Moshe Berent

Moshe Berent was born in 1954.[1] He earned an undergraduate degree in engineering at the Technion before turning to the humanities and social sciences.[3] He then completed a master's degree in philosophy at Tel Aviv University under the supervision of philosopher Joseph Agassi.[3] Ruth Gavison identifies Agassi as Berent's teacher and places Berent in his intellectual tradition.[2] Berent subsequently earned a doctorate in political history from the University of Cambridge and taught sociology and science at the Open University of Israel.[3]

Berent co-authored Mi Hu Yisraeli? (Who Is an Israeli?) with Joseph Agassi and Judith Buber Agassi. The National Library of Israel catalogs the 140-page Hebrew-language volume as having been published by Kivunim in Rehovot in 1991.[4]

His 2009 Hebrew book Am Ke-Khol Ha-'Amim: Likrat Hakamatah Shel Republikah Yisre'Elit is rendered in Gavison's review as A Nation Like All the Nations: Towards the Establishment of an Israeli Republic. Published by Carmel, it runs to 346 pages.[2] Its cataloged chapter topics encompass the relationship between religion and nationality, the concept of an Israeli nation, classical Zionism's separation of religion from nationality, republicanism before and after Israel's founding, and the roots of Israeli messianism. Its conclusion is titled "Toward an Israeli National Consciousness."[5]

In 2019, Carmel published Berent's Hebrew-language volume 'Inyanam Shel Ha-Yehudim (Jewish Cause: An Introduction to a Different Israeli History). The catalog describes the 472-page book as including a bibliography and index and as challenging accepted accounts of Zionist history. It raises questions about Zionist aims for statehood, mass immigration between the world wars, and efforts to rescue Jews during the Holocaust.[1]

In his 2009 book, Berent argues that Israel should transform itself from a state defined by Jewish nationhood into what he calls a liberal-democratic "Israeli republic." Ruth Gavison's review in the Jewish Review of Books says that Berent describes himself as an Israeli patriot and argues that a normal nation-state should align its demos—the body of citizens—with its nation. Under this model, Israeli citizenship would be open without distinctions based on religion or ethnic origin.[2]

Berent argues, as presented by Gavison, that Zionism succeeded in creating an Israeli nation but that this achievement has not produced a genuinely Israeli state and national identity.[2] His proposed national identity centers on modern Hebrew culture, which he regards as largely derived from, but not identical with, Jewish culture.[2] He treats secular Jewish national identity as a modern product of late-19th-century conditions rather than an ancient inheritance and writes that "national identities are not primary and are susceptible to change by constitutional means."[2]

On his view, Jews who are citizens of other countries belong to those countries' civic nations rather than to the Israeli nation.[2] He describes himself as a qualified "post-Zionist" while rejecting the approach of post- and anti-Zionists who investigate modern Jewish nationalism's origins in order to discredit it. He regards that nationalism as a legitimate response to late-19th-century conditions but argues that it is now obsolete and can be revised through constitutional means.[2]

Berent also addresses the position of Arab citizens within his model. Gavison reports that he sees growing "Israelification" among Arab citizens as evidence that a sociological Israeli nation is already developing. He argues that this process should be consciously completed by formally including Arab citizens in the Israeli nation while allowing them to retain a separate Arab cultural identity.[2] His model attaches civic obligations to citizenship, including IDF service and willingness to defend Israel; Gavison notes that citizens who refused those obligations could risk losing their citizenship under his proposal.[2]

Berent further contends that redefining Israel as the state of an Israeli rather than a Jewish nation could improve relations with diaspora Jews who identify primarily with their countries of citizenship while wishing to maintain a special bond with Israel. He also argues that integrating Arab citizens into the political nation could improve Israel's international legitimacy.[2]

In his 2019 book Jewish Cause, Berent advances a revisionist reading of Zionist history that challenges several accepted claims in Zionist historiography and Israeli public opinion.[1] The catalog description presents his argument that, after Theodor Herzl's death and the Uganda crisis, Zionist leadership shifted away from treating the movement as responsible for the broad "Jewish cause." It says the book contends that Zionist policy prioritized the gradual construction of Palestine as a "spiritual center" or "model society" for a limited Jewish elite rather than mass immigration or immediate statehood.[1]

The catalog also presents Berent's contention that the Yishuv's population of approximately 450,000 before World War II reflected Zionist policy choices as well as British and Arab opposition.[1] These are Berent's historical interpretations as summarized in the catalog record, not independently established findings, and they remain historically contested.

Gavison characterizes Berent's argument in A Nation Like All the Nations as well researched and elaborately argued while disputing several of its central premises.[2] She contends that Israel is not without a conception of a political entity encompassing all its citizens, pointing to legislation, administrative measures, and Supreme Court decisions as evidence. She distinguishes shortcomings in civic equality from the total absence of an ideal of equality and argues that many Israeli Jews wish to preserve Israel as a framework for Jewish life. She concludes that the transformation Berent proposes is unlikely to be accepted.[2]

An article from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs challenges Berent's civic-national framing on conceptual grounds. It argues that his position conflates civic citizenship with ethnic or cultural national identity and that redefining the state's civic character does not displace the Jewish people's national rights.[6]

Beyond his scholarly writing, Berent has intervened in Israeli political debates. At a gathering in Joseph Agassi's home, he delivered a lecture comparing the criminal trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the Dreyfus affair and characterized the proceedings as an unprecedented "coup" against an elected leader supported by Israeli elites.[3] At the same event, he called for a special court to try senior prosecution and police officials as "conspirators" and referred to television channels 11, 12, and 13 as "the North Koreans."[3] These were Berent's reported political opinions rather than findings established by the reporting outlet.