1st Edition
Israel Under Netanyahu Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy
Examining Benjamin Netanyahu’s more than a decade-long period as Israel’s Prime Minister, this important book evaluates the domestic politics and foreign policy of Israel from 2009-2019. This comprehensive study assesses Israel’s main political parties, highlights the special position in Israel of Israel’s Arab, Russian and religious communities, appraises Netanyahu’s stewardship of Israel’s economy, and analyzes Israel’s foreign relations.
The scholars contributing to the volume are leading experts from both Israel and the United States and represent a broad spectrum of viewpoints on Israeli politics and foreign policy. The case studies cover the Likud party, the non-religious opposition parties such as Labor, Meretz, and Yesh Atid, the Arab parties, the religious parties and the Russian-based Yisrael B’Aliyah party, and present analyses of the ups and downs of Israel’s relations with the United States, the American Jewish Community, Iran, Europe, the Palestinians, the Arab World, Russia, China, India, and Turkey as well as Israel’s challenges in dealing with terrorism. Another highlight of the book is an assessment of Netanyahu’s leadership of the Likud party, which seeks to answer the question as to whether Netanyahu is a pragmatist interested in a peace deal with the Palestinians or an ideologue who wants Israel to hold on to the West Bank as well as all of Jerusalem.
This volume will be of interest to readers who wish to understand the dynamics of Israel during Benjamin Netanyahu’s time as Prime Minister and are interested in the history and politics of Israel and the Middle East.
Introduction
Dr. Robert O. Freedman
I. ISRAELI DOMESTIC POLITICS
1. Israel’s Likud Party
Dr. Ilan Peleg
2. The Zionist Union, Yesh Atid and Meretz Opposition
Dr. Yael Aronoff
3. The Israel is our Home Party
Dr. Ze’ev Khanin
4. Israel’s Religious Parties
Dr. Shmuel Sandler and Dr. Aaron Kampinsky
5. Netanyahu’s Policy Toward Israel’s Arab Sector
Dr. Elie Rekhess
6. The Israeli Economy Under Netanyahu
Dr. Roby Nathanson and Yanai Weiss
II. ISRAELI FOREIGN POLICY
7. Israel and the United States
Dr. Robert O. Freedman
8. Israel and the American Jewish Community
Dr. Steven Bayme
9. Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab World
Dr. Glen Robinson
10. Israel and Iran
Dr. Steven David
11. The Rise and Fall of the Turkish-Israeli Alliance
Dr. Mark Haas
12. Israel’s Pivot from Europe to Asia
Dr. Efraim Inbar
13. Israel and Russia
Ambassador Zvi Magen
14. Israel and Counterterrorism
Dr. Joshua Sinai
Epilogue
Dr. Robert O. Freedman
About The Authors
ANNEX ONE: ISRAELI ELECTION RESULTS, 2009
ANNEX TWO: ISRAELI ELECTION RESULTS, 2013
ANNEX THREE: ISRAELI ELECTION RESULTS,2015
ANNEX FOUR: ISRAELI ELECTION RESULTS, April 2019
ANNEX FIVE: ISRAELI ELECTION RESULTS, September 2019
Biography
Robert O. Freedman is Visiting Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University where he teaches courses on the Arab-Israeli Conflict and on Russian Foreign Policy. The author or editor of 23 books, including Israel and the United States: Six Decades Of Relations (2012), Russia, Iran and the Nuclear Question: The Putin Record (2006). Dr. Freedman is also past president of the Association for Israel Studies. Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Freedman served as President of Baltimore Hebrew University.
"In this volume, Robert O. Freedman has gathered the work of leading scholars from Israel and the United States, each of whom has made a significant and balanced contribution to a deeper understanding of the topics covered in the book: the complexities of the role and influence of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister; his leadership of the Likud Party; and the policies and actions of successive Likud-led governments." — Natan Aridan, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, review from the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs November 2020.
