Abstract:
To understand how Israelis respond to religious conflicts
fought in the public arena by political elites, this study
examines the discourses of participants in a sample of focus
group discussions. We begin by identifying the rival frames that
organize the public (mass media) discourse on the role of religion
in Israeli society. Next, we examine how focus groups of religious
and non-religious Israeli Jews responded to the public debate. We conclude by exploring the implications of our findings for understanding the dynamics of religious conflict in Israeli society, and by comparing the Israeli case to that of the United States. Published in the Journal of Church and State, September 2010.
