King George or King David ? On renaming the colonial past in Israel

Based on insights gleaned from recent developments in critical toponymy and on detailed historical research, this article explores local variations on the theme of renaming of the British colonial past in post-independence Israel by focusing on three cities: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. The main argument of the article is that local commemorative priorities were the result of a dynamic interplay of political pressures and constraints, ideological obligations, and historical commitments. As the article demonstrates, place-specific patterns of (re)naming the colonial past were local variations on larger, period-specific themes that underlay and belonged to the symbolic construction of nationhood in post-independence Israel.