Overview

In David Ben-Gurion and the Foundation of Israeli Democracy, Nir Kedar offers a poignant study of the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Kedar provides an explication of the making of Israeli democracy in terms of its institutional-legal structures and social-cultural underpinnings. David Ben-Gurion and the Foundation of Israeli Democracy connects the formal structures of democracy to the fundamental principles that they were constructed to serve-human freedom and dignity.

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Reviews

David Ben-Gurion and the Foundation of Israeli Democracy is an outstanding work of scholarship. Deeply researched, clearly written, and persuasively argued, the book will make an important contribution to our understanding of the formation of Israeli democracy and the crucial role that Ben-Gurion played in this. -- Dov Waxman - University of California * Israel Studies Review *

David Ben-Gurion and the Foundation of Israeli Democracy is an outstanding work of scholarship. Deeply researched, clearly written, and persuasively argued, the book will make an important contribution to our understanding of the formation of Israeli democracy and the crucial role that Ben-Gurion played in this. - Dov Waxman - University of California (Israel Studies Review) The full complexity and richness of the general perspective and particular ideas presented in Kedar's monograph, of course, simply cannot be captured in a brief review such as this one, which is why individuals interested in Israeli democracy are very strongly encouraged to seek out his work. Though the book presents an essentially sympathetic account of the origins of Israeli democracy, not to mention an essentially sympathetic account of Ben-Gurion's role in embedding democratic values and institutions within Israeli society, the author does not shy away from presenting Israeli democracy's warts, too. Kedar's work, in short, constitutes a nicely balanced and extremely informative inquiry into its subject. - David Rodman (Israel Affairs) [Kedar] makes an important contribution to our understanding of how Ben-Gurion's democratic vision shaped Israel, even if it fell short of some of its highest goals. (Jewish Review of Books)

Author Information

Nir Kedar is Professor of Law and History and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Sapir Academic College in Israel. He is author of many books, including Law and Identity in Israel: A Century of Debate. Haim Watzman is a writer, journalist, and translator based in Jerusalem.

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