The state written into the deposit of religion. Transformation of territorial – religious – ethnic structure of Israel in the context of interaction in the international relations

Abstract

Israel belongs to the countries whose location has „political value”. Though small in terms of area and population, it is an important subject in the global political system. However, it does not owe this position to its activities in the international arena, measured by its participation in regional or local international structures. At the core of this situation is the geographical factor. Today it belongs to a group of factors determining the processes of international interactions (but not executing these processes), i.e. impacting them indirectly and creating reasons, not organising and initiating processes. Even though this factor is characterised by the relativity of its influence on international position and conduct of countries, stemming from the variability of its functions, it is also one of the most persistent factors. With regard to Israel, it consists mainly of location (geopolitical location) and, paradoxically, given the aforementioned size of the country, its territory (borders) and the spatial, ethnic and religious diversity related to it.

Due to its geographical location between Europe, Africa and Central and Eastern Asia, the lands belonging to the modern Israel are well-placed to play a function of a natural bridge between cultures, nations, religions, languages. Despite this purpose, this area divides the Middle Eastern countries instead of uniting them. Focusing the spatial and political behaviours of the countries in this region, it engages actors from outside the region into Middle-Eastern politics, including universal powers (able to act globally in all fields of international relations, e.g. the United States), sectoral powers (active in selected areas, e.g. Saudi Arabia) and regional powers (e.g. Egypt).

The importance attributed to the said area, however, is associated primarily with the origins and history of the Jewish nation (and state), as well as its religion, which gave this land to Israel for good and as a central location. The area, located at the intersection of important routes, elevated its „geopolitical value” with the influx of Arab and Muslim population, whose settlement in the absence of exiled Jews was a real cultural turning point in the history of the region. The intersection of the most important religions, including Christianity, made this land a goal in expansion of European powers, determined to liberate it from the „infidels” since the Middle Ages. This important stronghold was a place of interest for all regional powers, both in ancient and modern times.

The well-established, over 1300-year presence of Arabs in the region was shaken by the immigration of Jews, well theoretically and politically grounded in Zionism, which lead to another fundamental change in the spatial, religious and ethnic structure of the area. A thickening network of Jewish settlements, the Holocaust, the compensation to surviving Jews, and finally the attempts by various powers to subjugate this politically „unformed” territory resulted in the determination of part of the international community to normalise the issue of Jewish statehood. The success of establishing a national seat for Jews was accompanied by the defeat of the lack of the same decision for Palestinian Arabs. The division of Palestine, assuming the creation of the Jewish state, was rejected not only by its Arab inhabitants, but also by the neighbouring countries, becoming a hotbed of armed conflict between Jews and Arabs, which took on global repercussions.

The failure to set the State of Palestine and unformed autonomy in the areas which are to be national seat for Palestinian Arabs result in the fact that the formation of Israel territory and its religious – national structure has not finished yet.

The article has attempted to: 1) define the relations between Judaism and the life space of its believers, 2) present geopolitical and religious conditioning of life of Jews in diaspora in the context of the restoration of their national seat, 3) analyse the causes, the course and the consequences of changes in geopolitical placement of Israel in connection with the transformations of its territorial-religious-national structure, 4) define the impact of these transformations on the behaviour of the international relations participants.