Barefoot Homeland

Israeli Reflections

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  • Cover Type: Softcover | Hebrew
  • Number Of Pages: 246 Pages
  • Price: 94 NIS

IDI Vice President Prof. Yedidia Stern and Prof. Avi Sagi of Bar Ilan University explore contemporary Israeli identity and the nature of the State of Israel and its society. Issues explored in this book include the Disengagement from Gaza, the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, the Rabin assassination, the relationships between Jews and Arabs, and tension between religious and secular Jews. It also provides insight on social issues such as solidarity, the rule of law, and the tension between the Jewish and democratic identities of the State of Israel.

While the State of Israel has achieved very impressive achievements, Israeli society is constantly wrestling with profound questions about its physical and spiritual existence. In this book, which was co-published with Am Oved Publishers, IDI Vice President Prof. Yedidia Stern and Prof. Avi Sagi of Bar Ilan University explore contemporary Israeli identity as well as topics concerning the nature of the State of Israel and its society. They grapple with pivotal events such as the Disengagement from Gaza, the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, and the Rabin assassination, explore the complex relationships between Jews and Arabs, Right and Left, and the religious and secular communities, and comment on social issues such as solidarity, the place of the rule of law, and the tension between the Jewish and democratic identities of the State of Israel.

Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern is Vice President of Research at the Israel Democracy Institute and a lecturer in the Faculty of Law of Bar-Ilan University, where he served as Dean. Prof. Avi Sagi is the director of the Hermeneutics Program at Bar-Ilan University and a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. They are the co-editors of the academic journal Democratic Culture, which is also published by IDI.