The concept of Federation in Antiquity

In the context of proposals currently being discussed in Israel concerning the possibility of an independent Palestinian State coming into being in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and forming a Federation with Israel or Jordan or with both, it may be worth while to enquire whether Jewish history provides any precedence for such a scheme. It is a matter of speculation whether the idea of Federation as conceived in Antiquity can be applied to modern times, but it is of some interest to note that the idea as such is by no means as new as it is assumed. As Hyam Maccoby points out, “the co-operative effort of forming the Federation of tribes led to a breakthrough in political and religious thought, in which ideas of a free, universalistic, individualistic and pluralistic society were born”. Such a breakthrough in our own time may well lead to peace and harmony in place of strife and uncertainty.