Citizenship Orientations in a Divided Society: A Comparison of Three Groups of Israeli Junior-High Students – Secular Jews, Religious Jews, and Israeli Arabs

The present study identifies major preferences for combinations of rights and duties (henceforth, citizenship orientations), as reflected in the political worldview of Israeli junior-high school students. Two distinct orientations were found, termed here “liberal” and “ethno-republican.” In order to contextualize the examination of citizenship orientations in the deeply divided Israeli society, the study compares three educational sectors which represent these rifts. Findings suggest that citizenship orientations are context-bound, in the sense that they depend upon the educational sector. As expected, ethno-republican orientations were more salient among religious-Jewish students than among either secular-Jewish or Israeli Arab students. Secular-Jewish and Israeli Arab students tend more strongly to endorse the liberal orientation, a propensity that is especially manifest among Arab adolescents. This trend supports the perception that Israeli Jewish population is bifurcated.