and the experience of immigration and integration into it in the first decades after its establishment in 1948, an Ashkenazi-Mizrahi dichotomy became prevalent, and the explanatory efficacy of other contributing factors went mostly unnoticed. The academic, institutional and public discourses that focused on those among the Mizrahi Jews, who struggled to fit-in, perpetuated the early Ashkenazi establishment's biases against all that was Arab and by extension Mizrahi. Exploring socio-cultural practices - such as dress codes and choice of language, of Jews arriving in Israel from Egypt during this period, this paper will examine the role of class identity and performativity (rather than ethnicity) in shaping the immigrant experience of newcomers. Relying on multiple sources including interviews, life stories and oral testimonials, it will argue that the Jews of Cairo and Alexandria shared an urban middle-class habitus with the Israeli Ashkenazi elites; and that the performative expression of this shared identity enabled them to open doors closed to many other Middle Eastern and North African groups and paved their way into the Israeli mainstream despite their Mizrahi decent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on organizational decline among public sector agencies with particular emphasis on the causes which intensify this decline. The paper employs resource dependence theory to explain the way over-dependence relationships involving governments and their organization likely intensifies organizational decline conditions. The author analyses the causes of prolonged decline in the Israeli firefighting services. The findings show how weaknesses in the implementation of government policy, deliberate and ongoing disdain of recommendations and critique from the state comptroller and a systematic reduction in budgets intensified organizational decline. The conclusions underscore the insight that effective measures to prevent or remedy organizational decline in the public setting require prior identification and understanding of its major causes. This paper, by explaining the causes of a prolonged decline in the Israeli firefighting services, provides managers and policy-makers with important insights and valuable lessons. First, over-dependence relationships involving governments and their organizations intensified organizational decline conditions. While public sector organizations perform in a world of resource dependence, managerial strategy should recognize the nature of the organization's dependence on the environment. Second, the paper discusses the important topic of the organizational life-cycle by focusing on the crucial stage of organizational decline that most, if not all, organizations experience. Adopting a proactive organizational approach by incorporating an organizational life-cycle model into a management strategy may provide a road map that will identify critical decline conditions and the appropriate responses, formalize organizational procedures and systems, and revise organizational priorities. Leaders need to recognize when to change past strategies or practices while they face organizational decline conditions. This kind of reflection-on-action is an important opportunity for learning and development—both for those who manage organizations and those who study them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2002, Israel started the construction of a 708-kilometer wall to control the Palestinian territories. The Wall offered a massive canvas, which the Palestinians used to develop graffiti and murals. The artwork and graffiti are location-specific, ephemeral, transitory, and unstable. This paper aims to document, archive, and analyze discourse and themes emerging from the artwork that developed on the Wall between 2018 and 2022. The analysis of these images has revealed that, while the purpose of building the Wall was to curb and stifle their resistance, Palestinians turned it into a platform where they were able to express their commitment to national resistance, freedom, justice, love, poetry, business, and even personalization of their own stories. The Wall has also attracted international solidarity and sparked a new protest movement called "struggle tourism", focusing on the Palestinian presence in the region's physical, moral, and political landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transkids is a documentary on gender transitioning children in Israel. My interest is in the quotidian lives of the three transmasculine youths portrayed in the film. In reading the documentary, I draw on existing queer feminist cultural studies scholarship on Israel to frame the specific conditions under which these youths realize their boyhood and manhood. In this paper, I ask after three questions. One, what are the community support systems and options for gender affirmation available to transmasculine children in Israel? This is a question of gender transition. But I am also interested in the question of age; that is, the boy's coming-of-age as men. Thus, my second question: what are the pathways available to these transmasculine children in their development from boyhood to manhood in Israel? Altogether, this paper looks at the possibilities for gender transition for transmasculine children, and also the pathways and promises of a futurity post-transition. Following the gender transitioning process of Ofri, Liron and Noam, Transkids offers an interesting case for the ease with which one becomes a boy and one becomes a man in Israel's sexual modernity. How might we read this from an affirmative feminist perspective? In the third and final section of the paper, I ask after the ways in which existing feminist scholarships on queer politics in Israel might impact how we think and feel about the trans boys' everyday lives, which in turn raises further questions for the development of an affirmative feminist boys studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonprofit organizations operating in civil society have become the main channel for social service provision in most neoliberal welfare economies. Social service nonprofits (SSNs) deliver essential services mainly to vulnerable and marginalized populations. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, SSNs have been at the frontline of dealing with its socioeconomic consequences. This paper focuses on the activities and responses to the crisis of SSNs in Israel. Interviews with SSN directors (N = 17) show that they dealt with growing demands for services due to the social implications of the pandemic, along with operational difficulties, such as deterioration in clients' condition, disruption in service continuity, and reduced funding and staff. Next to these difficulties, the findings highlighted the social innovations adopted by SSNs to maintain service provision, such as implementing remote service technologies, forming collaborations, and recruiting volunteers. Implications for the social services and policies are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the acceleration of the democratic backsliding Israel experienced between January 2023 and April 2023 during the first session of the 25th Knesset and the 37th government in Israel. We explore the factors that contributed to this process. Our goal is to determine whether there are any elements that are unique to Israel in this regard that distinguish it from other countries that have experienced such backsliding in recent years. To do so, we utilize an event history analysis based on a timeline of the actions of the members of the 37th government. The analysis shows that the four incentives that aligned together before the election of the 25th Knesset and the creation of an extreme right-wing government accelerated the backsliding of Israeli democracy. The unique factor that distinguishes Israel from other countries is the indictments of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The conclusions offer several insights for Western democracies from the Israeli case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with objects that serve as props in political speeches, and examines their role as carriers of symbolic meaning that is constructed during a performance enacted in a political space. It focuses on the use of such objects as rhetorical arguments in three speeches by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: "the bomb speech," "the drone-wreckage speech" and the "binder speech." In each of these political speeches, the initial introduction of the object serves as a declarative act of coronation. This declaration imbues the object with symbolic meaning that relates to reality on several levels: it can serve as a visual metaphor, as a metonym, as a concrete illustration of an abstract concept, or an exhibit or evidence that a certain event took place. The relations between the prop and the spoken text and its rhetoric are discussed in order to trace the unique properties of the multimodal array of arguments that the "crowned" object constructs. The unique characteristics of the objects serve to echo and accentuate the identity and worldview of the speaker, but may also give rise to meanings that undermine the speaker's intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper to uncovers how leaders practice emergent strategy as a core strategic philosophy. The article uses the case of general and statesman Moshe Dayan as a principal case study to uncover leadership and management practices of emergent strategy. Following a discussion on the emergent versus deliberate strategy schools, I show why Moshe Dayan as a leader can be considered as an archetype of the emergent approach worth studying. I then present six leadership principles that enabled him to practice the emergent approach. The article concludes with discussion of the limitations and value of the emergent approach for leaders today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the significant change that has occurred in the balance between offense and defence in Israel's 'hybrid' military strategy in recent decades. Relying on fresh materials concerning the organizational, doctrinal, and procurement processes of Israel's military, we identify a shift from offense towards defence as the preferred way to protect Israel in the face of new security threats. We also show that due to rapidly changing security challenges, limited resources, and the military's organizational culture, this change has been gradual, incremental, improvised, and largely informal. We propose that similar changes may characterize other states facing new security challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the past and present of higher education in tourism and hospitality management in Israel. The paper discusses the growth of higher education in hospitality and tourism through local initiatives and by franchising and extensions from foreign institutions. The nature of the higher education system in Israel and the accreditation processes of local academic programs is discussed. The case of Ben-Gurion University is introduced to illustrate the development of an academic program in hospitality and tourism management. The paper also compares the current state of the available academic programs to the year of 2000, at the eve of the Palestinian uprising. The paper analyses the complex relations between the Israeli hospitality industry and the higher education programs, as well as the challenges of future graduate programs and industry-academe relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vasectomy is considered a permanent form of contraception for men that can help reduce reproductive inequality. Its underutilisation in the context of the threats it may pose to perceptions of traditional masculinity has been closely investigated, but the lived experience of the procedure itself has been largely overlooked. This paper examines the experience of having a vasectomy in Israel, focusing on the recommended form of anaesthesia. Drawing on 15 semi-structured interviews with Israeli men who have experienced vasectomy, we found that the choice of anaesthesia has a significant impact on the meaning and experience of vasectomy. Unlike the widespread use of local anaesthesia during vasectomy in other countries, vasectomy in Israel is performed almost exclusively under twilight sedation administered intravenously. Based on our findings, we argue that framing vasectomy as an operation that requires sedation is related to views of masculinity and reproduction. Our data suggest that vasectomy in Israel is constituted as a potentially traumatic event, and anaesthesia is employed to protect patients from feelings of embarrassment and discomfort. We conclude that the prevailing method of sedation perpetuates the silencing and marginalisation of vasectomy as a contraceptive method, and consequently, its very limited accessibility in Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Harlem Globetrotters basketball team visited Israel as part of its 1955 world tour. As representatives of American culture, the US team challenged the leaders of Israeli sports culture who sought to maintain a tight alignment between local sports, Zionist values, and political interests. This paper uses Debord's society of the spectacle theory to analyse the public criticism of the Globetrotters' visit to Israel. The analysis finds that the critique, which extended beyond strictly sports criticism, reveals the zeitgeist of Israel's first decade of independence and its prevalent attitudes toward body culture norms, and illuminates the role assigned to sport in Israeli ethos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the ramifications of the fact that a majority of (Jewish) Israeli citizens no longer considers the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territory of the West Bank to be an 'occupation'. Informed by qualitative research conducted in Israel and the occupied territory of the West Bank, the paper argues the case for understanding of this process of social legitimation as being rooted in complex structures of cultural processes and practices grounded in ideological and religious beliefs. Identifying Zionism as an ethno-national ideology, located within the wider ethno-national impulse of nineteenth century Europe, the paper further investigates a number of cultural processes that have led to the domestic justification and rationalisation of occupation in the Israeli public consciousness and consequently, the legitimisation of continued occupation. These cultural practices are inherently highly political, constituting a long-term strategy aimed at maintaining the occupation. The paper argues that this strategy is articulated not only by cultural practices of ethnonationalism and identity politics, but ultimately by various acts and facets of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes micro-inequality in Tel Aviv night clubs, relying upon Levinas's concept of the face. In-depth interviews with nightclub doormen, or "selectors", as they are called in Israel, revealed that the clients' faces comprise a critical component of their screening work. At the same time, they reported that customers' faces make it difficult for them to do their jobs and force them to engage in evading faces and suspending ethical judgments. The paper shows how in these face-to-face interactions, the face of the "Other" (the "dangerous" Mizrahi male client) is fully recognized and then suspended, enabling the selectors to affirm and then resist its ethical call. The paper's discussion points to some of the implications of the ability of the selectors to affirm and resist the ethical obligation that Levinas attributes to the face, including a focus on the selectors' justification of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extending the discourse on impression management, we explore a counter-intuitive workplace deviance phenomenon whereby employees aim to get themselves fired from their jobs. Employing exploratory qualitative methods, we collected evidence from employees who practice deliberate negative impression management (NIM), from parties who witnessed NIM, and from Human Resource (HR) managers who have dealt with NIM, in two distinct geographies: Israel and Taiwan. The paper outlines the diverse sources of NIM, its specified and unspecified aims, its actual consequences, and its prevalence. This unique dataset offers insights that extend our understanding of impression management theory and practice, serving as a mean to explicating a variant of deviant behavior at the workplace and providing information to HR personnel on ways to engage with the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the seemingly puzzling situation in which legislators vote against a government of which they will become a part. Why are legislators from the coalition parties not fully disciplined in the investiture vote? Is it because of the type of government when the characteristics of the investiture vote is similar (a simple majority and an ex-post vote)? Using Israel and Italy as case studies, we demonstrate that when the type of government is an oversized coalition and the investiture consists of a simple majority and an ex-post vote (as a constant), legislators will be willing to vote against their party. We argue that they do so to express their disappointment with the positions they are offered and/or the policies that the coalition is adopting. Given the simple majority and oversized coalition, they are risking little and potentially reaping future rewards from their actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines discriminatory attitudes of Israeli Jews towards non-Jewish immigrants admitted into Israel under the Law of Return. We looked at three spheres of discrimination: admission, political rights, and welfare rights and focused on the role of realistic socioeconomic and symbolic threats in the emergence of discriminatory attitudes. We used a mixed-methods approach that allowed to test our hypotheses among a representative sample (survey) and examine the logics underlying the respondents' justifications for endorsing discrimination (focus groups/in-depth interviews). The findings show that discrimination endorsement is strongest in the case of admission and political rights where Israeli Jews seek to prevent the presence of outgroups and deny them the right to become part of the society. By contrast, discrimination with respect to welfare rights is less pronounced – possibly because it is not viewed as awarding membership in society, but rather providing individuals their basic needs based on universalistic or democratic values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, offensive cyber operations are becoming another tool among many in the diplomatic toolbox of states, with countries discussing cyberattacks more openly than before. This change in practice from covertness to openness warrants a closer look at the interests and motivations of countries in 'going public'. This paper offers a conceptual framework for understanding why attackers and defenders might choose publicity over secrecy, and analyzes the possible outcomes of choosing each. The framework is examined through a series of mutual cyberattacks and intrusions between Iran and Israel during 2020–2021 serving as an illustrative case study. The research demonstrates that each strategy along the axis spanning from silence to full publicity and attribution is enabled by, or serves, a particular set of circumstances on both the defender and attacker's sides. Each combination reflects a particular dynamic, demonstrating that the choice of strategy is more evolved than an outdated silence-or-publicity perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper demonstrates exegetically that God's prophesied gathering of the Israelites in Deuteronomy 30,1-10 can happen only after repentance and a return to devoted service of God, which is made possible by a divine or spiritual regenerative work on the minds and moods of Israel. This is supported by evidence that this pericopé was an intentional chiasm giving focus to this theme. Current relevance theologically is argued on the basis of how this understanding of Deuteronomy 30,1-10 can be applied to renewed and ongoing debate over the literal versus spiritual future fulfillment of, especially the timing of, Israel's restoration as a "nation." In particular this has implications for the current discussions over so-called Replacement Theology or Supercessionism, wherein some have tended to base evaluations on political correctness over exegesis. The question here clarified is what role this passage plays in regard to the nature of renewed Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notwithstanding the introduction of education multilingual policies worldwide, testing and assessment procedures still rely almost exclusively on the monolingual construct. This paper describes a study, part of a larger project fostering a new multilingual education policy in Israeli schools, exploring bi/multilingual assessment. It included two types of second language learners—immigrants from the Former Soviet Union, who learn all their school subjects in Hebrew, and Arab students, whose school language of instruction is Arabic but who learn some subjects in Hebrew. The experimental groups received a bilingual version of a test (Hebrew-Russian; Hebrew Arabic) and the control groups a Hebrew-only version. In the Russian-speaking experimental group, students received significantly higher scores than in the control group, while no significant differences surfaced between the groups among the Arabic-speaking students. Yet, attitudes toward bilingual assessment, evaluated via questionnaires, think aloud protocols and focus groups, were highly positive in both groups, addressing the availability of L1 in the test as contributing greatly to a more relaxed and positive approach. Multilingual tools emerged as a fairer method of assessing knowledge for second-language learners, who cannot fully demonstrate their academic knowledge in L2, and their use is recommended as part of the new multilingual policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to argue that the Zionist idea offers an effective lens through which we can understand the X-Men comics. Through the metaphor of mutants as Jews, Marvel has presented readers with both literal representations of Israel and what can be read as a Jewish state. Early storylines placed allegorically Jewish characters in Israel and appear to endorse the need for a mutant nation. Later comics, following shifts in international perception of Israel, feature the Israeli superhero Sabra, whose Zionist rhetoric is perennially ignored or curtailed. Most recently, the mutant nation of Krakoa, which provides safety and unity for a historically persecuted and globally-dispersed people, can be productively understood as a Zionist utopia, fulfiling the potential offered in earlier comics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This reflective paper offers the metaphor of ‘Aleph’—the ‘place of all places’—as well as the material city of Jerusalem, as points of departure for rethinking critical urban theories. In the paper, Jerusalem is ‘prized open’ as a site of learning—exposing the diversity of structural forces shaping this—and any other—city. The ‘Aleph approach’ draws attention to the relational and often changing nature in which structural forces interact as they produce urban space and society. This is highlighted by a ‘guided tour’ of Jerusalem that reveals an array of colonial, capitalist, religious, gendered and political forces of domination and their fluctuations through time and place. As such, the paper offers a ‘South-Eastern’ perspective, framed by ‘dynamic structuralism’ as foundation for new and engaged CUTs—critical urban theories. Such theories, it is suggested, should be informed by the multiple and uneven nature of oppression and resistance, and by new concepts and categories that emerge from the analysis, without treating the city as simply ‘chaotic’ or ‘self-organized’. Urban theory should move beyond the numbing theoretical dominance of ‘globalizing’ or ‘neoliberal’ capitalism, and deal seriously with simultaneous forces, movements, agents and politics that co-produce the nature of contemporary urbanism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the factors that influence public trust in public organizations responsible for providing services before, during and after emergencies. We develop a research framework and test it using a survey distributed among a representative sample of the Israeli population. The analysis develops the concept of an emergency network and explains its advantages as a mechanism for coordinating emergency services. It shows that trust in emergency organizations is related to trust in the public sector in general, the perceived level of readiness of emergency organizations and the degree to which people fear that an emergency situation will occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of social protests on planning and housing policies by looking at the case of Israel's 2011 J14 social protests and subsequent governmental policy reforms. We investigate whether there is a link between the demands of the protesters and reforms put in place in between 2011 and 2017. We also examine whether the policy reforms met the demands of protesters, and to what degree the protests influenced policy changes. We establish a strong connection between the protesters' demands and the measures the government adopted following the protests. The policies put in place did reflect the government's willingness to adopt the protesters' demands, even going so far as to absorb financial losses. However, the government only entertained these demands up to a certain degree. It was not prepared to radically alter its neoliberal, pro-free market outlook in the long term, nor revert to its former role as a social welfare provider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]