Theocratic Democracy

The state of Israel was established in 1948 as a Jewish democracy without a legal separation between religion and the state. Ever since the tension between the two has been a central political social and moral issue in Israel resulting in a cultural conflict between secular Jews and the fundamentalist ultra-orthodox Haredi community. What is the nature of this cultural conflict and how is it managed? In Theocratic Democracy Nachman Ben-Yehuda examines more than fifty years of media-reported unconventional and deviant behavior by members of the Haredi community. Ben-Yehuda finds not only that this behavior has happened increasingly often over the years but also that its most salient feature is violence--a violence not random or precipitated by situational emotional rage but planned and aimed to achieve political goals. Using verbal and non-verbal violence in the forms of curses intimidation threats arson stone-throwing beatings mass violations and more Haredi activists try to push Israel toward a more theocratic society. Driven by a theological notion that all Jews are mutually responsible and accountable to the Almighty these activists believe that the sins of the few are paid for by the many. Making Israel a theocracy will they believe reduce the risk of transcendental penalties. Ben-Yehuda shows how the political structure that accommodates the strong theocratic and secular pressures Israel faces is effectively a theocratic democracy. Characterized by chronic negotiations tensions and accommodations it is by nature an unstable structure. However in his fascinating and lively account Nachman Ben-Yehuda demonstrates how it allows citizens with different worldviews to live under one umbrella of a nation-state without tearing the social fabric apart.