Balancing Faith and Duty: Religious Policy and Public Discontent in the Israeli Military
Balancing Faith and Duty: Religious Policy and Public Discontent in the Israeli Military
Democracies with religiously diverse societies often struggle to balance public policies with varying societal needs, especially in military institutions. This talk examines how such policies affect different groups within the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), where state and religion are closely linked. The speaker will explore how secular and religious Israeli Jews view the IDF's religious practices, and show there is significant dissatisfaction with the IDF's policies among both groups. Surprisingly, this shared dissatisfaction helps maintain the status quo by preventing any one group from feeling unfairly favored. The talk will also highlight policy implementation challenges in diverse societies and identify ways for managing such diversity in democratic settings.
Dr. Niva Golan-Nadir is a research associate at the Center for Policy Research, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at SUNY, Albany, and a research fellow at the Institute for Liberty and Responsibility at Reichman University, Israel, where she also teaches Comparative Politics and Research Methodology. During 2024, she was a visiting scholar at NYU's Taub Center for Israel Studies. Her research focuses on Comparative Politics, with a special interest in Israel and Turkey, State-Religion Relations, Israel Studies and Public Administration. She explores persistent gaps between public preferences, policy design, and implementation. Her latest book, Public Preferences and Institutional Designs: Israel and Turkey Compared (2022, Palgrave Macmillan), was awarded the final list and honorary mention by the Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies and Concordia University Library.