‘Scientific Strategists’ in the Period of Mamlachtiut: Reciprocity between the Academic Community and Political Power Centers
Keywords:
The academic community in Israel, Israeli politics, Statehood, Academia–government relationsAbstract
In the first decades of the State of Israel an elitist group of scholars from academic institutions (mainly from the natural sciences) organized itself into a unique and powerful status group. Its members were senior partners in establishing and developing programs and processes that significantly shaped Israeli society. The sources of the power of this group (termed ‘scientific strategists’) came from personal and institutional cooperation between its members and highly influential political figures who strongly affected the group’s agenda. This reciprocity was founded on mutual trust and loyalty that established the infrastructure and the impetus needed for creating the main political tradition of the time – mamlachtiut (statehood).
The paper examines the policy that the ‘scientific strategists’ implemented which enabled them to form a flexible social network in which political leaders and administrators could use their professional capabilities without removing them from their academic bases, and could also promote their symbolic status, financially support their scientific activity, and shower them with awards and public recognition.
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