The Legitimacy of Single Mothers in Israel Examined through Five Circles of Discourse Anat Herbst ABSTRACT: This study applies critical discourse analysis to examine the relationship between the imagery and the legitimacy attached to single mothers, as well as the social policy designed for them. The correlation between images, legitimacy, and policy was examined during three decades (the 1970s, 1990s, and 2000s) of extensive legislation pertaining to single-parent mothers. The data have been drawn from a diversity of sources, including Knesset debates, Knesset committee discussions, women’s organizations, the media, and semi-structured interviews. The study shows that welfare policy necessarily encapsulates cultural perceptions and basic assumptions pertaining to certain segments of society. These beliefs anchor justiications for the expansion or limitation of social rights and reveal how the development of social rights is linked to cultural and social apprehension. KEYWORDS: dependence, legitimacy, marginality, poverty, single moth- ers, welfare policy The current research applies critical discourse analysis to examine interre- lations between the prevailing imagery ascribed to single mothers in Israeli society, their social legitimacy, and the welfare policy shaped for them. Women’s organizations, the Knesset and its various committees, and the media have served as the arena in which this imagery has manifested itself. These connections are explored through the development over time of wel- fare policies and of laws, namely, the Child Support (Payment Assurance) Law of 1972, the Single Parent Family Law of 1992, and the Omnibus Law of 2003. The study takes an in-depth look at the periods in which these laws were legislated, exposing the inluences of basic cultural assumptions and Israel Studies Review, Volume 28, Issue 2, Winter 2013: 228–246 © Association for Israel Studies doi: 10.3167/isr.2013.280214 • ISSN 2159-0370 (Print) • ISSN 2159-0389 (Online)