Multiculturalism and identity politics

This chapter describes the main cultural groups in Israeli society and focuses on the different mechanisms developed by the Israeli polity to recognize and acknowledge their identity. It also discusses the different conceptions of what it is to be an Israeli and suggests that possible ways in which to move forward. The chapter argues that "Liberalism and the Right to Culture," Margalit and Halbertal open with the following sentence: "Human beings have a right to culture—not just any culture, but their own. The right to culture has far-reaching implications for the liberal conception of the state". Most democratic states recognize this right to culture, but they negotiate cultural difference in vastly different ways and with vastly different outcomes. Multiculturalism celebrates cultural diversity. Within the multicultural worldview, cultural diversity is not to be overcome—but to be recognized and supported. In the eyes of many observers, multiculturalism has replaced nation building both as an empirical description a normative ethos in Israeli society.