JUDAISM AND LIBERALISM: ISRAEL’S ECONOMIC PROBLEM WITH ITS HAREDIM

This article argues that, in the arrangements for the public provision of welfare for the poor and a basic education for all in both biblical and post‐biblical times, Judaism is more closely in accord with classical liberalism than it is with those variants of liberalism which favour no more than the minimal night‐watchman state as well as those which favour the extensive welfare states of contemporary Western social democracies. To the extent that Israel's ultra‐orthodox Jews (its Haredim) have been able to secure more by way of state subsidies (through exploiting the leverage their country's national system of proportional representation has given them, which often leaves them holding the balance of power), not only are they endangering Israel's viability as a vibrant, developed liberal democracy, they are also guilty of departing from the religious teachings and tradition of Jewish orthodoxy.     

Is property assessment really essential for taxation? Evaluating the performance of an ‘Alternative Assessment’ method

Many countries evade the formal valuation of real property for taxation purposes by using qualitative and spatial criteria in order to pursue an equitable distribution of burden. This paper evaluates the performance of a prototypical setup as such, by analyzing the relationship between property value, household income and the actual tax paid, in the exact framework of which the qualitative criteria are set to determine tax assessment. Drawing on detailed data from the Israeli Household Expenditure Surveys 1997–2005, the strong correlation between the three variables is evident. Yet, the limited differences in rates, compared with large variation in property value, make it regressive. Policy implications are relevant for many other countries using non-ad valorem taxation.     

Determinant factors of failures of international retailers in foreign markets

Abstract

This article seeks to identify why international retail chains (IRCs) sometimes fail to successfully establish operations in foreign markets. The study focuses on the quality of managerial decision-making as a cause of failure. Four such causes are identified relating to the quality of: (1) strategic decision-making, (2) tactical decision-making, (3) decision-making by the management of the local entity (LE), and (4) cooperation between the IRC and its LE. Based on survey data from Israel, we find that causes (1), (3) and (4) are most critical. These results highlight that to avoid retail failure, strategic decisions, such as ensuring clear, distinct and superior values adapted to local consumer preferences, should take precedence over tactical ones. Furthermore, to ensure high quality of local management and smooth cooperation with their LEs, IRCs should strive to control local management and coordination mechanisms.     

The Israeli teacher-guide: The emergence and perpetuation of a role

The Israeli teacher-guide performs functions associated with tiyulim—special walks in Israel aimed at the promotion of getting to know one's native country, which are organized by public, non-commercial agencies. The Israeli teacher-guide is socially defined as an agent of education and culture rather than of leisure and entertainment. Most of his role performances are carried out during walks with various groups of casual participants. During these walks he is both the navigator and interpreter of the scenes and their meanings. On the background of the history of tourism in the Holy Land, both the emergence of the Israeli teacher-guide role and the persistence of the public demand for tiyulim and for the organizational and interpretational products of the teacher-guide, associated with tiyulim, are described in this paper. These phenomena are explained by the special peculiarities of the “Israeli condition,” which cause many to seek a sense of belonging to the Israeli land and soil and by the idea prevailing among the Israeli educational elite that tiyulim and the contents delivered during them by the teacher-guides, are appropriate means for arousing this feeling. It is hypothesized that the tiyulim may be looked upon as components of the Israeli civil religion and thus the teacher-guide is a kind of civil religion mentor.     

2010年以色列高技术产业与科技成果

以色列是世界上技术创新和投资活动最为活跃的地区之一,其民用科技研发投入占GDP的比重高居世界第一。科技工作实行首席科学家负责制,主要政府部门设有首席科学家办公室。本文对2010年以色列科技发展的重大政策动向、研究与开发支出、新的科技统计数据与指标、知识产权保护、高科技产业发展以及科技成果和国际科技合作动态等情况进行了综合评述。     

Funding Pain: Bedouin Women and Political Economy in the Naqab/Negev

ABSTRACT

This contribution focuses on the experiences and voices of Palestinian Bedouin women surviving and challenging Israeli colonial policies while residing in their own land and, in particular, the Bedouin women of the Naqab living in unrecognized villages. Through interviews and focus groups, this study learns from and engages with the voices of Palestinian Bedouin women because colonized women's criticisms of the political economic apparatus are seldom invoked to influence policy. Exploring these women's voices offers an opportunity to examine the political economy of their unrecognized, officially nonexistent villages and homes and to rectify the gap in bottom-up knowledge of political economy by investigating the institutional structures that define and circumscribe women's lives. Privileging Bedouin women's production of knowledge carries the analytical value of studying political economy based on women's own experiences and struggles against hegemony.     

Defining national property rights to a common property resource: The case of the West Bank aquifers

This article introduces a methodology to define Israeli and Palestinian property rights to the three aquifers straddling the Green Line between Israel and the West Bank, i.e. the Yarqon-Tanninim, Northern, and Nablus-Jenin aquifers. A set of procedures for determining a fair division of waters is described for the hypothetical planning year 2000. Following this, the calculated allocation of water rights is evaluated in terms of the projected over-all water consumption and supply balance for Israel and a Palestinian sovereign authority (PSA) for the year 2000. Finally, the article concludes with some thoughts on the relative merits of this methodology.     

中以经贸回顾与展望

中国与以色列在经贸领域存在很大的互补性,这为中以经贸提供了很好的基础。中国通过对以贸易获得中国现代化所需的资金、技术和管理;而以色列可以通过对华贸易进入中国巨大的市场,减轻因一些国家的抵制而带来的经济压力。中以之间有许多共同利益,发展中以经贸是双赢的举措。虽然中以经贸可能会遇到一些困难,但只要中以双方共同努力,双边经贸必定有着广阔的前景。     

El sindicalismo como vía de ciudadanía laboral. El caso de las cuidadoras y cuidadores migrantes en Israel

El artículo examina la viabilidad del sindicalismo para ciertos trabajadores migrantes del cuidado. Primero revisa las concepciones básicas de la acción sindical y después, apoyándose en un análisis detallado de una campaña reciente de sindicación de cuidadores migrantes en Israel, demuestra la aportación única del enfoque sindical frente al de otras asociaciones cívicas que apoyan a estos trabajadores: a pesar de los muchos problemas que entraña su sindicación, en razón de la naturaleza de su trabajo y de obstáculos jurídicos e institucionales, el sindicalismo es la única vía para dotar a los trabajadores migrantes de ciudadanía laboral y de agencia política.