This volume provides an introduction to Israeli politics. When the state of Israel celebrates its 50th anniversary in 1998, a decade of change will have transformed its politics, its economy and its people into a different country to that of its recent past. These changes have coincided with the opening of the third period of Israeli history, known as the second republic. This book explores the process of political evolution. The former parliamentary system of the government was replaced by separate and simultaneous election of the prime minister and the Knesset, a centralized economic system began to open up to a broad scope of diversity and choice and new waves of immigrants from various troubled parts of the world were absorbed into the society. The book offers analytical descriptions and extensive survey data to explain the complexities of Israeli political institutions, political behaviour and public policy and it chronicles the significant events of the nation's relatively brief experience of self-government. Also introduced in this book is the series of personalities who have dominated the domestic landscape. An overview acquaints the reader with the political culture of Israel and also suggests avenues of comparison to other countries in other parts of the world.