This article analyses patterns of post 2000 governance in Israel's education system. Drawing upon literature on educational regimes, governance in neo-liberal societies (for example, the UK and the USA), law-based educational reform and policy analysis, this study sets out to inquire how Israel's system was governed with minimal legislation for 60 years. The main theme that emerges is that, although the forces that govern Israel's landscape are similar to those in many post-industrialist western countries, the processes are quite different due to lack of decisive school reform, thus offering potential for a diverse setting, but with increasing distance from former equalizing and de-segregative vigour that portrayed the system in the past. (Contains 9 notes and 2 figures.)