This book traces the history of the Israeli Right since its inception and its struggle to gain power. It looks at the political ideas that are its bedrock and how it has been the dominant force in Israeli politics for nearly four decades.

Two decades ago, the idea that a "radical right" could capture and drive Israeli politics seemed highly improbable. While it was a boisterous faction and received heavy media coverage, it constituted a fringe element. Yet by 2009, Israel's radical right had not only entrenched itself in mainstream Israeli politics, it was dictating policy in a wide range of areas. The government has essentially caved to the settlers on the West Bank, and restrictions on non-Jews in Israel have increased in the past few years. Members of the radical right have assumed prominent positions in Israel's elite security forces. The possibility of a two state solution seems more remote than ever, and the emergence of ethnonationalist politician Avigdor Lieberman suggests that its power is increasing. Quite simply, if we want to understand the seemingly intractable situation in Israel today, we need a comprehensive account of the radical right. In The Triumph of Israel's Radical Right, acclaimed scholar Ami Pedahzur provides an invaluable and authoritative analysis of its ascendance to the heights of Israeli politics. After analyzing what, exactly, they believe in, he explains how mainstream Israeli policies like "the right of return" have served as unexpected foundations for their nativism and authoritarian tendencies. He then traces the right's steady rise, from the first intifada to the "Greater Israel" movement that is so prominent today. Throughout, he focuses on the radical right's institutional networks and how the movement has been able to expand its constituency. His closing chapter is grim yet realistic: he contends that a two state solution is no longer viable and that the vision of the radical rabbi Meir Kahane, who was a fringe figure while alive, has triumphed.

Introduction : Israel's new foreign policy consensus after the Oslo peace process, 2000-2010 -- Feeling under siege : conflicts, threats, and regional order -- The impact and implications of Israel's foreign policy consensus -- Factors and explanations for the new domestic hegemony -- The return of dissent? 2010 to the present

The Israeli people were stunned in 1984 when they learned of a barely averted plot to blow up five buses full of Arab passengers and an earlier attempt to blow up the Dome of the Rock, the holy Muslim mosque in Jerusalem. Even more shocking was the discovery that the terrorists in question were not a bizarre radical sect, but members of the Gush Emunim, "the Block of the Faithful," a fundamentalist group committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. For the first time, Israelis had to confront the fact that the rise of the Radical Right--and the religious fundamentalism, extreme nationalism, and aggressive anti-Arab sentiment associated with it--was becoming a significant part of the nation's public life. The first book to examine the origins, convictions, and political impact of the entire Radical Right, The Ascendance of Israel's Radical Right provides extraordinary insights into a political camp whose influence pervades Israeli politics and culture as well as Arab-Israeli relations. Sprinzak traces the Zionist roots of the Radical Right and its reemergence following the Six-Day War and the Camp David accords. He examines the increasing control of the Radical Right over the settlements in the West Bank, its penetration of more moderate parties such as Likud and the National Religious Party, and its reaction to the Intafada and the Persian Gulf Crisis. With in-depth portraits of the major movements--including the Tehiya, Tzomet, and Moledet parties, Gush Emunim, and the late Meir Kahane and his Kach party, and various underground or terrorist groups--he sheds new light on the people and events which produce such intense fervor and on their political beliefs--for instance, the views that Arabs should be "transferred" from the occupied territories and that Israel was founded to establish a safe home for the Jews, not to protect the human rights of the Palestinians. Sprinzak argues that approximately 20 to 25 percent of Israeli citizens share the convictions of the Radical Right, and that it is especially strong among the young. Indeed, as the message of this camp spreads throughout the country, Sprinzak predicts that the Radical Right's impact on Israeli politics and national security will only increase. As The Ascendance of Israel's Radical Right shows, the Radical Right is not--as is often thought--a small lunatic fringe, but a major school of Israeli Zionism, whose ideas are propagated by sophisticated and thoughtful leaders with large public appeal. Understanding what the Radical Right has already achieved, and how it is currently shaping much of Israel's government agenda is important for every Israeli and Arab, as well as anyone who is concerned with the future of the Middle East.

The state of Israel is one of the most controversial countries in the world. Yet, its unique creation and rise to power in 1948 has not been adequately explained either by its friends (mainstream Zionists) nor by its detractors (Arabists and post-Zionists). Using a variety of comparative methodologies; from contrasting the Jewish state to other minorities in the Ottoman Turkish Empire to the rise of the four Tigers in Asia to newly independent countries and revolutionary socialist countries in Europe and Asia, Jonathan Adelman examines how Israel has gained the strength to overcome great obstacles and become a serious regional power in the Middle East by 2007. Themes addressed include: how the creation of Israel is strikingly different from that of most new states, as undetermined by the major structural forces in the world in the twentieth century how voluntarist forces, those of individual choice, will and strategy, played a major role in its creation and success in-depth analysis of the creation of a revolutionary party, government, army and secret police as critical to the success of the socialist revolution (1881–1977) the enormity of the forces aligned against the state; from major international and religious organizations representing billions of people, international reluctance to helping Israel in crisis, and internal Israeli and Jewish issues the tremendous impact of revolutionary (socialist and semi-capitalist nationalist) factors in giving Israel the strength to survive and become a significant regional power over time. Jonathan Adelman provides a fresh perspective to view one of the most controversial states in the world and avoids the highly charged ideological descriptions that often plague such discussions. Understanding the rise of Israel, a central state in the region, helps to explain a great deal about the Middle East today.

Two decades ago, the idea that a "radical right" could capture and drive Israeli politics seemed highly improbable. While it was a boisterous faction and received heavy media coverage, it constituted a fringe element. Yet by 2009, Israel's radical right had not only entrenched itself in mainstream Israeli politics, it was dictating policy in a wide range of areas. The government has essentially caved to the settlers on the West Bank, and restrictions on non-Jews in Israel have increased in the past few years. Members of the radical right have assumed prominent positions in Israel's elite security forces. The possibility of a two state solution seems more remote than ever, and the emergence of ethnonationalist politician Avigdor Lieberman suggests that its power is increasing. Quite simply, if we want to understand the seemingly intractable situation in Israel today, we need a comprehensive account of the radical right. In The Triumph of Israel's Radical Right, acclaimed scholar Ami Pedahzur provides an invaluable and authoritative analysis of its ascendance to the heights of Israeli politics. After analyzing what, exactly, they believe in, he explains how mainstream Israeli policies like "the right of return" have served as unexpected foundations for their nativism and authoritarian tendencies. He then traces the right's steady rise, from the first intifada to the "Greater Israel" movement that is so prominent today. Throughout, he focuses on the radical right's institutional networks and how the movement has been able to expand its constituency. His closing chapter is grim yet realistic: he contends that a two state solution is no longer viable and that the vision of the radical rabbi Meir Kahane, who was a fringe figure while alive, has triumphed.

The Rise and Fall of Human Rights provides a groundbreaking ethnographic investigation of the Palestinian human rights world—its NGOs, activists, and "victims," as well as their politics, training, and discourse—since 1979. Though human rights activity began as a means of struggle against the Israeli occupation, in failing to end the Israeli occupation, protect basic human rights, or establish an accountable Palestinian government, the human rights industry has become the object of cynicism for many Palestinians. But far from indicating apathy, such cynicism generates a productive critique of domestic politics and Western interventionism. This book illuminates the successes and failures of Palestinians' varied engagements with human rights in their quest for independence.