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The Dialectic between Confrontation and Commitment: Religious-Zionism and the Settlement Project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 November 2016

Moshe Hellinger ,
Isaac Hershkowitz  and
Bernard Susser
Moshe Hellinger*
Affiliation:
Bar-Ilan University
Isaac Hershkowitz*
Affiliation:
Bar-Ilan University
Bernard Susser*
Affiliation:
Bar-Ilan University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Moshe Hellinger, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel. E-mail: hellinm1@mail.biu.ac.il; or to: Isaac Hershkowitz, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel. E-mail: tzanoa@gmail.com; or to: Bernard Susser, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002Israel. E-mail: susseb@biu.ac.il.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Moshe Hellinger, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel. E-mail: hellinm1@mail.biu.ac.il; or to: Isaac Hershkowitz, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel. E-mail: tzanoa@gmail.com; or to: Bernard Susser, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002Israel. E-mail: susseb@biu.ac.il.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Moshe Hellinger, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel. E-mail: hellinm1@mail.biu.ac.il; or to: Isaac Hershkowitz, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel. E-mail: tzanoa@gmail.com; or to: Bernard Susser, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002Israel. E-mail: susseb@biu.ac.il.
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Abstract

Religious Zionists have been the driving force behind the settlement project in Israel for the past 40 years. They often see settling in the Greater Land of Israel as a messianic activity. It might be thought that when state policy clashes with radical messianic movements, the result would be violent, bloody confrontations. This study seeks to explain why this has not been the case in Israel despite the dismantling of settlements in the Sinai and Gaza and the controversial Oslo process. Although there has been turmoil and resistance, most religious Zionists have refrained from serious violence. We suggest that a “theological-normative balance” prevents all-out de-legitimation of the state and life-threatening violence against it.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , December 2016 , pp. 843 - 866
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2016 

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