The State of Israel is a unique phenomenon of a Western state where the majority of lands (more than 90 percent) are still owned by the State and by a public body related to it – The Jewish National Fund. At the root of the national ownership of land lies the divine command stating that the Land of Israel belongs to God and therefore should not be traded in perpetuity. This principle, which was anchored in the Jewish National Fund’s Articles of Association and Regulations, was also adopted by the State of Israel in the first decade after its establishment, in the framework of a Basic Law and three land laws ensuring that most of the State lands would remain in the hands of the State. The book describes and analyzes the history of the ideological, social and legal processes that took place in Israel with regard to the adoption of the national land principle, and is based wholly on primary sources, mainly government and Knesset discussions concerning the legislation process of the above mentioned laws.

For the past 120 years, an Israeli culture has been created in Erez Israel. What is this culture? Can another kind of culture even be suggested? Does what is being created in this small Mediterranean land still belong to the Jewish heritage? This book compiles studies that present Israeli culture as a rich historical work, alive and vibrant, which reflects an essence full of contradictions, influences and battles, arising from encounters between immigrants and designed in the space between ideology and spontaneity.

The history of the planning and archutecture of the Edmond J. Safra campus in Givat Ram is an important chapter bothin the development of the Hebrew University in Jerusalemand in the shaping of the physical-urban structure of the city from the early 1920s until now. The University concieved and initiated the production of this book to research, learn and understand and document cultural, designer and architectural values of the Givat Ram campus. The University Campus is an open-air museum of modern Israeli architecture , landscaping and art. Its townplanning, as well as the individual buildings built over 50 years showcase the most significant styles in Israeli architecture. The book is in album format.