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The issue of secularism in Israel involves two dimensions, one religious and one sociological. Though interrelated at die level of practical politics and human relations, these two dimensions are analytically distinct.
The religious dimension is concerned with the normative and epistemological content of Israel's Jewish character. The meaning and essence of Israel's Jewishness are central concerns. What does it mean to be a Jewish state, as opposed to a state that is no different than any other except diat most of its citizens are Jews? The doctrinal implications of Israel' s Jewishness are also salient in this connection. What is the significance of present-day Israel for Judaism, not for the everyday lives and welfare of Jews, or even for the temporal existence of the Jewish people in the future, but rather for the religion to which Jews adhere?
The sociological dimension focuses attention on Jews rather than Judaism, on relations between individuals and the state. If Israel is a state of and for the Jewish people, questions inevitably arise about its link to Jews who reside in other countries and are not Israeli citizens. Even more important is the question of whether those Muslim and Christian Palestinians who are citizens of the Jewish state, constituting approximately 18 per cent of the Israeli population, must of necessity have a political status different than, and ultimately inferior to, that of Jewish Israelis.
The Religious Dimension
The Pre-State Period:
Questions about Israel's theological significance have differed from one historical period to the next. The founders of modern political Zionism were for the most part secular Jews, and by the early 20th century both the World Zionist Organization and the small but growing Jewish community in Palestine were dominated by the socialist and secular currents of Labor Zionism. These pioneers regarded Zionism as a solution to the problems of Jews, not as a path to either individual or collective spiritual fulfillment. Indeed, many saw die construction of ajewish national home in Palestine as the route to Jewish normalcy, meaning that the Jews were to be a nation like any other in an enlightened world community composed of sovereign and secular states.
While there were religious Jews within the Zionist movement from the beginning, sometimes in positions of prominence, most...