Israel's Independence Day is always a time for collective reflection.
We advocate here the idea that “Israel must be more than just the nation-state of the Jewish people.” Such an assertion gains depth when placed alongside the observation sometimes made about China: that it is “a civilization pretending to be a country.” It goes with Samuel Huntington's understanding, which highlighted a broader truth about the modern international system.
Many states are not merely political entities, but expressions of deep civilizational lineages that long predate the nation-state model.
In this light, and endorsing a study by the prominent sociologist S.N.
Eisenstadt, Israel can be understood not only as a sovereign state created to ensure the physical security of the Jews, but also as a potential anchor for the renewal and evolution of Jewish civilization in the contemporary era.
Such a vision might provide a new basis of mutual confidence between Diaspora Jews and the Jewish state that has been eroding for a long while.
This Jewish civilizational conception is also most germane to Israel's position and perception in the Middle East, in which it has too often been assigned the role of an alien European entity.
Civilizational identity and the modern state systemSamuel Huntington's civilizational framework, though debated, offers a useful lens for thinking about identities that transcend borders.
It suggests that beneath the surface of nation-states lie older cultural, religious, and historical continuities that shape global interactions.
Applying this lens to the Jewish people reveals a unique situation: a global community with a shared civilizational heritage dispersed across many countries, yet also concentrated in a sovereign state that serves as its cultural and symbolic center.This dual structure, Israel as a state and the Jewish people as a worldwide civilization, creates a layered identity.
It encompasses both the citizens of Israel and the large Jewish communities of the Diaspora, particularly in the United States.
The relationship between these communities is not essentially political or demographic; it is civilizational, involving shared texts, values, memories, and spiritual aspirations.
This follows the vision of a World Jewish Community as articulated by the eminent political scientist Daniel J.
Elazar.Early Zionist debates revisitedThis broader perspective echoes foundational debates within the Zionist movement founded by Theodor Herzl.
One camp emphasized the urgent need for a haven – a political refuge capable of protecting Jews from persecution.
This was a state-centered vision, focused on sovereignty, security, and the basic functions of national self-determination.
David Ben-Gurion and Ze'ev Jabotinsky, for instance, articulated this approach.Another camp envisioned Zionism as a civilizational project: the rebirth of Jewish culture, creativity, and prophetic ethical purpose in a modern setting.
For these thinkers, the establishment of a state was not an end, but rather a means to enable the flourishing of Jewish....
