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Leap of Faith: Israel’s National Religious and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Crisis Group Middle East Report N°147, 21 November 2013 Page 13 Thereafter, religious Zionism tilted towards confrontational strategies, advocated, in different ways, by the Tkuma stream. 61 Having been unable to prevent the disengagement, the Yesha Council came under the kind of criticism nearly unheard of until that year; Tkuma’s more combative stance, by contrast, boosted its popularity. 62 In parallel, the youth – especially in the West Bank – demonstrated a new predilection for confrontation, seeing their struggle in Manichean terms, pious defenders of the land standing against a sacrilegious government. They launched unprecedented criticism of the statists’ cooperative approach; 63 by contrast devoted statists, with some success, reasserted their faith in the role of the state and of each and every government in spite of the blow of disengagement. 64 But they clearly had lost ground to Tkuma, which today enjoys more influence than Yeshivot HaKav over the centrist current, which represents the vast majority of national religious. With the strengthening of more radical voices, attempts to unify national-religious forces within a single party failed in the next national elections, held in 2009. The Jewish Home party, which won three seats, sought to “work from within” and convince non-national-religious Israelis of their cause by promoting dialogue and cooperation. In contrast, the National Union Party – composed of the Tkuma faction (two MKs), the secular far-right Tehia (revival) Party (one MK) and the extreme religious non- Kookist Eretz Israel Shelanu Party (one MK) – won four seats. It sought to challenge the political mainstream by presenting a clear alternative, with more hardline rhetoric and a stronger emphasis on ideology over pragmatism, on major policy decisions facing Israel, especially those affecting the future of the West Bank. 65 61 Arguing that cooperative attempts to reform the system from within had failed, Tkuma leaders proposed a new, three-part strategy for religious Zionism: “internal empowerment; open criticism of the government and the relationship of the elites to them; and preparing alternative governmental and societal systems in Israel”. Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, “Taking a New Road”, BeSheva, 29 September 2005. 62 Crisis Group interview, Yair Sheleg, expert on Israel’s national religious, Jerusalem, July 2012. 63 Rosenak commented that Gaza’s disengagement crystallised the division between those who subscribe to the doctrine of the Unity of Opposites and those who do not: “There is a difference between Tkuma and the crises they trigger, on the one hand, and physically hitting people to convince them not to give up on Eretz Israel. Active adherents of the latter view today number in the hundreds, with several thousand passive supporters”. Crisis Group interview, Dr Avinoam Rosenak, religious Zionism expert, Jerusalem, May 2012. 64 Eitan Alimi, op. cit., p. 31. 65 Generally speaking, the Jewish Home party brought together the statist currents and the modern orthodox, while the National Union united the non-statists with the non-Kookists. Crisis Group interview, religious Zionism analyst, Tel Aviv, April 2013.
Leap of Faith: Israel’s National Religious and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Crisis Group Middle East Report N°147, 21 November 2013 Page 14 III. Settling the Land Even as Palestinians and the international community condemn settlement expansion, Israel’s national religious are more concerned by the constraints that it has faced over the past two decades. Existing settlements have continued to grow, but only a few new official settlements have been established since 1996. 66 While over 100 outposts – that is, settlements deemed illegal under Israeli law 67 – have been created since 1996, facilitated in many ways by state agencies, 68 their illegality and illegitimacy in Israel has put settlement advocates on the defensive. Their concern was heightened when Prime Minister Sharon, in accepting the Quartet’s 2003 Roadmap for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, agreed in principle to dismantle all outposts built since March 2001. 69 These developments have produced important shifts in generational attitudes. Veteran national-religious settlers, who established core settlements such as Ofra, Beit El, Kiryat Arba and Karnei Shomron, continue to consolidate them and build on their achievements. 70 In contrast, many of their children chafe at what they perceive as the “bourgeois” lifestyle of their parents, one lacking in religious zeal and national mission; feel humiliated by the Gaza disengagement; 71 and resent the even harder line against the outposts adopted by the government in 2005. 72 Emulating their parents three and four decades ago, some have been at the forefront of the effort to shape reality on the ground and force the government to adapt its policy and laws accordingly. An older settler and former government official commented on the allure that working outside of legal channels has for the younger generation: They have heard our pioneer-like stories – of settling empty hills in shacks and tents, enduring difficult weather, struggling against the Arabs, and more. They by 66 An exception came in 2012, when Israel legalised the outposts of Bruchin, Sansana and Rechelim, which were established after 1996; Israel also has established settlements in Har Homa and Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem in 1996, though it does not consider these as such. 67 According to Adv. Talia Sasson, former head of the Special Tasks Division in the state attorney’s office, a settlement is illegal according to Israeli law if it does not fulfil one or more of the following four conditions: establishment by government decision; proper land allocation, not on private Palestinian land; an approved and valid construction plan; or a location within the area of jurisdiction established by the order of the GOC Central Command. Talia Sasson, Opinion (Interim) Concerning Unauthorized Outposts [“Sasson Report”], 10 March 2005. 68 “Migron [an outpost created in 1999 and evacuated in 2012] had a construction plan. [The national religious party’s] Effi Eitam was housing and construction minister and authorised it. The prime minister authorised it. So the people of Migron thought it was okay even if not everything was in order bureaucratically”. Crisis Group interview, Binyamin rabbi, March 2012. 69 In accepting the roadmap, Israel committed to dismantle “unauthorized outposts which were established since March 2001” when Ariel Sharon became prime minister. The number of outposts built since March 2001 is contested: the defence ministry argues it is 26 whereas Peace Now, using satellite images, puts the number at 46. Peace Now website, tinyurl.com/avjv9x7. 70 Crisis Group interview, former Yesha Council leader, Jerusalem, June 2012. 71 “After 30 years of work, people were thrown out of their homes with no residential solutions and were then cruelly tortured by state bureaucracy for years. We lost a struggle that we conducted in a very restrained manner, which we thought would win us some empathy. Instead we felt trampled by a bulldozer”. Crisis Group interview, Gush Katif evacuee, Jerusalem, March 2012. 72 “There was silent governmental consent to build since the first Netanyahu government (1996- 1999). In spite of U.S. objections, there was tacit approval and assurance that everything would be fine. Suddenly under Sharon, IDF officers forbid us from going to certain hills and the Sasson Report applied retroactively”. Crisis Group interview, national-religious rabbi, Binyamin, March 2012.
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