Post-Zionism

Post-Zionismis the opinion of someIsraelis,diasporaJewsand others, particularly in academia, thatZionismfulfilled its ideological mission with the formation of the modernState of Israelin 1948, and that Zionist ideology should therefore be considered at an end. TheJewish rightalso use the term to refer to theIsraeli Leftin light of theOslo Accordsof 1993 and 1995. Some critics associate post-Zionism withanti-Zionism;proponents strenuously deny this association.

Characteristic of the perceptions of post-Zionism

Post-Zionism is a term associated with a variety of perceptions and different positions, behind which stands criticism of the core beliefs of Zionist groups. Post-Zionists raise many questions about Zionism and the state of Israel, among them:

• Is the State of Israel indeed a safe shelter for the Jewish nation? Are there any other places in the world in which the Jews' conditions are better from a historical point of view? (For example,Jews in the United States)
• Is it possible for Israel to be aJewish and democratic state?In situations where being aJewish stateand ademocracyare in conflict with each other, which is more important? Should Israel become a state of all its citizens?
• Is theIsraeli–Palestinian conflictentirelyblack-and-white?Did Israel always maximize its efforts to obtain peace? Should all the blame for the continuation of the conflict fall on the Arab side?

Many of the aforementioned questions have also been raised by Zionists.However, the post-Zionists emphasize these points in their conception of Zionist history.

In sociological development

Transformations that took place in Israeli society in the 1980s and 1990s brought considerable changes to its values and political views. These changes have taken place in the economic field—e.g., liberalization of the Israeli economy and its opening to the global market, as well as in the breaking of the culturalhegemonyof thelabor movement,which existed up to that time. The prominent turning point occurred in 1977, when the right-wingLikudparty first wonparliamentary majority.This alone was a manifestation of the strengthening of the more extreme Zionist positions.

Several changes occurred in this period in tandem, including a reaction to the strengthening of the Zionist component in the government. Still, not all of the numerous changes occurring in tandem are due to one factor, and they are not all attributable to the phenomenon called post-Zionism.

The transformations in Israeli society accompanying the phenomenon of post-Zionism are found in a number of fields:

Economic characteristics

Just as there are no economic characteristics unique to Zionism, which encompasses the full range of economical ideologies fromMarxism,Communism,andSyndicalismtoCapitalism,there are no economic characteristics unique to post-Zionism, which encompasses extreme left-wing components as well as components that maintain a capitalist ideology. The capitalist political view of thefree marketand the nurturing ofindividualismwas acceptable to great parts of the Zionist movement in Israel and outside Israel, and it is not only attributable to the post-Zionist movement. Even in the strongly socialistHistadruttrade union, a non-socialist liberal party existed during the pre-stateYishuv.Post-Zionist parties that retain capitalist objectives and political views have continued to undermine the socialist political views that typified theLabor Partyagenda, which had a central place in the Zionist movement. The loss of the institutional collective and its historical foundations can be seen in the writings of a considerable part of the new sociologists and historians, who exhibit the most radical manifestation of this idea. The position of these communities is expressed in theindividualismthat sees individual material success as the only economic objective of the person, and also ineconomic globalization,which supports the opening of the Israeli economic system to the world economic system, in contrast with conserving a closed andplanned national economy.

Cultural characteristics

These years are characterized by the challenging of the existence of acultural hegemonyin Israel. Different groups undermined the perception of themelting pot,according to which only one Israeli culture existed and all the cultures joining it had to shed their previous identities; different communities began fighting to keep their unique cultural identities. Examples includeMizrahi Jews,immigrants from the formerUSSR,Israeli Arabsand more.

Political characteristics

Mainly after theOslo Accords,a new movement started amongst a large section of left-wing Israelis who believe that the State of Israel should no longer declare itself to be a Jewish democratic state and should rather focus on its democratic aspects. This movement seeks to createsocial equalityin Israel.

However, the groups in Israeli society going through those processes are not necessarily post-Zionist. Actually, only a minor percentage of those groups define themselves as such. The above three fields do not necessarily overlap.Benjamin Netanyahu,for example, might have much in common with several post-Zionists in his economic beliefs, though he is more Zionist in all other aspects.

As an intellectual movement

Modern post-Zionism is closely associated with theNew Historians,a school ofhistorical revisionismexamining the official history of Israel and Zionism in the light of declassified government documents, aiming to uncover events hitherto downplayed or suppressed by Zionist historians, especially those pertaining to the dispossession of thePalestinians,which the New Historians argue was central to the creation of the State of Israel.

The new post-Zionists areintellectuals,mainlyacademicswho consider themselves, or are considered by others, as post-Zionists. Critics of post-Zionism known asneo-Zionistsargue that it undermines the Zionist narrative in its competition with other narratives, mainly the Palestinian one.

In the early 1990s there began to appear articles by Israeli academics who referred to themselves as post-Zionists; this was mostly in the aftermath of a lengthy public discussion on the issues surrounding the events of theWar of Independence,attributed to the New Historians. The public mood in the aftermath of theOslo Accords,which presumed that theArab–Israeli conflictwas nearing a conclusion, contributed even more to the development of this tendency. Since the start of theSecond Intifada,public mood has changed tremendously, and as many perceive,the post-Zionist tendency has been in retreat.

On the other hand, post-Zionist historians were accused of adopting the Palestinian narrative without any doubts and of demonizing and delegitimizing Israel and Zionism.

In contrast to political Zionism's goal of theJewish state,many post-Zionists advocate the evolution of Israel into a non-ideological, secular,liberal democraticstate, to be officially neither Jewish norArabin character.

Hebrew Universalism

Hebrew Universalismis a post-Zionist philosophy developed initially by RavAbraham Kookand expanded upon byIsraeli settleractivist Rav Yehuda HaKohen, as well as the Vision Movement.

The philosophy attempts to synthesize "three forces" defined by Kook in his 1920 book, Lights of Rebirth. The three forces being: "The Holy" -Orthodox Jews,"The Nation" -secular Jewish Zionists,and "The Humanist" - GeneralHumanismfound among all peoples. Kook believed that through his philosophyanti-Zionists,Orthodox Jews, and secular nationalists could work together in Israel.

The current ideology, as espoused by the Vision Movement and HaKohen, draws inspiration fromNatan Yellin-Mor,RavAbraham Kook,Canaanism,Avraham Stern,anti-Zionistcritics, and the left wingSemitic Actiongroup.

Criticism

Post-Zionism has been criticized byShlomo Avinerias a polite recasting ofanti-Zionism,and therefore a deceptive term.Some right-wing Israelis have accused Jewish post-Zionists of beingself-hating Jews.

See also

• Category:Post-Zionists
• Canaanism
• Hebrew Universalism
• Critical theory
• Deconstruction
• Historical revisionism
• Postnationalism

External links

• The Idea of Post-Zionism and its critiqueby Avishai Ehrich.
• Resources and articles on Post-Zionismfrom the World Zionist Organization, tends to be critical.
• Grappling with Post-Zionismby Paul J. White
• PLO Financed Academic Fraud at the University of Haifa,Dr. Aaron Lerner IMRA September 1, 2002
• Post-Zionism only rings onceby Neri Livneh fromHaaretz
• The Love of Israel: After Post-Zionism,Eretz AcheretMagazine