Israel Studies

Israel Studies 7.3 (2002) 84-116

The Politics of Israeli Archaeology:
Between 'Nationalism' and 'Science' in the Age of the Second Republic

Rachel S. Hallote and Alexander H. Joffe

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Introduction

Death is political, no less so in the past than in the present, and ancient burials are even more symbolic and powerful than modern burials. How the dead are treated in Israel today is a result not just of religious beliefs, but of the interplay of religion, politics, and economics. The archaeology of death is therefore a useful avenue for examining the position of archaeology as a whole in Israeli society. This study is directed by several questions.

The first question concerns the role of archaeology in the social and political dynamics of Israeli society. More specifically, how does archaeology fit into evolving social values and the politics of religious minorities? This is contextualized in terms of Arian's 'first republic' and 'second republic' distinction. Second, how can we understand religious minority opposition to archaeology within 'second republic' politics? Since, even in a small society such as Israel, the concept and practice of archaeology is broad, our focus will be on the now supremely sensitive issue of mortuary remains, an issue at the intersection of personal, religious and social values. How does the Israeli experience compare with that of religious or other minorities in different societies? Third, what are the implications of archaeology's changing place in understanding Israeli identity and social memory?

Whereas the social history of archaeology has become an important topic globally ¹, for Israel these issues generally remain incompletely addressed. ² While the relationship of archaeology to nationalist projects is fairly direct, this study demonstrates that attitudes toward archaeology are strongly conditioned by the balance of prevailing collective and individualist values, and, in turn, minority group politics. Being features of [End Page 84] religious and group self-definition, attitudes toward death and burial are highly dynamic, and are anything but static or timeless. ³ Rather they are shaped by the exigencies and opportunities of the present, both in terms of religious and moral perceptions, and as a political tool. Because of the emergence of 'second republic' individualizing values in modern Israel as elsewhere, death has become part of sectarian group politics, and archaeology has been drawn into the conflict. At their most extreme the fractures may pose a threat to national identity itself.

The example of Israel also demonstrates the success and failure of archaeology as it attempts to transcend its origins as a bourgeois 'science' serving nationalism and modernism ccess and failure of archaeolog. ⁴ In all these respects—the status of archaeology in society, the role of religious minorities in national politics, and the nature of nationalism—Israel is a harbinger of changes emerging worldwide.

Historical Overview

In order to understand the current role of archaeology in Israeli society, and, specifically, the position of human remains as a flashpoint, an historical review is required. At the creation of the state of Israel, political authorities voluntarily ceded control over key aspects of lifecycle and symbolism to the small, Orthodox Jewish minority. While the founders of the state were resolutely secular (some even anti-religious) in outlook the mainstream Zionist movement felt an ethnic connection to the rituals of eastern European Orthodoxy. A Jewish state needed a Jewish component, and this was felt even more strongly after the Holocaust. Institutions such as a Chief Rabbinate were established and largely given over to the Orthodox communities and their new political parties. Along with the Ministry of Interior these institutions were made responsible for preserving various aspects of the Jewish lifecycle, including the registration and/or supervision of birth, marriage and divorce, conversion, burial, Sabbath, and dietary laws. In practical terms this had an impact on diverse areas, ranging from issuing passports and internal identity cards, to the overseeing of dietary laws and determining places of worship, dining, and entertainment, to the final judgment on the eligibility of an individual to be buried in a...