Discussion - It is no fairy tale - Israel at 50

This article suggests that Israel, just celebrating its jubilee, represents the success of the Zionist revolution: casting Jewish national identity in the mold of Hebrew culture. The article discusses some of the main feature s of the cultural construction of Hebrew identity as a national discusses s ome of the main features of the cultural construction of Hebrew identity as a nation-building measure. It also elaborates on the emergence of a 'new I srael' as an aspect of the end of the foundation phase of the Zionist revol ution. Further, the article maintains that the most prominent accomplishmen t of the Zionist revolution has been the transformation of Zionism from ide ology into a self-evident and even obvious aspect of everyday life in Israe l. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.