310 • 17 ISRAEL'S REBIRTH AND THE RISE OF ARAB NATIONALISMNational Religious Party, whose leaders were determined to make Israel a
more observant Jewish state. Even though Ben-Gurion and his followers
were nonobservant in their private lives and secular in their public state¬
ments, they had to make compromises with the National Religious Party.
The result was a socialist republic with no formal constitution, no official
religion, and no explicit reference to God in its declaration of indepen¬
dence. Yet the IDF and all government offices kept the kosher dietary laws,
no buses ran on the Jewish sabbath (from sundown Friday until sundown
Saturday) except in Haifa and mainly Arab areas, and all marriages and di¬
vorces were handled by the religious courts. State school systems were set
up for Israelis who followed Jewish laws, for those who wanted their chil¬
dren to speak Hebrew but were nonobservant, and for Arabs who wanted
their children to be educated in their own language and culture.
What made such a complex system work? Given Israel's huge economic
problems, a population so diverse in culture, and no reliable outside
power to protect the state against its many foes, many outsiders shook
their heads in disbelief. Maybe Israel survived because the Arabs were so
hostile. But it would be fairer to say that Israel's system worked because its
leaders, haunted by the memory of what Hitler had tried to do, felt that no
personal or ideological preference was more important than the security
of the state, which they equated with the survival of the Jewish people. It
was hard for a passionate Zionist like Ben-Gurion to admit that anyone
could live a full Jewish life outside Israel, although experience soon proved
that Israel needed the political and financial support of a strong and pros¬
perous Jewish diaspora. It also became evident that the rebirth of a Jewish
state strengthened the faith and practice of religion among Jews outside
Israel, despite the dominant influence of secularism and materialist ide¬
ologies on much of the modern world.
Israel's Foreign Relations
It is true, though, that Arab hostility complicated Israeli life. All road and
rail connections between Israel and its neighbors were cut. Planes going to
and from Israel could not fly over Arab countries, let alone land in their
airports. The Arab states refused to trade with Israel and boycotted the
products of any foreign firm doing business there. Israeli citizens, Jews
from abroad, and even foreign Gentiles whose passports showed that they
had visited Israel could not enter many of the Arab countries. Ships carry¬
ing goods to Israel could not pass through the Suez Canal or even enter
Arab ports. Egypt blockaded the Tiran Straits between the Red Sea and the
Gulf of Aqaba, stifling the growth of Israel's port at Eilat. Arab diplomats