New Media Politics and Society in

This book addresses the social and political landscape of Internet usage in Israel, and studies the formation of a networked information society in the "hi-tech nation". As Israel is considered a highly technologically developed country, it could serve as a model to assess and compare the performance and prospects of the Internet in other countries as well.

Chapters address a range of issues, including the diffusion of the Internet to Israel, religion and the Internet in the Israeli Jewish context, Internet-based planned encounters between Israeli-Jews and Palestinians and between Jews and Arabs in Israel, online journalism and user-generated content, Israeli public relations online, Internet usage by Israeli parliamentarians, parties and candidates, as well as audiences, and the facilitation of personalized politics through personal sites of politicians.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Israel Affairs.

Gideon Doron teaches Political Science, Political Communication and Public Policy at Tel Aviv University. He is the president of the Israeli Association of Political Science, the author of seventeen books and dozens of scholarly articles. Prof. Doron served as the chairman of the board of the Public Council of the Second Authority for Television and Regional Radio.

Azi Lev-On is the chair of the School of Communication at Ariel University Center in Israel. Dr. Lev-On’s studies explore behaviors and collective action in computer-mediated environments, employing a variety of methods such as link analysis, surveys and laboratory experiments.