Political Tradition and Foreign Affairs: A Study in Jewish Foreign Policy

This study proposes to identify a Jewish political tradition in the area of international politics and foreign policy. The concept of Jewish foreign policy tradition encompasses the interaction between Jews and external groups during times of Jewish sovereignty as well as times of Jewish Diaspora. The article analyzes patterns of Jewish foreign policy behavior drawn from both various sources of Biblical or Halakhic literature as well as from the empirical Jewish political behavior in foreign affairs. It is concluded that a Jewish foreign policy tradition is relevant to understanding current Jewish international affairs.