Somewhere beyond the Israeli headlines about conflict with the Palestinians, somewhere beyond the sound of the ambulances and tanks, there’s a country of 6 million people in the final days of an election campaign.
While security concerns still dominate Israel’s political debate, a growing number of Israelis, frustrated with a lack of progress on this front, are abandoning the major parties in favor of smaller, more extreme political groups. They are debating the citizenship credentials of the ultra-Orthodox, re-examining divisions between the rich and poor, and what it means to be an Israeli and a Jew.
As much as it is a return to old class and religious divisions, it is also a debate about what Israel will become. Part two of our series on the Israeli election looks beyond Labor and Likud.
Guests:
Ari Shavit, a political columnist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz
Dr. Amram Melitz, a member of Shas and a legal adviser to the Shas school system
MK Tommy Lapid, chairman of ‘Shinui’ party.