Taiwan and Israel

Abstract

AbstractIsrael is a polity that has long had deep socioeconomic divisions between the major parties. The religious parties were comfortable forming coalitions with the leftist Labour Party as long as Labour gave them sufficient resources for their own communities. Yet when Benyamin Netanyahu became prime minister, the religious parties defected to the Likud. The new prime minister shifted the terms of the debate to make his party more attractive to the religious parties. Labor in turn shifted to the center, with positions close to the centrist Shinui party that was focused on secular issues. This fundamentally altered the shift from a left-right dimension to a religious one. Taiwan’s politics have never been based upon ideological or religious lines. The I country’s politics are now and have always been based upon ethnic identity with either the island or Taiwan. The politics of both countries are now based not on what policies you support but with your ethnic identity.