As the world's only Jewish state – Jewish both by design and population – Israel presents a unique set of questions to students of religion and politics. How large a role does Judaism play in the politics of contemporary Israel? How does the political system balance the imperatives of Jewish law and the demands of governing a modern state? How are conflicts between religious groups moderated? In what ways does Judaism influence the nature and conduct of political life? Does Judaism reinforce or undermine the maintenance of a democratic regime? Do the distinctive qualities of Judaism promote a different style of politics from that associated with states dominated by Christian or Muslim populations? How does the fact of Jewish dominance influence the treatment of non-Jewish minorities who live in the state? How does the character of the state influence Jewish religious groups themselves?

The breadth of questions precludes definitive answers in a single chapter. Indeed, entire volumes have been devoted to each of the questions raised in the preceding paragraph (Abramov 1976; Dowty 1998; Liebman and Don-Yehiya 1984). The central focus of this chapter is Israel's identification as a Jewish state. That is the quality that sets Israel apart from the other nations covered in this volume and, indeed, the trait that distinguishes Israel from all other states that have existed in the modern world.