Data Sheet 1_Israel's civil society 2023 from protest to aid provision – a serving elite perspective.docx

The year 2023 in Israel started with illiberal constitutional change efforts by the new right-wing government and concluded with a brutal attack by Hamas terrorists and the subsequent war. Both occurrences galvanized two massive surges of civil society activism. The first was a mass protest that impeded the government's undemocratic legislation. The second was a large-scale mobilization to support a variety of populations affected by the war, providing services and goods that supplanted the failed governmental crisis response. Using a Serving Elite perspective and elaborating on this concept in the Israeli context, the paper analyzes the organizations that transitioned overnight from protest to service delivery. While these are two known roles played by civil society in general, such a transition from protest to support within the same organization is unusual, if at all existent. The paper analyses nineteen (19) in-depth interviews with leaders of 10 prominent organizations active in the protest and the aid phases. It explores their participants, forms of organizing, activities, ideologies, and interconnections, particularly emphasizing the transition. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed the emergence of a new Serving Elite in the making, liberal in orientation, and developed during the crises. This perspective provides an opportunity to highlight processes deeply embedded in Israel's social, political, and cultural landscapes, changing elites and power relations, and Israel's culture of entrepreneurship. It also provides a framework for analyses of serving elites in other countries.

2023年，以色列在新的右翼政府的保守宪法变革尝试中拉开序幕，并在哈马斯恐怖分子发动的残酷袭击以及随后的战争中落下帷幕。这两起事件激起了民间社会两股强大的活跃浪潮。首波浪潮是大规模抗议活动，阻碍了政府的非民主立法。次波浪潮则是一场大规模动员，旨在支持受战争影响的各种群体，提供替代政府危机应对失败的服务和物资。本文采用服务精英视角，并在以色列语境中对这一概念进行深入阐述，分析了那些一夜之间从抗议转向服务提供的组织。尽管这些是民间社会普遍扮演的两种角色，但同一组织内从抗议转向支持的现象实属罕见，甚至可能从未出现过。本文通过对10个在抗议和援助阶段活跃的突出组织的19位领导者的深入访谈进行分析，探讨了其参与者、组织形式、活动、意识形态以及相互联系，尤其强调了这一转变。访谈的主题分析揭示了正在形成中的新服务精英阶层的出现，其以自由主义为导向，并在危机中发展壮大。这一视角为突出以色列社会、政治和文化景观中根深蒂固的过程提供了机会，包括精英的转变和权力关系的变化，以及以色列的创业文化。同时，它也为其他国家服务精英的分析提供了一个框架。