February 14, 2020

International Politics and Conflict Resolution

José Manuel Pureza

Extensive literature produced on the history of the Israeli state has reproduced a dichotomy between the Palestinian citizens of the State and a homogeneous Jewish majority. This dichotomy is itself nourished by International Relations' academic neglect to study nation- and state-building processes, which inevitably mask processes of social fragmentation and polarization between ethnic, cultural, and religious groups. In this thesis we argue that nation-building in Israel has been undermined by ethnic and religious tensions that date back to the establishment of the State. The exclusion of several Jewish groups from the centers of power leads to the reinforcement of their group identities, and even to their political mobilization along ethnic and religious lines. Confronted with this situation, Israeli leaderships choose to construct the Palestinian minority as a threat, and Israel national identity becomes negatively dependent on the presence of a distinct outgroup. By applying Barry Buzan's concept of "weak states" to the Israeli case study, we aim to understand how cumulative securitization processes, which transform minorities into security threats, can contribute to a positive (albeit unstable) identification with the state. This approach to securitization as a political theory of security, allows us to understand how collective identities are forged and reinforced through securitization; and to focus on the marginalization and exclusion of other groups, often hidden behind a security discourse. Through an in-depth historical analysis of state- and nation-building efforts in Israel, and resorting to an analysis of the Israeli leaderships discourse in the post-second Intifada period (2000-2018), we will highlight the main loci of struggle among Israeli Jewish ethnic and religious groups, and point out how the presence of a seemingly threatening and hostile Palestinian minority fosters collective solidarity among the Israeli Jewish majority, while simultaneously hinders the process of nation-building.

Keywords: securitization; weak states; nation-building; Israel; Palestinian citizens of Israel