Le curriculum et la formation de sujets nationaux ¹ en Israël

One of the principal functions of educational systems is to make pupils loyal subjects to their country, State and nation. This study of the Israeli curriculum from a historical perspective, starting at the creation of the State and up to the present period, enables us to follow the development of the national ideology which determined the national consciousness of non-religious Jewish pupils. Four ideas of the nation emerged: "a nation with the right to be a State", "a nation founded on religion", "a State for a persecuted nation" and "a State for all its citizens". We can see that with time the more specific "Jewish" aspect of the national ideology has grown in importance at the expense of the original and more universal "Israeli" feature. Incorporating new national images into the curriculum is a necessary response to the need to bring the national ideology up to date and to adapt it to the social and political changes in the country.