Ira Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science and public administration at Hebrew University.
His books, which are available on Amazon, include:
*Alternative federal solutions to the problem of the administered territories
*Ambiguity, Coping, and Governance: Israeli Experiences in Politics, Religion, and Policymaking
*Ancient and Modern Israel: An Exploration of Political Parallels
*Coping with Terror: An Israeli Perspective
* Governing Israel: Chosen People, Promised Land and Prophetic Tradition
*Governing Jerusalem: Again on the World’s Agenda
* Israel and its Bible: A Political Analysis
* Maligned States: policy accomplishments, problems and opportunities
* Policy Analysis in Political Science
* Policy and Politics in American Governments
* Policy Making in Israel: Routines for Simple Problems and Coping with the Complex
* Politics and Planning in the Holy City
* Politics and Policymaking in Search of Simplicity
* Public Administration: Agencies, Policies, and Politics
* Public Administration Policy Making in Government Agencies
* Public Administration (2nd Edition): Policy Making in Government Agencies
* Regionalism in American Politics
* Rituals of Conflict: Religion, Politics, and Public Policy in Israel
* Spending in the American States
* The Policy Predicament: Making and Implementing Public Policy
* The Political Economy of Israel
* The Politics of Religion and the Religion of Politics
*The Politics of Taxing and Spending
* The Routines of Politics
* The United States: A Study of a Developing Country
* The United States Revisited: A Study of a Still Developing Country
* Urban Politics and Public Policy [Robert Lineberry]
* What Makes Israel Tick: How Domestic Policy-Makers Cope with Restraints
* Wither the State: Politics and Public Enterprise in Three Countries
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Life on the borders of cultures has been brought again to the fore in the crisis of three boys. We are seeing how far apart we are from Palestinians who celebrate the kidnapping, compare it to Israel’s imprisonment of their heroes who we see as murderers. And how far apart […]
Cultures account for some views of kidnapping crisis Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — We are seeing the essence of terror with the apparent kidnapping of three yeshiva students on Thursday night, and days of media dealing with almost nothing else. The continued crises and perhaps ultimate falling apart of Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine may weigh on us more heavily than the disappearance of
Kidnapping of teens brings much commentary, few facts Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — We are going through another wave of demands that Israel take an initiative. According to this view, time is not on our side, and the status quo cannot continue. Looking at the prominent proposals, they differ significantly one from another, and all have a taste of having been made in
Rule for Israeli policy makers: Don’t make matters worse Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It is too early to applaud, but there are some indications to encourage optimists. The forces of law may finally be moving seriously against the financial corruption that is serious, if not rampant, in Israeli business and politics. The clearest sign, and responsible for the word “de-Olmeritzation” coined by one
Israeli justice gains on corrupt politicians Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It looks like everyone is angry, but that is only the top layer. Only a bit deeper down, the status quo–including everybody else’s anger–looks pretty good from all the competing perspectives. Israelis are angry with Palestinians for creating an alliance with Hamas, and angry with Americans and Europeans for recognizing
Diving into the sub- surface of Middle Eastern politics Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM– I’ve written several times about Isaweea (or Isawiya), the Bedouin-Arab village or Jerusalem neighborhood whose border is about 200 meters from my balcony. I have never visited Isaweea during our 22 years of residence in French Hill. Arab friends and students have urged me to stay away, and two near lynchings
A French Hill view of Isaweea Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –“Messiah” may be a stretch. The word implies something from another world, associated with the Almighty, and meant to create some kind of Paradise for those who are favored. Writing from Jerusalem on the subject is especially dicey, given that we are within walking distance of the places where the world’s
Moshe Kahlon is building a political base Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Democracy is an icon of those who aspire to the best of political and civil rights. Like other icons, however, it is tricky to sort out the symbol from the realities. Virtually all countries describe themselves as democracies, but few measure up. Political scientists who concern themselves with the nature
Comparing democracy in Israel, U.S. and Egypt Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, resulting in four deaths including those of a visiting Israeli couple, has elevated once again the issue of anti-Semitism. It comes against the background of recent studies of the subject, including one based on questions about attitudes toward Jews in various countries,
Modern anti- Semitism an increasing worry Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — With the Pope’s visit still echoing, it’s appropriate to reflect on religion, and its role in politics. Alongside the Pope in Bethlehem, Mahmoud Abbas proclaimed that all the problems are Israel’s fault, and that Palestinians are the true protectors of Christians hereabouts. He may have been hard pressed to assemble
The mutual push and pull of religion and state Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Jews are primed to worry. The reasons are good. Central to the faith is the notion of being a Chosen People. That self-ascribed status has not generated a great number of Likes on the historical Facebook, yet it has helped us survive, more intact culturally than many others. We’ve suffered along the
The headlines of Israel’s quiet times Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Those tempted to think that Judaism is the most spiritual of the three religions that developed from Abraham should think again. True, Judaism does not have a man-god with lots of paintings and statues at its center, and it does not seek to conquer the world in order to advanced
Many religious sites are a matter of faith, not history Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –Palestinian organizations got just what they wanted from this year’s celebration of Nakba, what they call the disaster of Israel’s creation in 1948. Videos show enraged young men and boys, and some women throwing stones at nearby soldiers, and using slingshots of the David vs Goliath variety to hurl their rocks
P.A. invests two more lives to stir the political pot Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Israel is a fascinating place, a hot house of domestic and international pressures. The cities we recently visited in Italy are more peaceful, and the wine good and not expensive, but I’m too old to learn Italian. We recently experienced incidents on three of the cultural boundaries that are always
Palestinians, settlers, religious keep Israeli pot on simmer Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East