Europe-Centrism in Israel\u27s General History Textbooks: 1948 – 2004

Since the establishment of the state of Israel the curriculum planners at the Israeli Ministry of Education deliberated as to what part and place should be allocated to the program of general history in the overall curriculum, especially what place should general history have versus the history of the Jewish people (and the history of Zionism). Another major deliberation was whether general history should be a separate subject, autonomous, in the studies of the Israeli student in order to enrich his world, broaden his horizons, enable him to form a universal world picture or should it serve the messages transferred by the program of the history of the Jewish people and thus, be subject, especially its contents, in a manner that would serve the Israeli government when it determines what contents should a student learn. This deliberation accompanies until this day all those who deal in creating study programs and study books of history in Israel, but not only here