Introduction

The state of Israel defines itself in ethno-nationalterms as ‘Jewish and democratic’, a constructionthat the late Baruch Kimmerling (1999) critiqued,arguing that the state is theocratic in its veryfoundation. The theological and ideologicalimperatives of Zionism, unlike other modernnation-alisms, are to elevate and prioritise thestatus of all Jews in ‘the Jewish state’ and outsideit above all others, while denying equal rights tothe Palestinian citizens, the survivors anddescendants of the survivors of the 1948 Nakba(Palestinian catastrophe). The hegemonic project ofZionism is dedicated to perpetually Judaising theland and constructing and maintaining a Jewishsovereign power for Jews only, erasing thePalestinian existence and national aspirations.Israel Harel, a publicist and spokesperson for thesettler's movement, once likened Zionism to abicycle (‘once you stop pedaling, you fall’),illustrating the necessity for perpetuallycontinuing the settlement project despite having thegoal of sovereignty having long been achieved (Harel2005).

While normally confident of its status as a ‘Jewishdemocracy’, the state of Israel is neverthelesssensitive to attacks on its basis of legitimacy inpursuing the national goal of asserting sovereigntyover Palestinian territories it occupied in 1967.For over five decades, Israel has been ruling overaround 4 million subjects in the West Bank and Gaza.Its ultimate strategic concern in recent decades hasbeen to normalise its regime and prevent the state'sdeterioration into international pariah status. Thischapter focuses on the repressive Israeliapparatuses, the prerogative part of the Israelisystem of rule, henceforth ‘the Prerogative State’.By ‘Prerogative State’ I mean the coercive apparatusas well as repressive authoritarian policies (Bellin2004). I examine its relation to the normative partof the Israeli system of rule, henceforth ‘theNormative State’, by which I refer to institutionsof the rule of law such as the parliament andcourts, as well as citizenship statuses andprotections and a functioning, open civil society.My account leaves out socio-economic andintra-Jewish structures of disenfranchisements, massarrests, repression and the systematicdiscrimination of Palestinian citizens, who make upa fifth of Israel's citizen population, as well asthe dynamic of Palestinian resistance.