The Failings of Israel’s Religion-State Relations: A Secular View

Abstract

Israel was established as a secular state, by an overwhelmingly secular population, with a founding declaration that intentionally avoided mention of a superior being; only a reference to the “Rock of Israel” was included. Yet discussions regarding the role religion should play in the new state neither began nor ended with the wording of the proclamation of independence. Throughout its existence, disagreements regarding religion and state relations have repeatedly arisen in various fields: in education, the status of women and citizens’ equality in general, the draft, and in the funding of religious services, to name a few. Demographics have been serving to strengthen religious influence by increasing political sway but also creating a secular backlash. In a period of dwindling legitimacy for the government and growing social divides, secular and religious groups are more than ever at odds. Questions regarding the nation’s character and religious identity, once intentionally left ambiguous, are increasingly challenging its democratic institutions.