The Attitude of AGUDATH ISRAEL's Daily HAMODIA towards Israel's Independence Day, 1951-1990

• In Event: Performing and Representing the New Nation

Abstract

Official media of a defined group is an important marker for the public trends inside that group. The attitude of centralist-Haredi stream (i.e. the Agudath Israel party and the public which is identified with) towards Zionism and the State of Israel in the 1950's and the 1960's was much more empathic than the attitude we know today. This attitude is reflected in the way Agudath Israel's official daily, Hamodia, covered Yom Haatsmaut (the Israel Independence Day) throughout the years. In this proposed lecture I will compare this coverage in the news section of the newspaper between the years 1951-1990. I will offer a way to measure this attitude by weighing the centrality and length of the coverage together with other parameters. This examination will help us measure the attitude of the Haredim towards the State of Israel at large and follow the changes it underwent throughout the years.

author

• Yair Halevy, Bar Ilan University