The Zionist movement set out to establish a Jewish Nation-State in the Land of Israel where the Jewish people could pursue their right to self-determination and national sovereignty. This idea provided the ideological foundation for the establishment of the State of Israel – the Jewish State – in 1948. Today, sixty years later, myriad domestic, regional and international challenges threaten to undermine Israel's legitimacy and character as a Jewish Nation-State. These challenges include the intellectual fashion of post-modernism, the multifaceted phenomenon of globalization, the persistence of anti-Semitism, and the rise of separatist tendencies on an ethnic or religious basis.
IDI's new interdisciplinary research project, The Nation-State, seeks to measure these ideological challenges, assess Israel's ability to overcome them, and propose strategies for doing so. Led by Israel prize-winner and preeminent historian, Prof. Anita Shapira, the project will combine research methods from a variety of disciplines – history of thought, political science, law, economics, sociology and cultural history –to examine Israel's status as a nation-state in the 21st century. The project will situate the Israeli experience in an international perspective, highlighting the place of the Jewish Nation State in the family of modern democracies. Research will focus initially on the key Zionist concept of "Mamlakhtiut," on the growth of the Mizrahi middle class in Israel, and on the role of economics in shaping national identity in Israel.