| Publication |
2007.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article addresses the existing tension between multiculturalism, i.e., the accommodation of different cultural, ethnic, and religious traditions, and the support for a universalistic welfare state. The universalistic welfare state and its distributional activities reflect the institutional expression of the modern state's commitment to the welfare of all its citizens and their integration into the national community. The bonds of belonging to the general national community seem, however, to be seriously weakened by the ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity nowadays dividing some modern western societies and seem thus to be inimical for the support of the universal welfare state and its integrative functions. These tensions are explored within the context of Israeli society. Many critics claim that multiculturalism has its limits. The particular claim made in this article is that the ethno-cultural diversity of Israeli society strongly affects the commitment of the population to a universalistic welfare state, weakening the support for it. This becomes of particular importance at times when the country is in the process of rapidly changing its traditional social democratic welfare regime to a mainly liberal, American, style of welfare regime
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