fta
As typical of a settler society, the first major fault line is between the four Jewish blocs and the indigenous Palestinians. This is fairly rigid. Few Palestinians and even fewer Jews cross that line. Palestinians are in practice excluded from the political process. They are allowed to be in parliament but it is considered taboo to let them influence important decisions.

A majority decision is not considered legitimate unless it is made by a Jewish majority. For these reasons, Palestinian parties do not in fact participate in the competition over political power in Israel.

That competition takes place exclusively among the four Jewish blocks. It is predominantly a contest betwe...

fta
As typical of a settler society, the first major fault line is between the four Jewish blocs and the indigenous Palestinians. This is fairly rigid. Few Palestinians and even fewer Jews cross that line. Palestinians are in practice excluded from the political process. They are allowed to be in parliament but it is considered taboo to let them influence important decisions.

A majority decision is not considered legitimate unless it is made by a Jewish majority. For these reasons, Palestinian parties do not in fact participate in the competition over political power in Israel.

That competition takes place exclusively among the four Jewish blocks. It is predominantly a contest between the Israeli secular block, which historically held all the power and wealth, and the other three. The secular Israeli sector has been bleeding power almost continuously since 1977. It's agenda is essentially conservative, fending off the challengers.

The Israeli "Left" includes the parties of Labor and Meretz and represents Secular Israelis. The Israeli Right includes parties that position themselves to represent the three contestant sectors, the ultra-orthodox parties, the Russian parties, and the national-religious parties. The Israeli "center" represents the zone of co-optation. This is where the elite seeks opportunities to build large coalitions by offering concessions to other sectors.