The Israeli Radical Right: History, Culture and Politics by Ehud Sprinzak
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Ri&ht:· History, Culture and
The Israeli Radical Right:
Politics
by
Ehud Sprinzak
from
EDcouDten with the Contemporary
CODtemporary Radical Right
Encounters
Merld and Leonard Weinberg
edited by Peter Medd
Chapter 6
Westview Press
Boulder
1993
Available from Amazon-com
Amazon.com
fOWld at the end
The Table of Contents can be found
of this doCument and
of
and also
also by clicking the section headings.
1984: The Shock
Most Israelis were greatly shocked when they learned on the eve of April 27, 1984, that a plot to blow up
of Arab passengers during a crowded rush hour was barely prevented.
five buses full of
prevented. In the following
offonning
week, twenty-seven men suspected of
forming an anti-Arab terrorist network were arrested. It was soon
suspectS had been responsible for an attempt to assassinate the Arab mayors of three
disclosed that the suspects
1980; a murderous
mUrderous attack on the Islamic college in Hebron in 1983, which took the
West Bank cities in 1980;
of three students and wounded
wOWlded thirty-three; and a score oflesser
lives of
of lesser acts
acts of
of violence against Arabs. An
of the Rock on JerusaIem's
elaborate plan to blow up the Muslim Dome of
Jerusalem's Temple Mount, the third most
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Culture and Politics by Ehud Sprinzak
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was also
also on
ontheir
their drawing board.
board.
sacred place in Islam, was
What surprised
of the terror
terror
surprised observers
observers and
andpolitical
political analysts
analystsin
in April
April 1984
1984 was
was not
not so
so much the
the existence of
group
group as
as the
the identity of
of its members,
members. They belonged to Gush Emunim
Emunim (the
(the Block
Block of
of the Faithful),
Faithful), a
fundamentalist group committed to
religious fundamentalist
to establishing Jewish
Jewish settlements
settlements in
in the
the West
West Bank
Bank (biblical
(biblical
Judea
Judea and
and Samaria).
Samaria).ThOJlgh
Thoughan
anaggressive
aggressive(and
(andsometimes
sometimeseven
even illegal)
illegal) settlement
settlement movement,
movement, Gush
Gush
Emunim had
had never
never openly
openly embraced
embraced an
anideology
ideology of
of violence. Its orthodox leaders asserted
asserted aa biblically
biblically
Jewish claim
claim to
toJudea
Judea and
and Samaria
Samaria but bad
based Jewish
had never advocated deportation
deportation of
of the Arab
Arab population.!
population.1
Instead,
Instead, they professed the belief
belief that a peaceful and produ¢ve
productive coexistence
coexistence with the Arabs, under a
benevolent Israeli
Israeli rule, was both possible
possible and
and desirable. That any
benevolent
any of
of these highly educated and
ofwhom
whom were
were ranking
ranking army officers and
some of
responsible men, some
and all
all but
butone
oneof
of whom
whom were
were heads
heads of
of large
terrorism was
families, would
would resort
resort to terrorism
was completely
completely unexpected.
of"respectable"
"respectable" Jewish terrorism
terrorism was
The exposition
exposition of
was followed, three months later,
later, by
by another
another unexpected
unexpected
event: the election
election into
into the
the Knesset
Knesset (Israel's
(Israel's parliament) of
of the late Rabbi
Rabbi Meir Kahane,
Kahane, an
an extreme
extreme
fundamentalist (assassinated
religious fundamentalist
(assassinatedNovember
November5,5, 1990).
1990). Nearly
Nearly 26,000
26,000 (1.3 percent) Israelis voted
voted for
for
Kach (Thus), the political party that
that called
called for
for the
the expulsion
expulsion of the Arabs from
from historical
historical Palestine,
Palestine, and
Almost everybody
everybody remembered
remembered that
2.5 percent of
of Israeli soldiers were among them. Almost
that itit was
was Kahane
Kahane who
who
since 1974
1974had
bad advocated
advocated publicly
publicly Terror
Terror Neged
Neged Terror
Terror(TNT),
(TNT),which
which in
inhis
his terminology
terminology stOod
stood for
for
Jewish terrorism
terrorism versus Arab
Arab terrorism.2
terrorism.1
'
.
The astonished Israelis did not have to wait long in order to
to discover
discover what
what the
the new
new party
party was
was about.
about. A
A
day after the elections, Kahane
Kahane and his supporters held a victory parade
parade to
to the
the Western
WesternWallin
Wall in old
old
Jerusalem.
Jerusalem. Passing
Passing intentionally through
throughthe
theArab
Arabsection
sectionof
ofthe
theold
oldcity,
city, Kahane's
Kahane'sexcited
excited followers
followers
smashed through the market,
market, overturning
overturningvegetable
vegetable stalls, hitting bystanders,
bystanders, punching the air
air with
with
the frightened
frightened local residents that
that the
clenched fists, and
and telling
telling the
the end
end of
of their
their stay
stay in
in the
the Holy
Holy Land
Land was
was
near.
near. This kind
kind of
of street brutality
brutalitybas
hasbeen
beenrepeated
repeatedmany
manytimes
timessince
sinceespecially
especiallyfollowing
following anti-Jewish
terror
terrorincidents.
incidents.But
But instead
insteadof
of being
being shocked
shocked by
by what
what until
untilthat
thattime
timecould
couldonly
onlyhave
havebeen
been seen
seen in
in old
old
ofpre-1945
pre-1945 central
central Europe
Europe or in modern scenes from
newsreels of
from Teheran,
Teheran, some
some Israelis
Israelis liked
liked what
what they
they
saw. Since
Since the
the mid-1980s,
mid-1980s,the
thenumber
number of
ofsupporters
supporters of
of Kahane's
Kabane's political stance has increased by a great
Kahane and
amount.
amount. Polls conducted as of
of summer
summer 1984 have steadily given Kahane
andhis
his advocates
advocates between
between 2.5
2.5
attitude studies
students indicate
to 2.7 percent of
of the total vote. Several attitude
studies of
of high
high school students
indicate an
an exceptional
exceptional
forgiveness and
and "understanding"
"understanding" of
support
support for
for Kahane
Kahane among
among the
the yowig~
young. A general atmosphere of
of forgiveness
of the
1
acts of
Jewish underground
underground has also surfaced.
of the Jewish
surfaced.2
A careful examination of
ofreligious fundamentalism,
fundamentalism, extreme
of the evolution of
extreme nationalism,
nationalism, and
and aggressive
aggressive
anti-Arab
suggests aa rise
rise that is neither accidental
anti-Arab sentiment
sentiment since
since 1984 suggests
accidental nor
nor isolated.
isolated. This
This examination
examination
ofaa large
large political
political process
process that
that until now has
bas not been properly identified and named,
tells us the story of
the reen;lei'gence
reemergence of
of the Israeli Radical Right.
Right. Before the establishment
establishment of
of the
the State
State of
of Israel,
Israel, there
there existed
existed
in Jewish Palestine
Palestine aa small
small ultranationalist
ultranationalist school that propagated
propagatedthe
thecreation
creationof
ofaamonolithic
monolithic Jewish
Jewish
regime and
and was hostile to the dominant
dominantZionist
Zionistsocialism
socialism of
of the
the time.
time.This
Thisschool
school was
was strongly
strongly opposed
opposed
to the partition
partition of
of Palestine between Jews and
and Arabs
Arabs and
andexerted
exertedsome
someinfluence
influenceover
over the
the young.
young. The
The
actual partition
partition of
of Palestine in 1948 and the establishment of Israel
Israel under
underthe
thedomination
dominationof
of the
thesocial
social
democratic Mapai (later the
the Labor
Labormovement)
movement) was
was responsible
responsible for
for the
thegreat
greatdecline
decline oftbis
of this Radical
Radical Right
and for
monopolized by
by Herut
Herot (Freedom party, later
for its eventual demise. The nationalist scene was monopolized
which was
wasaamore
more moderate
moderate political
political party.
party. It now
now appears
appears that the Israeli
expanded to the Likud) , which
nationalist Right,
Right, which had
had been
been revitalized
revitalized since
since the
the Six Days' War
War(1967),
(1967), has
has undergone
undergone aa significant
ideological transformation.
transformation. In
political and ideological
In the
thelast
lastdecade
decadeand
andespecially
especiallysince
since 1984,
1984, itit bas
has gone
gone from
from a
unified political and ideological force
force headed
headed unquestionably by Menachem
Menachem Begin, the leader ofLikud,
of Likud,
to a camp fragmented
fragmented both
both politically
politically and
and ideologically.
ideologically.
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RightHistory,
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Right: History,
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CUltUre and Politics by Ehud Sprinzak
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The concept
of the
the Radical Right developed in the United States is useful in the Israeli
concept of
Israeli context
context because
because
groups like Kach and Gush Emunim do not fit the traditional
traditional features
features of
of the
the Israeli
Israeli nationalist
nationalist Right,
Right, yet
yet
they are neither revolutionary nor Fascist. The parties
parties to
to this
this camp earnestly
earnestly believe that they are the true
true
Israelis and
and the
the genuine
genuine Zionists. The purpose
purpose of
of this
this chapter
chapterisis to
to identify
identify the
the sequence
sequence of
of events that
produced the Israeli Radical
Radical Right, portray
portrayitit as
asaapolitical
political culture,
culture,and
andexamine
examine its
itspolitical
political dynamics.
dynamics.
The Ultranationalist Legacy
Leuacy
In the mandate
mandate period
period the
the school
school most
most identified
identified with
with the
the idea
idea of
of aa Radical
Radical Right
Right was
was the
the maximalist
maximalist
wing of
ofrevisionist
revisionist Zionism,
Zionism,the
theultranationalist
ultranationalist orientation linked to organizations such as Brith
Habirionim (the Covenant of
of Thugs) and Lehi (Israel's Freedom
Freedom Fighters,
Fighters, also
also known as the Stern Gang).
Gang).
The old Radical Right was moved
moved by
by two
two fundamental
fundamental beliefs: that the British were oppressive rulers
who had to be expelled from Palestine, by force and that
that the
the emerging
emerging Extreme
ExtremeRight
Rightof
of the
the time,
time, with
with
perhaps the
represented aa viable
perhaps
the exception
exception of
of the Nazis, represented
viable ideology
ideology anda
and a relevant
relevantmodel
model of
of political
political action.
action.
The early ideologues
ofthis
this camp,
camp, Uri
Uri Zvi Greenberg,
Greenberg. Abba
ideologues of
Abba Achimeir,
Achimeir, and
andYehoshua
Yehoshua Heshel
Heshel Yevin,
Yevin,
represented an impatient Zionism that concluded that the British betrayed
betrayed the
the Jews
Jews and abrogated
abrogated the
the
terms
1917 Balfour
Balfour Declaration. Fascinated by other nationalist
terms of
of the 1917
nationalistmovements,
movements, especially
especially the Italian,
the Polish, the Czech,
Czech, and
and the
the Irish, all of
ofwhich
which had
had reached independence through
through military
military effort,
effort, they
they
concluded that the British had
had to
to be
be expelled
expelled from Eretz
Eretz Yisrael
Yisrael (the
(the Land
Landoflsrael)
of Israel)by
by force.
force. The fact
fact
that the
of mostly new
new immigrants
immigrants and
andJhat
the Jews
Jews in Palestine were a small ethnic minority of
that a much larger
native community
community questioned
questioned their
their very right to the land was not allowed to interfere in the great dream.
dream.
Since its inception,
inception, this
this ultranationalist
ultranationalist circle was characterized
characteriz~ by
by aa conviction
conviction that
that strong
strong will
will and
and
determination constitu~
constitute the most important
important political
political resource
resource and
and that
thatthey
theyalone
alonecould
could change
change the
the
world.~
,
world.4
This small group of
ofultranationalist
ultranationalist ideologues,
started to
ideologues, which started
to write
write and
andpreach
preachininthe
thelate
late1920s,
1920s, was
was
not philosophically
homogeneous,for
foreach
eachmember
memberconstructed
constructed an
an individual
individual brand
brand of
philosophically homogeneous,
of ultranationalism
from
from different
different historical
historical and
and philosophical
philosophical sources. Profoundly
Profoundly influenced
influenced by the growing European
Radical Right, they all agreed on a principled rejection
rejection of
of democracy
democracy and
andaahostility
hostility toward
towardsocialism.
socialism.
socialism was
wasperceived
perceivedas
asaathreat
threat to
to nationalism.
nationalism. Only
Only the Hebrew nation and its future
Zionist socialism
future
instrument
instrument of
of power,
power, the
the Jewish
Jewish state,
state, were
were sacred.
sacred. Thus,
Thus, in
inaddition
additiontototheir
theirrejection
rejectionof
ofthe
thepolicies
policiesof
of
the yishuv Jewish community in Palestine) vis-à-vis
vis-a-vis the
the British,
British, the revisionist ultranationalists
ultranationalists were
were
driven by an ideological
ideologicalanimosity
animositytoward
towardthe
the workers'
workers' parties. There was another important
important ingredient
ingredient in
in
their thinking:
thinking: a romantic return
return to
to the
the biblical
biblical past
past of
of the nation and
and the
the aspiration
aspiration to
to reconstruct
reconstruct the
the days
days
of
who took
took Canaan
Canaan by force and extended it
of the early Hebrews who
it by military
military means
means to
to the
the large
large Davidic
Davidic
kingdom.~Most
farmer:'
kingdom.5- Most appealing to
to these revolutionaries
revolutionaries was
was not
not the
theimage
imageof
of the
the self-sufficient
self-sufficient Jewish farmeridolized by
byLabor
Labor Zionism,
Zionism, but
but rather
rather the
pioneer, idolized
the model
model of
of the Jewish fighter,
fighter, the
the Hebrew
Hebrew national
national who
who
takes the land by
see the
the following texts on Hebrew Canaansim
Canaansimfor
by force. {please
[please see
for background on
on this
this
movement-web
.
movement—web editor]
editor]
By calling
calling itself
itselfBrith
Habirionim, after
after a faction of
ofthe
the first-century.
first~century Zealots,
By
Brith Habirionim,
Zealots, the
thesmall
small group
group of
of
Greenberg,
Achimeir,
and
Yevin
clearly
communicated
radicalism,
antiestablishment
sentiment,
and
Greenberg,
clearly communicated
antiestablishment
and
defiance. The
The rebellion
rebellion was
was not
not only
onlydirected
directed against
against the
the British,
British, the Arabs, and the Labor
Labor establishment
establishment
but also against the religious orthodoxy for
for whom
whom the
the concept
concept of
of birionim was anathema because
because their
their
ennoblement of
of the Jewish past was not Halakic or historical.
historical. ItItwas
wasabove
aboveall
allaamythological
mythological rediscovery
of
ofthe nation,
nation, a romantic
romantic glorification
of the glorious tales of
glorificationof
of the
theold
old days
daysof
of blood,
blood, soil,
soil, heroism, and
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conquest. The intellectuals of
of Brith Habirionim mostly wrote and preached,
preached, and
and in
in the
the early
early 1930s they
2
were involved in several symbolic demonstrations against the British, Nazi Gennany,
Germany, and the Arabs.
ArabsA
Nevertheless, their politico-cultural influence was considerable.
considerable. Another contribution
contribution to
to Zionist
Zionist rightrightwing radicalism was made by Vladimir Jabotinsky, the founder and leader of
of the
the revisionist movement
movement
that split off from organized Zionism)
Zionism.? Jabotinsky's
Jabotinsky's admiration
admiration for
for Great
Great Britain
Britain and
and for
for the
the virtues
virtues of
of
democracy, liberalism, and the rule oflaw
of law was responsible for his
his refusal
refusal to
to completely
completely fight
fight the British
and relieve them from the moral duty of
of establishing a Jewish state as implied
implied in
in the
the Balfour
Balfour
Declaration.B.
radical elements in
in his
his thinking
thinking and
and political
political style
style that
that
Declaration .1Nevertheless, there were certain radical
made it possible for the members of
of Brith Habirionim and other radical
radical groups
groups to
to admire
admire him
him and
and include
2 Jabotinsky's most
his thought in their extremist weltanschauung.
most important
important contribution
contribution to
to these
these younger
younger
weltamchauung.2
followers was his integral nationalism, the fervent
fervent belief
belief that
that the
the nation
nation isis the
the supreme
supreme foundation
foundation of
of
Hissupport
supportfor
forcivil
civilliberties,
liberties,individual
individual freedoms,
freedoms, and a free economy was
legitimate political
political action.1O
action. His
was
somewhat at odds with his nationalist rhetoric and mode of action,
action, which
which stressed
stressed monism,
monism, militarism,
militarism,
discipline, order, and bitter defiance of
youth movement,
movement, Betar,
Betar, which became
became
of Zionism.!!
Zionism.11 Jabotinsky's youth
of revisionist activists, pioneers, and
the main politicization agent of
and fighters,
fighters, was
was aa semimilitaristic
semimilitaristic entity
entity
ll1Betar members wore
that stressed hierarchy, discipline, obedience to superiors, rituals,
rituals, and ceremonies.
ceremonies.1
wore
brown shirts and stressed military virtues as a symbol of natiorial
national sovereignty
sovereignty and
and an
an expression
expression of
of
collective national liberation. Jabotinsky cultivated romantic
romantic heroism
heroism and
and national
national fighters
fighters who
who gave
gave their
their
lives for freedom. Old and new battle sites like Massada,
Massada, Betar,
Betar, and
and Tel
Tel Hai
Hai were
were made
made sacred
sacred pilgrimage
pilgrimage
ll1 Other components
components of Jabotinsky's
Jabotinsky's program
program included the
sites for thousands of
of Betar youngsters.
youngsters.1
unconditional demand that the future State of
of Israel be established on
on both
both sides
sides of
of the
the Jordan
Jordan River,
River, aa
penchant for militarism, economic corporatism, and a fervent
onathan Shapira has
fervent antiLabor
antiLabor stance.
stance. As
As Y
Yonathan
has
shown, it was highly appealing to a whole age cohort of Betar activists
activists who
who grew
grew up
up in
in Poland
Poland between
between
the 1920s
I 920s and 1930s under the
the spell
spell of
of Joseph
Joseph Pilsudski
Pilsudskiand
andthe
thePolish
PolishExtreme
ExtremeRight.!i
Right.li
Yet as Sholomo Avineri has pointed out, Jabotinsky was fully aware
aware of
of the
the tremendous
tremendous weakness
weakness of the
the
15
Jews 15 and could neither support the politics of Brith Habirionim
Habirionim nor
nor the
the underground
underground operations
operations of
of
Etzel (the National Military Organization, a nationalist semimilitary
semimilitary organization
organization close
close to
to Betar)
Betar) in
in the
the
andespecially
especially Etzel,
Etzel, which since 1937 had been
closing years
years of
of the
the 1930s.
1930s.Betar
Betarstarted
startedtotodrift
driftaway,~
away, and
been
engaged in active anti-Arab
anti-Ambterrorism,
terrorism, could not accept Jabotinsky's
Jabotinsky's hesitancy.
hesitancy. They
They opted
opted for
for aa more
more
radical direction expressed by an active military struggle against
against the
the British
British and
and aa belief
belief in military
military
solutions for political problems. In 1940 Abraham Stern
Stem (Yair) split away
away from
from Etzel,
Etzel, and
and established
established
Lehi. The Stern Gang went underground and hoped to lead the entire Jewish
Jewish liberation
liberation movement
movement toward
the creation of the "Kingdom
"Kingdom oflsrael"
of Israel"free
freeof
ofthe
theBritish
Britishand
andArabs.ll
Arabs)/
The Marginality of
of the Old Radical Right
Ri~ht
Although the post-1967 Radical Right clearly has strong "classical"
"classical" Zionist
Zionist roots,
roots, there
there is
is hardly
hardly any
any
question that before the Six Days' War it was a marginal phenomenon.
phenomenon. The
The main
main force
force within
within the
the yishuv
yishuv
had been Labor Zionism. The political and cultural dominance of the
the Labor movement
movement and Zionist
. socialism over the Zionist venture in Palestine and the emerging
emerging Zionist
Zionist polity
polity has
has been
been the
the subject
subject of
of
many studies and books.ll.
the
Radical
Right
appealed
to
relatively
few
books.11 The ideas and programs of
of the Radical Right appealed to relatively few
Zionists, who were politically persecuted. The 1933 assassination
assassination of
of Labor
Labor leader
leader Haim
Haim Arlozoroff
Arlozoroff and
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Ehud Sprinzak
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crisis within
within the
the World
World Zionist
Zionist Organization
Organization began a long period of
of marginalization of
the 1935 crisis
of the
"secession"
ofJabotinsky
Jabotinsky from the Zionist movement and the later
Right and Radical Right. The "secession
Zionist Right
" of
establishment of
of the "secessionist" underground,
underground, Etzel
Etzel and
andLehi,
Lehi, led
led to
to intense
intense de
de legitimization
legitimization of
of the
Right..!2 To be a "secessionist" in the early
1940s amounted to membership
early 1940s
membership in
in illegitimate
illegitimate
Zionist Right.12
bodies that
that were
were considered Fascist
Fascist by
by the
the official
official interpreters
interpreters of
of Labor Zionism. Probably no
subversive bodies
ofthe yishuv
yishuv supported
supported the Right, and most of
more than 10 percent to 15 percent of
of these supporters were
l2
not very
very radical.
radicalA
successof
ofLabor
LaborZionism
Zionismininbuilding
buildingthe
theZionist
Zionist"
statein
inthe
themaking"
making" further
further diminished the
The success
"state
historical role of
ofthe
the Right
Right and
and the Radical Right. Etzel
Etzel and
and Lehi played
played an
an instrumental
instrumental role in driving
1940s-arole
rolethat
that was
was greater
greater than was recognized by "legitimate .
the British out of
of Palestine in the 1940s—a
ll They
Zionism"-but their
Zionism"—but
their support
supportfor
forthe
thebuilding
buildingof
ofthe
theJewish
Jewishpolity
polityininPalestine
Palestinewas
wasminimal
minimalatatbest.
bestU
made almost no contribution to
to the self-governing institutions of
of the state and
and to
to building
building the
the economic
economic
infrastructures of
part in
in the
the great
greatdiplomatic
diplomaticeffort
effortto
to gain
gain legitimacy
legitimacy
infrastructures
of the
the yishuv,22
yishuv,2 and took almost no part
and support
support for
for the
the emerging
emerging Jewish state in the United States and the post-Holocaust world.
Furthennore, they
Furthermore,
they were
were ill
ill prepared
preparedto
to meet
meet the
the real
realchallenge
challenge of the newly created state: the war with the
focusing all
all its
its efforts
effortson
onthe
theBritish,
British, the
theIsraeli
Israeli nationalist
nationalist Right became
became irrelevant the
Arabs. By focusing
moment the British left Palestine.
and the Holocaust also
also contributed
contributed to the historical
World War II,
II, the
the Nazi
Nazi and FasCist
Fascist experience, and
irrelevance of
of the Radical Right. In the 1930s the historical
historical Radical
Radical Right
Right was aa relevant
relevant ideological
ideological
bymany
manyas
asaaviable
viablealternative
alternativeto
toworld
worldcommunism
communismon
onthe
theone
onehand
handand
and"decadent"
"decadent" liberal
school, seen
seenby
school,
Polish Radical
Radical Right but also Italian fascism were bighly
democracy on the other. Not only the Polish
highly attractive
movement. The
The Fascist
Fascist appeal
appeal was
was partly
partly responsible
responsible for
for Abraham
for the radical
radical wing of
of the revisionist movement.
23 The
Stern's bizarre
bizarre 1941
1941 effort
effort to
to form
form an
an anti-British
anti-Britishalliance
alliance with
withthe
theAxis
Axis powers.
powers.D.
The experience
experience of
of the
war and
for the
the vast majority of
and especially
especially the Holocaust destroyed the fascination of
of fascism for
of the world.
loss of
ofthe
the war
war was
was also
also an
an ideological
ideological disaster
disaster for
for world fascism, driving it at once to the very
The loss
margins of
of modern civilization.
civilization. This was even more the case for Jews and
and Zionists.
Zionists. Very few
ultranationalists
remained loyal
loyal to their prewar
prewarpolitical
political platforms,
platforms, and
andmany
manyof
of them
them began
began to
to deny
deny ever
ultranationalists remained
close to
to the
the European
European Radical Right.
being close
1947 United
United Nations
Nations Partition
Partition Resolution, the 1948 war of
ofindependence and the establishment
The 1947
establishment of
of
oflsrael
made the
the grand
grand vision
vision of
ofthe
theRadical
RadicalRight
Rightrather
rather unrealistic. It was
was therefore
therefore natural
natural
the State of
Israel made
that despite
between Etzel
Etzel and
and the new Israeli army,
that
despite some bloody incidents between
army, Etzel's
Etzel's political
political successor,
successor,
Hemt, became
Herut,
became part of
of the Israeli parliamentary system
system...M
21 Mapai's
Mapai's shrewd
shrewd politicians
politicians constantly used
Herut's
past radicalism,
radicalism, extremist rhetoric,
rhetoric, and
and commitment
commitment to
to the dream
dream of
of "Shtei
"Shtei gadot
gadot laY
laYarden
zo
Hemt's past
arden zo
zo gam
gam ken"
ken" (There are two banks to the Jordan
Jordan River,
shelanu zo
River, this
this one
one is
is ours and
and the
the other,
other, too)-a
too)—a
principled rejection of
for aa military
military conquest
conquest of
of the
ofthe
the partition
partition of
of Eretz
Eretz Yisrael and the aspiration for
of Jordan—to
10rdan-to keep
Kingdom of
keep it out
out of
of the pale
pale of
of complete legitimacy.2S
legitimacy.2 In September
September 1948, Lehi
terrorist act,
olke Bernadotte,
veterans committed their last defiant terrorist
act, the
the assassmation
assassination of
of Count
Count FFolke
Bernadotte, the
the UN
UN
mediator in Palestine, and then gave up their underground
undergroundlife
life and
andin
in 1949
1949joined
joined the
the new
new system.
ofthe
the Fighters
Fighters party,
party. they implied at least a partial
Organizing in the form of
partialrecognition
recognition of
of the
the newly
newly
26
created Israeli state and its norms.
norms.26
only organized
organized component
component of
ofthe
the Radical
Radical Right
Right that remained
The only
remained loyal
loyal to
to the
the old
old ideology
ideology and
ideological group,
group, Chug
Chug Sulam
Sulam (Ladder
(Ladder Circle). Organized
continued to function after 1949 was aa small ideological
Eldad, aa devotee of
by Israel Eldad,
of Greenberg and
and aa former
formerchief
chiefideologist
ideologist of
of Lehi,
Lehi, Chug
Chug Sulam
Sulam vowed
vowed to
preserve the dream of
of the greatest Kingdom of
of Israel. For that
that purpose,
purpose,ititpublished
publishedaabighly
highlyideological
ideological
magazine, Sulam, and organized educational
educational and
and ideological
ideological activities for youth.
youth. Completely detached
of the newly created
created·State of
of Israel, Sulam printed anti-British articles
from the historical reality of
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Palestine via
via Jordan,
Jordan, antiregime articles attacking the
"exposing" the British intention to reoccupy Palestine
truncated Jewish
decadent party
party system of
of the truncated
Jewish state,
state, and
andessays
essays on
on the
the indivisibility
indivisibility ofEretz
of Eretz Yisrael and
borders. In
its promised borders.
In an
an age
age of
of prestigious democracy, it called for the installation
installation of
of a Jewish
state's neighbors.
dictatorship and
and for
for aa war
war of
of conquest
conquest against
against most
most of
of the new state's
neighbors. The
The celebration of
of
was occasionally
occasionallyended
endedby
bythe
thecall
call"next
"nextyear
yearininAmman"
Amman"(Jordan's
(Jordan'scapital)
capital).27
Israel's independence day was
.-21
SuI am's total isolation from the nation's public life and most Israeli citizens did not prevent the
Chug Sulam's
1950s, of
oftwo
twosmall
smallunderground
underground groups that
that vowed
establishment, in the early 1950s,
vowed to topple the regime:
and Machteret Malchut
oflsrael
Brith Hakanaim
Hakanaim (Covenant
(Covenant ofZea1ots)
of Zealots) and
Malchut Yisrael
Yisrael (Kingdom of
Israel Underground).
and was
was mostly
mostly interested
interested in fighting the
the secular character
character of
The first operated
operated between
between 1949 and 1951 and
of
19~1and
1953 and
and was
was involved
involvedin
in"defending
"defending and
and uplifting"
uplifting" the
the new state; the second acted between 1951
and 1953
captured by
national honor.
honor. Both groups were captured
by the
the Shin
Shin Beth
Beth (Israel's
(Israel'ssecret
secret service)
service) before
before they caused
an impact
impact nevertheless.
nevertheless. Whereas
Whereas Brith
Brith Hakanaim
Hakanaim burned nonkosher butcher
major damage, but they left an
cars that were being driven
drlven on the Sabbath, the
shops and set ablaze cars
the Kingdom ofIsrael
of Israel Underground
Underground was
was
involved in
in larger
larger operations.
doctors' trial
involved
operations. Reacting to
to the
the 1952 doctors'
trialin
inMoscow,
Moscow, itit blew
blew up
up the
the Soviet
Aviv and
and did
did the same to the Czech consulate following
following the
the Slansky
Slansky purge
purge trials in
consulate in Tel Aviv
the intense
intensepublic
publicdebate
debateover
overthe
theGerman
German reparations,
reparations, the group conducted several
Prague. Following
Following the
symbolic attacks
attacks against
against artists
artists performing German music.~
symbolic
music.
arrest of
But the arrest
of the members of
of this radical underground
underground and
andthe
thegrowing
growing irrelevance
irrelevance of
of Chug
Chug Sulam to
19508 slowly
slowly brought
brought about the final decline of
ofthe Israeli
the problems faced by the State ofIsrael
of Israel of
of the 1950s
The army's
army's aggressive
aggressive retaliation
retaliation operations against enemy
enemy targets
targets in
in Jordan
Jordan and Egypt in
Radical Right. The
1956 Sinai
Sinai campaign,
campaign. and
and David Ben Gurion and
the first
first halfofthe
half of the 1950s, the 1956
and Chief
Chief of
of Staff Moshe
Dayan's hawkish posture became attractive to many people who had rightist tendencies and backgrounds.
operations of
ofCommando
Commando Unit
Unit101,
WI,and
andlater
laterthe
theIsraeli
Israeli paratroopers
paratroopers under the command
The illustrious operations
of Major Ariel Sharon, provided the old ultranationalists
uitranationalists with
of
with new
new myths
myths ofIsraeli
of Israeli heroism.l2
heroism.22 The
publication of
publication
of Sulam was discontinued in the beginning of
of the 1960s and Eldad became aa fulltime
fiilltime
professor of
of biblical Jewish history at
at Technion
Technion College
College in Haifa.
Haifa. His
His devoted
devoted follower, Geula Cohen.
Cohen,
Israel's daily Maariv, and the old Radical
started to write for Israel's
Radical Right
Right became
became passe.
passe. Neither
Neither its
its devoted
ideologues nor
nor its
its historical
historical adversaries
adversaries expected
expected ititto
to be
beresurrected.
resurrected.
:
ideologues
Post-1967
RiKht
The Rise of the Post
-1967 Radical Right
September 17, 1978. On that
The Israeli Radical
Radical Right was-reborn
was-rebom on September
that day,
day, when
when Menachem
Menachem Begin
Begin signed
the famous accords with Egypt, he gave
gave aa kiss
kiss of
ofdeath
death to
to the
the unity of
of the Israeli nationalist Right.
Right. His
Plan(for
agreement to return
returnall
allof
of Sinai
Sinai to
to the
the Egyptians,
Egyptians, as
as well
well as his initiation of
of the Autonomy Plan
(for the
Barile), struck
Palestinians of
of the West Bank),
struck many
many of
of his
his political
political and
andideological
ideological allies
allies like bolts out of
of the
blue. For many years
years these people had led themselves to believe
believe that Begin, as the great champion
champion of
of
EretzYisrael,
their safest assurance
assurance against territorial
undivided Eretz
Yisrael, was their
territorialcompromise
compromise with
with the
the Arabs.
Arabs. Most
Most of
of
traditional supporters
them, not traditional
supportersof
ofBegin,
Begin, were
were gradually
gradually swept
swept into
into his
his political
political camp,
camp, which had
had gained
1967. In
In 1977
1977they
theywere
wereall
all thrilled
thrilled when
when after
after thirty
thirty years
national fame and
and legitimacy
legitimacy following 1967.
years of
of
political opposition their man
man finally
finally made
made itit to
to the
the top.
top.Immediately
Immediatelyfollowing
followinghis
his election,
election, Begin
have "many
"many more Elon Morehs."
Morehs." Elon Moreh
pledged to have
Moreh was
was the
the most
most controversial
controversial Gush
Gush Emunim
Emunim illicit
illicit
Bank. Located
Located in
in the
the heartland
heartland of
settlement in the West Bank.
of the Arab populated Samaria,
Samaria, itit was
was never
officially recognized
recognizedby
bythe
theprevious
previousLabor
Labor administration.
administration. The
officially
The pledge
pledge signified Begin's total
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commitment to the settlement of
of all Eretz Yisrae1.
Yisrael.32
Most of
ofthe groups that were to form
fonn the new Radical Right had
had a distinct
distinct identity
identity prior
priortoto 1978.
1978. The
most influential among them was the Land ofIsrael
of Israel Movement
Movement (LIM).
(LIM). This
This movement,
movement, a direct
direct offspring
offspring
of
Six Days'
Days' War,
War, did not
not draw its ideas from the traditional
of the Six
traditional ideology
ideology of
of Vladimir Jabotinsky-the
Jabotinsky—the
Begin's convictions.
convictions.Rather,
Rather,ititwas
wasaanewly
newlyborn
bornultranationalist
ultranationalist creature
creature that brought
fountainhead of
of Begin's
together strange bedfellows: religious
religious fundamentalists,
fundamentalists, military
military hard-liners,
hard':'liners, and
and labor-settlement
labor-settlement fanatics.
fanatics.
As diverse as the
the LIM people
people were,
were, they
they shared
shared two politico-ideological
politico-ideological characteristics
characteristics that set them
Israel's might
apart
apart from
from other
otherpolitical
political schools:
schools: an
an immense
immense confidence in Israel's
might and
and aa total
totalsuspicion
suspicion of
of the
Arabs. "Peace for peace" was their political slogan. It
It amounted to the proposition that under no
conditions should
should Israel
Israel respond
respond to an Arab proposal
proposal for
for peace
peace by territorial
territorialconcessions)!
concessions.31
as
The Land of
Israel Movement was not the only component of the would be Radical Right.
of Israel
Right. Two other
elderly true
true believers in the 1970s:
1970s: Gush
Gush Emunim
Emunim and Kach. Gush
organized entities joined its elderly
Gush Emunim
was established as an independent movement in 1974. Its members were never fully detached from
from the·
the
LIM, and some of
oftheir spiritual
spiritual authorities
authoritiesbelonged
belonged to
to the
the founders
foundersof
of this
thismovement.
movement. But
But there
there existed
existed
a major
between the
the two. The leading figures of
Israel Movement
major sociological
sociological difference between
of the Land of
of Israel
were elderly secular notables, well known and
and established in Israel's
Israel's public
public life,
life, whereas
whereas the
the Gush
Gush people
people
were young, inexperienced,
inexperienced, and
and fresh. Totally religious, messianic, and
and fundamentalist
fundamentalist in
in their
theirbeliefs,
beliefs,
32 In the
they introduced
introduced anew
a new component to
to the
the life of
of the nationalist
nationalist Right,
Right, operational
operationalmessianism.
messianism.I2
the
ofJudea and Samaria they
settlement of
they saw not only
only a political act but aa religious
religious and
and metaphysical
their theology,
theology, pioneering
pioneering settlement
settlement meant a direct contribution to
commandment. According to their
to the·
the
imminent process of
ofredemption.
redemption. It
It was
was consequently
consequently carried
carried out with utmost enthusiasm and total
devotion. No
No wonder
wonder that
that the new
new spirit
spirit soon
soon lighted the hearts
hearts of
of many Israelis, right-wing and
and nonnonright-wing alike. Many Labor veterans,
veterans, especially
especially from kibbutzim
kibbutzimand
andmoshavim
moshavim(collective
(collective and
cooperative villages),
were deeply
deeply moved.
moved. For
For years
years these people had been
villages), were
been longing for the lost old spirit
of
Charmed by
of Zionist pioneering. Charmed
by the
the new
new mystique
mystique of
of Gush Emunim, they did not care a great
great deal
about
ofthe new movement.
movement
about the
the full
full politico-religious message of
ofGush
Gush Emunim
Emunim did not take place until
Although the official
official establishment
establishment of
until 1974, Rabbi Meir Kahane
Kahane
. appeared
appeared on
on the
the scene
scene in 1971. Kahane, the fonner
formerhead
headof
ofthe
thevigilante
vigilanteJewish
JewishDefense
Defense League
League (lOL)
(JDL) in
the United States, established the Israeli
Israeli branch
branch of
of the
the lOL,
JDL, which
which was
was later
later to
to become
become Kach.
Kach. Less than a
year after
after his
his arrival,
arrival,·he
hediscovered
discovered the
theArab
Arabissue
issueand
andnever
neverlet
letititgo.
go.By
By 1973
1973 the
the well-known
well-known pattern
patternof
of
to Arab
Arab villages
was established.
established. Kahane, surrounded
provocative visits to
villages was
surroundedby
byseveral
severalfollowers,
followers, would
would go
go to
an Arab
Arab town, demand to talk to its muchtar (village head), and deliver the message that there
there was
was no
room for Arabs in the Holy Land.
Although the Land
Larid of
ofIsrael
Israel Movement,
Movement, Gush
Gush Emunim,
Emunim, and
and Kach maintained their organizational and
hadone
onecommon
commonthread:
thread: a great admiration
ideological
independence,they
theyhad
ideological independence,
admirationfor
forMenachem
MenachemBegin.
Begin. This
This
ardent
ardent nationalist
nationalist had
hadbecome
become their
theirchief
chief flag
flag captain.
captain.In
Inthe
theelections
electionsof
of 1973,
1973, the
the LIM,
LIM, including former
former
Labor
Labor members
membersof
of the
the movement,
movement, endorsed
endorsed Begin.
Begin. This
This was
was aa watershed.
watershed.One
Oneof
ofthe
theoldest
oldestlegacies
legacies in
Zionist history, the
the hatred between Labor and
and revisionism,
revisionism, was
was overcome.
overcome. Gush Emunim
Emunim had
had also
also
close to
to this
this old
oldcommander
commander of
ofEtzel.
Etzel. The
The movement,
movement, initially a faction within the National
become close
Religious party
party (NRP) ,, severed
severed these
these ties
ties aashort
short time
time after its establishment. Unhappy
Unhappy with the NRP's
partnership in a Labor government that did not pursue a total "Israelization"
"Israelization" of
partnership
of Judea
Judea and
and Samaria,
Samaria, the
the
33
Emunim decided to
youngsters of
of Gush Emunim
to abandon
abandonpolitics
politicsand
andconcentrate
concentrateon
onsettlement.
settlementA No
No such
tile opposition. He was a frequent
frequent
frictions,
the leader of
frictions, on this issue or others, existed with Begin, the
of the
visitor of
of their illicit
illicit settlements.
settlements. In
In time
time he
hewould
woulddescribe
describethem
them as
as his
his"dear
"dear children."
children."
.
Of all the would-be Radical
Radical Right,
Right, Kahane alone did
Of
did not
not endorse
endorsethe
theLikud
Likudininthe
theelections
electionsof
of 1973 and
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devotee of
ofBegin,
Begin,whom
whomhe
hesaw
sawas
asthe
thetrue
true successor
successor of
ofJabotinsky
Jabotinsky and the spirit
1977 but was a devotee
spirit of
of
34
Betar. Kahane
Ernest Bevin, the hated British
Betar.M
Kahane was
was an oldBetar
old Betar man.
man. In
In 1947
1947 in Brooklyn.
Brooklyn, he picketed Ernest
responsible for
for pro-Arab politics in Palestine. This demonstration
demonstration led
foreign minister who was responsible
led to
35 His races for the
Kahane's first arrest under the banner ofBetar.
of Betar.21
the Knesset
Knesset in
in 1973
1973 and
and 1977 were not
Begin but
but were meant
meant to strengthen
strengthen Begin's hand in the Knesset. He argued that
directed against Begin
that he,
he, as an
rabbi, was capable of
of introducing a genuine nationalist religious party, one that
that could
orthodox rabbi,
could stand by
by
Labor.36 Kahane's
totaIjubilation:
Begin without
without selling
selling out
out to
to Labor.16
Begin
Kahane's reaction
reactionto
toBegin's
Begin's 1977
1977 election was total
jubilation:
ofIsrael
Israel has as its prime minister potential
For the first
first time since its establishment, the State of
a man who thinks like a Jew, acts
acts like a Jew,
Jew, faces television with aa yarmulke on his head,
and actually speaks the "one little,word"
little,word" that
thatwe
we have
have waited
waited to
to hear
hear from
fromthe
thelips
lips of
of Ben
Ben
Sharett, Eshkol,
Gurion, Sharett,
Eshkol, Golda, Rabin,
Rabin, and
and Peres.
Peres. Menachem
Menachem Begin, the potential prime
minister of
thanks God, the one little word that the
of Israel,
Israel, faces the
the nation
nation and the world and thanks
reads from
from Psalms
Psahns and thanks the
polysyllabic Eban
Eban finds
finds impossible
impossibleto
topronounce.
pronounce. And
And he
he reads
polysyllabic
ll
Miracle? Miracle
Almighty. Miracle?
Miracleofmiracles.
of miracles.E
man
David accords
accords turned
turned out to be a historic moment of
oftruth.
truth. For the
The Camp David
the vast majority
majority of
of the
Begin became
became aa superhero.
superhero. In less than a year the
nationalist Right, Begin
the man
man had
haddone
done the
the impossible.
impossible. He first
Left in the elections
elections and
and later
later stole
stole the
the whole
whole"peace
"peace show"
show" from
from their
their hands. For the
defeated the Left
instantly became
became aa traitor,
traitor, an imposter who either could not stand the pressures
minority, he instantly
pressures of
of the
never truly loyal to the nationalist legacy. They could never trust
trust him
Gentiles or was never
him or
or most
most of
of his
Likud again.
ofthe Radical Right from the ashes of
and tortuous.
tortuous. It
The rise of
of Camp David was slow and
It was
was not
not easy
easy to
ofthe majority ofIsraelis
confront in public the immense elation of
of Israelis or to
to challenge the victorious prime
minister. Several leaders of
of Gush Emunim were stunned.
stunned. Camp
Camp David
David signified
signified for them
them aa religious
religious
affront of
of the first degree. It meant
meant an
an inexplicable
inexplicable delay of
of national
national redemption,
redemption, something
something they
they could
to be
be possible.
possible. Some
Someofofthem
themrenounced
renouncedtheir
their Gush
Gush Emunim activity for
believe to
not believe
for a while and
and went
ll But
But despite
despite this first shock,
back to their
their yeshivoth
yeshivoth for
for several
severalmonths
monthsof
ofreflection
reflectionand
andsoul-searching.
soul-searching.
shock,
They apparently
apparently had sufficient stamina to endure and to start
the potential radicals survived. They
start on
on aa course
course
based on strong political and ideological foundations.
The structure of
of the present-day Radical
Radical Right was shaped by three overlapping beginnings that took
1978. The
The creation
creation of
ofBanai
of Eretz
Eretz Yisrael's loyalists) and the
place at the end of
of 1978.
Banai (the covenant of
establishment of
of the Tehiya (Renaissance) party, the ideological break of
of Kahane
Kahane with
with Begin,
Begin, and the
within Gush
Gush Emunim
Emunim that
that produced (among other developments) the Jewish underground.
underground. At
crisis within
At the
emergence of
ofBanai
was noticeable,
noticeable, but
but the other developments were to
time only the emergence
Banai was
to playa
play a significant
role:
role.
November 1,
1, 1978,
1978,as
asaadirect
direct response
response to
to the
the "betrayal"
''betrayal" ofMenachem
Established on November
of Menachem Begin,
Begin, Banai-Brith
Ne'emanai Eretz Yisrael
Yisrael (Covenant
(Covenant ofEretz
of Eretz Yisrael
Yisrael Loyalists)
Loyalists) was
was aa large
largecoalition
coalitioncomposed
composed of
of
prominent members of
of the Land of
of Israel Movement, Ein Vered circle (kibbutzim and
and moshavim
moshavim
ofHerut's
supporters of
supporters
of the maximalist cause), Gush Emunim, and the Loyalists of
Herut's Principles.
ofthe
the settlers
settlers in
in northern
northern Sinai and
Representatives of
and aa small
small student
student organization
organizationnamed
namedFalse
False Peace
Peace also
joined.312
-9- At
joined.
At first,
first, the movement did not consider itself
itself a political association
association with electoral
electoral aspirations. It
only tried
tried to alert the public to the grave error
only
error Begin
Begin had
had committed.
committed. Its
Its very
very establislunent,
establishment, however,
however,
political break.
break. It was the first internal
indicated a significant political
internal ideological
ideological revolt against
against the
the founding
founding
father of
father
of the party.
party. Some
Some of
of the rebels,
rebels, the Loyalists ofHerilt's
of Herut's Principles,
Principles,were
wereold
old revisionists.
revisionists. They
They
Begin in
in:the
the sacred
sacred name
name of
ofJabotinsky.
Jabotinsky. Their leader,
challenged Begin
leader, Gershon
GershonSolomon,
Solomon, was a distinguished
Jerusalem. Upon the prime
representative ofHerut
of Herut (Begin's own party) in the municipal COWlcil
council of
of Jerusalem.
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minister's return
return from
fromCamp
CampDavid
David to
to Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, Solomon
Solomon met him at
at the
the city
city gate carrying
carrying aa large
large black
black
umbrella,
thus symbolically associating
umbrella, thus
associating Begin's
Begin's act
act with the
the shameful peace British prime minister
Neville
Chamberlain signed with Hitler
S-'The
Thenew
newmovement
movementoperated
operatedon
ontwo
twolevels.
levels. It
Neville Chamberlain
Hitler in
in 1939.
1939.440
organized public demonstrations in the streets of
ofIsrael's
Israel's main cities and, in a desperate attempt
attempt to bring
bring
the nationalist Right
Right back
back to
to its
its senses,
senses, lobbied within the Likud
Likud and
andNRP.
NRP.But
Buton
onMarch
March29,
29, 1979,
1979, any
ofretreating
retreating from the Camp David accords disappeared.
illusion of
disappeared. Menachem
Menachem Begin,
Begin, Anwar Sadat, and
and
Jimmy Carter
Cartersigned
signed the
the official
official peace treaty
treaty in
in Washington.
Washington.The
Theonly
only hope
hope left
left for
for the
the opponents
opponents ofthe
of the
treaty
treaty was
was to
to take
take the
the issue
issue to
to the
the Israeli
Israeli voter.
voter.Yuval
Yuval Neeman,
Neeman, aanoted
notedscientist,
scientist,took
tookthe
thelead.
lead. Following
Following
1,000 people
people signed
signedon
onto
totake
take political
politicalaction.
action. Gershon
Gershon Shafat
Shafat and
and Hanan
HananPorat
Neeman's call, more than 1,000
Porat
of
supportive, and there
of Gush Emunim were highly supportive,
there was
was aa growing interest
interest in
in other
othercircles.
circles. When
When the
the new
new
religious secular
secular effort of
of professor Ne'eman
Nc'eman got the blessing of
of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda
Yehuda Kook,
Kook, the revered
revered
. mentor of Gush Emunim, the other
other hesitant
hesitantelements
elements opposed
opposed to
to Camp
Camp David
Davidjoined
joined in.
in. They
They established
established
41
the Tehiya, a party
party totally
totally devoted
devoted to
to the
the delegitimization
delegitimization of
of Camp
CampDavid.
David.R
had a profound impact on the stature
The Camp David accords also had
statureof
of Meir
Meir Kahane.
Kahane.In
Inthe
the 1970s
1970s the
vigilante rabbi was a very marginal
marginal figure.
figure. Only a small cabal of
of young, former American JDL
JDL members
members
and
and Russian
Russian immigrants
immigrants followed
followed him.
him. His efforts to establish in Jerusalem
Jerusaleman
aninfluential
influentialideological
ideological
center under
frustrated by
under the
the title Jewish Idea were largely frustrated
by lack
lack of
of funds
funds and
and supporters.
supporters.The
Thecreation
creationof
of
Gush Emunim in 1974 and the highly acclaimed pioneering activities
activities of
of its members
members left
left little room
room for
for
Kach's self-styled
radicalism before
before the accords
accords with Egypt.
Egypt. But
But after.
after Camp
Kach's
self-styled radicalism
CampDavid,
David,the
thepreviously
previously
admired prime
prime minister
minister of
of Israel
Israel became
became aa traitor.
traitor.By
By succumbing
succumbing to
to the
the pressure
pressureof
of the
the Gentiles,
Gentiles,
"substituting fear
of creation and history,"
"substituting
fear of
of the
the finite
finite gentile for Jewish faith in the God of
history," he
he had.
had
committed halal
hillul hashem, "the
"the humiliation
humiliation and
and desecration
desecrationof
of the
the name
nameof
of God"
God"to
tobe
be fearful
fearful of
of the
Kahane was
was finally
finally relieved
relieved of
ofhis
his former
former ideological allegiance
Gentiles. 42Kahane
Gentiles.g
allegiance to
to the
the successor
successor of
of
Jabotinsky.
now free
free from
from an
an additional bond:
Jabotinsky. He was now
bond: the remainder
remainderof
ofhis
his loyalty
loyalty to
to Israel's
Israel's democracy.
democracy.
tnie, had
Kahane, it is true,
had never
never been
been aa great
greatchampion
championof
of democracy.
democracy.But
Butas
aslong
long as
as he
he believed
believed that aa
solving the pressing problems
legally elected
elected government
government under Begin was capable of
of solving
problems ofEretz
of Eretz Yisrael,
Yisrael,
Begin had proven himself
part of
he maintained
maintained some
some allegiance to the system.
system. Now it was all gone. Begin
himself part
of aa
rotten system and the whole secular framework was corrupt.
corrupt. Thepost-1978
The post-1978 Kahane
Kahane became
became a different
political animal. Racial overtones entered
entered his
his terminology
terminology as
as well
well as
as the
theoperations
operationsof
ofhis
hisfollowers.
followers. The
The
first
Israel's declaration
first ideological target became Israel's
declarationof
of independence.
independence.The
The1948
1948 document,
document, which
which promised
promised
equal rights
the inhabitants of
tights to all the
of the Jewish state, race,
race, religion,
religion, and
and nationality
nationality notwithstanding,
notwithstanding, was
was
Kahane as a contradictory document.
now presented by Kahane
document. Israel
Israel could
could not
not pe
be Jewish
Jewish and
and democratic
democratic at the
the
43same time because that meant political equality for too many hostile Arabs.
Arabs. So
So it had
had to
to be
be justJewish.
justJewish.43
Kahane's people
Kahane's
people in Kiryat Arba,
Arba, the
the Jewish
Jewish city
city adjacent
adjacent to
to Hebron,
Hebron,acted
actedaccording1y~
accordingly. They
They accentuated
accentuated
the Arabs and became prime catalysts
their
their positions
positions vis-a~vis
vis-a-vis the
catalysts in
in the
thegrowing
growingJewish,
Jewish, anti-Arab
anti-Arabviolence
violence
in
44.
in the
the area
area.±4
The most extreme reaction to the Camp David accords was the crisis within Gush Emunim that resulted
resulted
in the secretive establishment, in 1978, of
ofwhat
what became known in 1984
1984 as
as the
the Jewish underground.
underground. Until
Until
only issue
issueon
onthe
theagenda
agenda of
ofthe
the group
group was
was the
the blowing
blowing up
up of
ofthe
the "abomination,"
"abomination," the
1980, the only
the Muslim
Muslim
ofthe
the Rock.
Rock. The
The idea
idea was
was brought
brought up by two exceptional individuals,
Dome of
individuals, Yeshua
Yeshua Ben-Shoshan and
and
Yehuda Etzion. Although both were closely
affiliated with
with Gush
Gush Emunim and
closely affiliated
and its settlement drive, neither
neither
was a typical member. More than
than most
most of
of their
theircolleagues,
colleagues, they
they were
were intensely
intensely preoccupied
preoccupied with
with the
ofthe
the process
process of
ofregeneration
regeneration that
that was about to bririg
mysteries of
bring the
the Jewish
Jewish people,
people, perhaps
perhaps in
in their
their own
own
lifetime, to its redemption. The two convinced themselves
themselves that
that the historic setback
setback of
of Camp
Camp David
David must
have had a deeper cause than Begin's simple weakness. It may have been a direct signal from heaven that
a major
major national
national offense
offense had been committed, a mistake that
that was
was responsible
responsible for
for the
the political
political disaster.
disaster.
one prominent act of
ofdesecration could match the magnitude of the setback:
Only one
setback: the
the presence,
presence,
Sanctioned
sanctioned by the government
govenunent of
oflsrael,
Israel, of
ofthe
the "infidels"
"infidels" and their
their shrine
shrineon
on the
theTemple
Temple Mount,
Mount, the
by...
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Jewish site,
site, the
the sacred
sacred place
placeof
ofthe
thefirst,
first, second,
second,and
andthird
third (future)
(future) temple.temple.~
41
holiest Jewish
messianic movements
movementshave
havelong
longnoted
notedthat
thatmillenarian
millenarian types
types are
are driven to extreme and
Students of
of messianic
antinomian acts
acts when
when the
the imminent
imminent process
process of
of redemption
redemption isis suddenly
suddenly stalled.
stalled. They
They become
become convinced
convinced
needed in
in order
order to calm the Lord's anger~
that an
an exceptional
exceptional operation is needed
anger. Only such an
an action can restore
46
psychological mechanism
mechanism was
was probably
probably
the messianic process and ensure its
its consummation.
consummation.it
This psychological
in the
the Temple
TempleMount
Mountplan.
plan. But
Butthe
theplan
planhad
had an
an additional
additional goal:
goal: Its
Its perpetrators
perpetrators believed
involved in
involved
believed that it
wouid ruin the peace
would
peace treaty
treaty between
between Israel
Israel and
andEgypt
Egyptand
andstop
stopthe
theevacuation
evacuationofofSinai.
Sinai4774 Following
tete-A-tetes between Etzion and Ben-Shoshan
several tête-à-têtes
Ben-Shoshan in which they
they cautiously
cautiously studied
studied the
thepossibility
possibility of
of
They brought
brought in several trusted
an operation on the Temple Mount, the two decided to extend the circle. They
devoted to
to preparing
preparing the operation, and in 1982, just prior to the final Israeli
friends. Three years were devoted
ofthe
the rabbis
retreat from
retreat
from Sinai,
Sinai, everything
everything was
was ready.
ready. The
The plan,
plan, however,
however, was
was shelved, because none of
approved of
of the idea.
with whom they consulted approved
But though the Temple Mount operation was postponed
postponed indefinitely, other acts
acts did
did take
take place.
place. When six
were brutally
brutally murdered
murdered by Arab terrorists
yeshiva
students were
yeshiva students
terroristsin
in Hebron
Hebronin
inMay
May 1980 and aa general outcry
emerged in
in the
the community,
community, ititwas
wasonly
onlynatural
natural that
that Terror Neged
Terror would
for revenge emerged
Neged Terror
would strike,
strike, its '
terror. Seeing
members already having conspired to commit aa major act of
of terror.
Seeing it as a way to restore law and
.
order at
at once,
once, they attempted to
to assassinate the
the mayors
mayors of
of several Arab
Arab cities.
cities. With the same
conviction-the belief
beliefthat
that they, as the most
conviction—the
most dedicated,
dedicated, idealistic
idealistic and
andpure
purehad
hadtotofulfill
fulfillthe
theact
act~me
g—some
of these people
people attacked
attacked the Muslim college
collegeof
ofHebron
Hebron in
in 1983
1983and
and prepared
prepared ~n
of
in the same year to
to blow
blow up
five Arab buses.
An event that greatly shaped the
the identity
identity and
and style
style of
of the emerging Radical
Radical Right
Right was
was the
the struggle
struggle of
of the
Halt the Retreat in Sinai (MHRS). Mostly a Gush Emunim entity,
Movement to Halt
entity, the MHRS
MHRS was
ofthat
that year
organized at
at the
the end
end of
of 1981. It came into
into being
being following Begin's success in the elections of
and the failure
failure of
of the
the Tehiya
Tehiya to
to stop the peace
peace process at
at the
the polls.
polls. The
The messianic
messianic members
members of Gush
Emunim stepped in when all hopes for a secular solution faded. Armed with their
their illicit settlement
ofthe previous decade, they convinced themselves that immense dedication
experience of
dedication and
and seIfsacrifice
selfsacrifice
stop the evacuation
evacuation of
ofSinai
Sinai and
and prevent the
could entice God to stop
the self-imposed
self-imposed destruction of
of Jewish
settlements. In line with
with Gush
Gush Emunim's
Emunim's tradition,
tradition, the
the settlements
settlements of
of the
the Rafiah
Rafiah Salient
Salient in
in Sinai
Sinai were
colleagues from
from the
the West
West Bank.
Bank. They
They came
came with
with their
their families, rabbis,
rabbis, yeshivoth, and
flooded with colleagues
logistics. All
All the
theveteran
veteran settlers,
settlers, the heroes of
ofthe extralegal settlement of
the early
logistics.
of.the
early 19708,
1970s, were there.
They prayed, conducted Torah courses, and were determined to reconstruct
reconstruct nonnallife
normal life in
in the
the area
area as
as if
if no
in less
less than
than six
six months.
months. It
It was an
an unparalleled show of
faith and
evacuation were to take place in
of faith
conviction.49 All three Knesset members of
ofTehiya
Tehiya joined
joined the
the struggle and settled in Yarnit.
coasiction.42
Yamit.
But Begin
was determined
determined to keep
k,eep his
his word and was backed by his minister
Begin was
minister of
of defense, Ariel Sharon, a
experienced soldiers were mobilized for the evacuation,
former ally
former
ally of Gush Emunim.
Emunim. A
A full
full 20,000
20,000 experienced
which only miraculously ended with no fatalities. Nevertheless, fierce struggles between soldiers and
desperate settlers resulted. Distinguished rabbis were beaten up.
up. Laws, rules, and formal
formal regulations were
systematically disregarded. The Israeli
systematically
Israeli public
public witnessed
witnessed the
the longest
longest and
and most
most intense
intense period
period of
of civil
civil
disobedience and
and organized extralegalism in the history of
disobedience
of the state. Several members
members of
of the MHRS
seriously considered armed resistance,
resistance, and
andothers
otherssuggested
suggestedmass
masssuicide.
suicide.Twelve
Twelve followers
followers of
of Kahane
themselves in
inan
an underground
underground shelter full of
and explosives
threatened to
locked themselves
of gas tanks and
explosives and threatened
to blow
blow
themselves up.
up. Begin
Beginhad
had their
their rabbi
rabbi rushed
rushed in from
themselves
from the
the United
United States
States and
andflown
flown to
to Yarnit
Yamit by
by aa special
military helicopter in order
order to
to convince
convince his
his devotees
devotees to give in.
When.y amit was finally evacuated on April 28, 1982,
1982, the
the exact
exact date
date set by the peace treaty,
treaty, it waS
When.Yamit
was clear
move
was
successful.
However,
itwas
also
the
coming
of
age
of
a
new
political
camp
that
Begin's
grand
that Begin's grand move was successful. However, it was also the coming of age of
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and movements whose
whose loyalty
loyaltyto
toIsrael's
Israel's traditional foundations
and culture,
culture, aa conglomerate
conglomerate of
of activists and
significantly limited.
limited. The
The leaders
leaders and followers of
ofthe
the MHRS,
MHRS, who
who were
were taken
taken from the scene
was significantly
scene bitter
and frustrated,
frustrated,left
left no
no doubt
doubt that
thatthe
thestruggle
strugglein
inYamit
Yamithad
hadbeen
beenaalesson.
lesson. ItIt was
was aa warning
warning of
of what
what would
the government
government of
oflsrael
ever conceived
conceivedof
ofterritorial
territorial concessions
concessions in
in Judea
Judea and Samaria. The
be done ififthe
Israel ever
increased electoral
electoral strength
strengthof
of the
theTehiya
Tehiyain
inthe
theelections
electionsof
of 1984
1984 (five
(five Knesset
Knesset members),
members), the
the election
election of
of
growing support
support for "Kahanism"
"Kahanism" in
Kahane, and the growing
in the
the streets
streets brought
broughtthe
thelarge
largeextremist
extremist movement
movement
into Dull
full swing.
Culture
Each of
of the responses to the Camp
Camp David
David accords
accords was
was to
to evolve
evolve on its own course. But with time and
against the background
backgroundof
of aa stagnating
stagnatingpeace
peacewith
withEgypt,
Egypt,aasick
sickBegin,
Begin, aa failing
failing economy,
economy, and
and the
the fiasco
theformation
formation of
ofan
anunprecedented
unprecedented radical
radical rhetoric and
responses also
also led
ledto
tothe
in Lebanon, these responses
. unrestrained
unrestrained street
street behavior.
behavior. Extreme attitudes
attitudes regarding
regardingthe
theland
landand
andthe
theArabs,
Arabs,special
specialexpressions
expressions
implying war
war and a never-ending
never-ending struggle
struggle against
against the
the terrorism
terrorism of
implying
of the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO), enthusiastic utterances about redemption,
redemption, and
and aa constant
constant siege
siege mentality
mentality have in recent years
50 For aa sizable public,these
expanded upon the nationalist rhetoric ofHerut's
of Herut's "New Zionism."
Zionism." 52
public, these attitudes
have produced more than a bitter
bitter mood;
mood; they
they have
have created
created aa unique
unique political
political and
and cultural
culturallife-style.
life-style.
Within the nationalist camp, the Israeli Radical Right is presently a great deal
deal more than
than the
the movements
movements
that are
are directly
directly associated
associated with
with it.
it. It
It is
is aa general
general climate
climate of
of opinion
opinion and
and constitutes
constitutes aa syndrome
syndrome of
of
economic divisions,
divisions,and
and educational
educational strata.
strata. The Israeli Radical
political behavior. It crosses party lines,
lines, economic
an integral part
part of
again an
Right is today again
of the thriving
thriving general
general nationalist
nationalistcamp.
camp.But
Butfive
five salient
salient themes,
symbols, set
set itit apart
apart from the larger right-wing
which bring together theory, practice, and special symbols,
right-wing camp
.
that wants Eretz Yisrael to remain undivided.
First, there is the nostalgia for the prestate Zionist community. In contrast to the popular
popular image
image promoted
by its rivals, the Israeli Radical Right
Right is not Fascist.
Fascist. The
The political
political and
and social
social model
model that
that appeals
appeals to
to most
most of
of
is neither
neither drawn from foreign ideologies
ideologiesnor
norcaters
caters to
to antibourgeois,
antibourgeois,antiparliamentary,
its leaders is
antiparliamentary, or
ofaa limited
limited democracy
democracy taken
taken from
from the
the past,
past, from
from the
the era
era that
antidemocratic ideas. It is instead a model of
formation of
ofIsrael. Most of
ofthe leaders and followers of
of the Israeli Radical Right
preceded the 1948 formation
ofthe
the Zionist
Zionist founding
founding fathers,
fathers, their values, and their behavior.
cherish the memories of
behavior. Just
Just like
like those
back to the founding fathers, the Constitution,
members of
of the American Radical Right who constantly go back
of the time before Franldin
Franklin O.
the rugged individualism of
D. Roosevelt, and the "American
"American way
way oflife,"
of life," the
Israeli radicals
radicals are
are nostalgic
nostalgic about
about the
the old
old days
days of
of the
the yishuv,
yishuv, the
the days
days when each Zionist settlement
was aa real
real thing; the times when Jews worried about Jews, not
counted and Hagana (Defense
(Defense Force) was
Moshe Levinger, Gush Emunim's settler
"In the
about Arabs. As Rabbi Moshe.
settler number
numberone,
one, describes
describes it, "In
the old
old days
Labor people have worked for settlement, immigration, security and
and peace
peace with our
our neighbors.
neighbors. Today the
of Labor has only one
one item,
item, an
an agreement
agreement with the neighbors."
neighbors." a
political program of
ofthe
the Israeli
Israeli Radical
Radical Right,
Right, very much like right-wing radicals in other countries, do
The spokespersons of
oftheir people, what corrupted
corrupted them
not really understand what
what has
has become of
them and
and turned
turnedthem
themso
so soft,
soft, so
themselves as
as perfect
perfect Zionists,
Zionists, the
the true
true inheritors of
liberal, and so pluralistic. They see themselves
of the old, pre-state
ofthem also consider themselves good
good democrats
democrats or,
yishuv. Many of
or, more
more precisely,
precisely, good Jewish
52 The Zionist yishuv, they
they argue,
argue, was established in a democratic way and was operated as a
democrats. 52
Politics
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in
democracy. But everybody
everybody functioned
functioned in
in the
the framework
framework of
of a limited democracy and did not think in
tenns
of
The
fathers
antidemocratic, but
universal
pluralism.
Zionist
founding
fathers
were, therefore, not antidemocratic,
but they
terms
fools either.
either. Instead
Instead of
ofreciting
reciting John Stuart
Stuart Mill
. were no fools
Mill or
orJohn
JohnDewey
Dewey all
all day
day long,
long, they
they set out to build
own people. The conclusion of
a viable polity for their own
ofthis line
line of
ofthinking
thinking is thus very clear.
clear. When the
and duly elected
elected government
government of
ofIsrael
of the primary
legal and
Israel stands in violation of
primary tenets
tenets of
of Zionism,
Zionism, it has to
be resisted just as the legal British government
government was
was resisted
resisted in
in the
the 1930s
1930s and
and 1940s by
by the
the Zionist
Zionist
"anti-Zionist" acts
founding fathers. Its "anti-Zionist"
actshave
have to
to be
be overruled
overruledjust
justas
assimilar
similaracts
actsof
of the
the official
official
itself were
were overruled by zealous pioneers. "How
"How is it possible to act against
organizations of
of the yishuv itself
government and the law?"
law?" asks an anonymous writer in
the government
in an
an early
early Gush
Gush Emwrim
Emunim information
information leaflet,
leaflet,
.
and answers:
answers:
All through the history ofyishuv,
of yishuv, settlements were established as a result of
of a grassroots
only granted
granted later.
later. Ein
pressure, and
and official approval was only
Ein Harod
Harod was
was established
established with
with no
no
license in
in 1921.
1921 ....
Followingthe
theSix
SixDays'
Days'war,
war, settlements
settlements in
in the Golan Heights,
official license
... Following
Kiryat Arba
Arba were
were fonned
formed in
in this
this way
way.....
... The same procedure has
has been
been
Gush Etzion, and Kiryat
reactivated in the settlement of
of Keshnet near Kuneitra.
Kuneitra....... Blocking
Blocking Jewish
Jewish settlement in
Eretz Yisrael, by force, is graver when it is committed by a Jewish government than
Eretz
than by
by
53
foreign rule. 0.
attachment to
but selective and
The attachment
to the
the yishuv
yishuv era
era and
and to
to its
its politicalstyle,
political style, however,
however, is not concrete but
of this camp do not really want
. normative.
nonnative. The leaders and
and the
the ideologues
ideologues of
want to
to go back
back to
to the
the old
old
presovereign days. What
What attracts
attracts them
of the
the early
early days that prescribed
presovereign
them is that
that aspect
aspect of
of the value
value system of
and helped operate aa framework
framework of
of Zionist
Zionist nonns
norms free
free of
of legalistic barriers
barriersand
andexcessive
excessive democratic
obsessions.
secOnd theme
theme that
that distinguishes the Israeli Radical Right from
The second
from the
the right
rightwing
wing in
in general
generalisis aa religious
religious
fundamentalism or aa secular
fundamentalism
secular neofundamentalism.
neofundamentalism. The
The Israeli
IsraeliRight,
Right,like
like several
several similar
similarmovements
movements in
other countries, contains aa prestigious·
prestigious fundamentalist
fundamentalistelement.
element.The
The embodiment
embodimentof
of this
this component
component is
is
Kahane's writings.
Gush Emunim and
and its ideology. This orientation is also evident in Kahane's
writings. The
The special
special
attraction of
fundamental truths
attraction
of Emwrim's
Emunim's belief
belief in the fundamental
truths of
of the
the Bible
Bible is that it is a partial
partial system.
system. It
exclusivelyon
onthe
theterritorial
territorial sacredness
sacredness of
ofthe
the"Kingdom.
"KingdomofIsrael
concentrates almost exclusively
of Israel in
in the making,"
making,"
is the
the status
status of
ofthe
thepresent
present State
State of
ofIsrael.
Israel. Unlike
Unlikethe
theultraorthOdox
ultraorthOdox anti-Zionist
which is
anti-Zionist fundamentalists,
fundamentalists,
who live
live by
by every
every single
singlerule
ruleof
ofmedieval
medievalHalakah
Halakah as
as ififthe
the state
state did
did not exist
exist and
and the world had not
ofGush Emunim
Emwrim are modern,
changed, the fundamentalists of
modern.,nationalist;
nationalist and
and pragmatic.~·
pragmatic.L4 They are
are full
full of
of
admiration for
admiration
for the
the state
state and
and the
the instruments
instrumentsof
of its
its sovereignty-the
sovereignty—the government and
and the
the military.
military. Their
single grain
grain of
ofsoil
soil that
that God promised to Abraham. It
fundamentalism commands them to sanctify every single
tells them that they
they are
are living
living in an age of
of redemption
redemption in
in which
which itit is
is mandatory
mandatorytotofollow
follow the
the coUrse
course of
of the
great biblical conquerors, Joshua and
and King
King David. It requires
requires them
themto
tobecome
become pioneers
pioneers and
and personally
personally to
settle all the territories of
of Eretz Yisrael that
that were
were recovered
recovered by
by the
thejosh~
joshuas of
of our
our time.
time. Benny
Benny Katzover,
Katzover, a
leadingfigure
figureininGush
GushEmunim,
Emunim,illuminated
illuminatedthe
thegroup's
group's special
specialterritorial
territorial fundamentalism:
fundamentalism: "In
. leading
"Inevery
every age
age
there is one point, a special point, through
through which
and time, there
which all
all that
thatisis good
good sheds
sheds light.
light. .....' In
In the
the beginning
beginning
of the messianic
messianic age,
age, the
the critical
critical point
point isis Eretz
Eretz Israel
Israel and everything else
from it. Without
of
else derives from
Without its
ii
sett1~ent no
settlement
no holiness
holiness operates
operatesin
inthe
theworld.
world.g
This new fundamentalism
fundamentalism fits perfectly the psychology of
of many secular maximalists
maximalists and
and the
thepeople
people who
are nostalgic about
about the
the old
old Zionist
Zionist community.
community. The
The majority
majorityof
ofthese
thesepeople,
people, who
who were
were very
very active
active in
in
settlement and
and defense
defense in
in the
the prestate
prestate era, are channed
pioneering settlement
charmedby
by the
the vigor
vigor and
and vitality
vitality of
of the
youngsters of
youngsters
of Gush Emunim's
Emunim's theology
theology from a nonorthodox
nonorthodox angle.
angle. ·The
The main
main proposition
proposition of
of the '
that Zionism,
neofundamentalist school
school is that
Zionism, though
though secular,
secular, was
was never
neverdevoid
devoid of
of 4eeply
deeply seated
seated religious
religious
beliefs. It
It had
had been preceded
preceded by centuries of
ofaspirations
aspirations of
beliefs.
of returning
returningto
toEretz
EretzYisrael.
Yisrael.The
Thetheologians
theologians of
of
fonnula for future
Gush Emunim, the late rabbis Kook (father and son), had discovered the correct formula
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Zionism according
accordingto
to neofundamentalist
neofundamentalist thinking.
thinking. Arguing
Arguing that the secular Zionists are as
political Zionism
partners in the
legitimate partners
the process
process of
of redemption as orthodox
orthodox Jews,
Jews, they made it possible for orthodox and
ally and
and strive together for national grandeur.
56
nonorthodox Jews to ally
grandeur.it
ofradical
radical right direct
Third is the legitimation of
direct action
action and
and illegal
illegal practices.
practices. Students
Students of
of the
the history
history of
of
Israel's right-wing
Israel's
right-wing radicals
radicals are
are familiar
familiarwith
withthe
themethods
methodsof
of political
political protest,
protest, illicit
illicit settlement,
settlement, and
and civil
civil
1973. 57 But they also remember that
that in the beginning and
disobedience the
the radicals have introduced
introduced since
disobedience
since 1973.27
this camp
camp was
was inexperienced
inexperienced and
and uncertain.
uncertain. Gush
the mid-1970s,
mid-1970s, this
Gush Emunim,
Emunim,whose
whose theology
theology had
had always
expressed a great respect for
for the
the government,
government, was
was highly
highly apologetic. Its leaders conducted many
many sou1soulin which
which aa genuine attempt
attempt was made to
searching sessions in
to limit
limit excesses to the very minimum.
for example, at
at that time the
Menachem Begin, for
the leader
leader of
of the
theopposition.
opposition, was
was especially
especially equivocal. On the
one hand he truly
truly loved the youngsters of
of the Gush and
and visited
visited some
some of
of their illicit settlements, but on the
other he maintained a great
58 For most
great respect
respect for
for the
the rule
rule oflaw
of law and
and avoided
avoided many other settlements. 58
most of
of
ofthe
the Gush,
Gush. the
the Camp David accords terminated
terminated the period
the members of
period of
of uncertainty.
uncertainty. ItIt was
was now
now clear
Radical Right
Right that efforts to maintain
maintain its
to the growing Radical
its grip
grip on
on the
the totality
totality of
of Eretz
Eretz Yisrael
Yisrael had
had to
to involve
involve
The parliamentary
parliamentary nationalist
a great amount of
of extralegalism. The
nationalist Right
Right could no longer be trusted, and the
land had to
to be
be defended by all available methods. In 1982 all the Tehiya. Knesset members went down to
By.their
very action
action they
they introduced
introduced a new doctrine that
that implied
resettle Yamit. By
their very
implied that
that illegal
illegal
extraparliamentarianism. just
extraparliamentarianism,
justas
aslegal
legal parliamentary
parliamentaryaction.
action,was
wasaalegitimate
legitimateavenue
avenueof
of action.
action. The
The new
doctrine has, since
since the
the retreat
retreat from
of Kahane's
from Sinai,
Sinai, been
been widely applied. It became
became the guideline of
in the
the streets
streets and
and has
has led
led many
many other
other Israelis
Israelis to
to disregard
disregard law and
and order.
actions in
matured between
1984, had
had a by-product
The extralegal doctrine of
of the Radical Right, which matured
between 1979 and 1984,
that also
also emerged
emerged at
at that
that time:
thit
time: the settJers'
settlers'conception
conceptionof
of self-defense
self-defense and
and vigilantism.
vigilantism. Despite the
successful attempts
attempts of
ofthe
the Likud
Likud government
government to
to intensify
intensify the
the Jewish
Jewish settlement
settlement in
in Judea
Judea and Samaria, the
successful
settlers underwent
underwent in
in those
those years
years aa crisis
crisis of
of confidence with the cabinet
cabinet and
andespecially
especially with Minister
Minister of
of
Defense Ezer
Ezer Weizman.
Weizman. Arab
Arab violence
violenceand
andterrorism
terrorism in the West
west Bank had intensified a great deal, and
Defense
the settlers argued that
that because
because the
the state
state was
was not
not defending
defending them,
them, they
they were
were entitled to
to do it on their own.
developed aa vigilante
vigilantephilosophy
philosophythat
that prescribed
prescribed that
They developed
that every
every Arab
Arab act
actthey
theyconsidered
considered illegal
illegal called
investigative report
report written by the state deputy attorney,
for retaliation. An investigative
attorney, Judith
Judith Karp,
Karp,in
in 1982
1982 revealed
ofJewish
Jewishreprisals
reprisals and
and retaliations.52
retaliations ..22 The whole phenomenon was verified by
a comprehensive
system of
comprehensive system
Ofa random sample of
an academic study published in 1984. Of
of settlers,
settlers, 68
68 percent
percent answered
answered positively
positively to
. the question.
question, "Is it necessary for the settlers to respond independently and
and swiftly
swiftly to Arab attacks on
settlers and settlements?" The 13 percent that disagreed represented
represented aa minority
minority opinion
opinion that
that was
occasionally heard
heard but was increasingly isolated
isolated.~
Settlers' raids
raids of
ofArab towns and
occasionally
A Settlers'
and villages, in reaction
ofterrorism,
terrorism, have become a common West
West Bank
Bank practice.
to previous acts of
attitude of
The extralegal attitude
of the radicals
radicals reached
reachedits
itspeak
peakininthe
thefall
fallof
of 1985.
1985. When
When Moetzet
Moetzet Yesha
Yesha (the
council of
ofthe
thesettlements
settJementsininJudea,
Judea, Samaria,
Samaria, and
and Gaza)
Gaza) learned about the prime minister's
council
minister's new
new initiative
for peace (which involved
involvedthe
the possibility
possibilityof
offurther
further territorial
territorial concessions),
the unprecedented
concessions), it issued the
61
warning that
that any
any Israeli
Israeli government
government that
thatwould
would give
give up
up Jewish
Jewish territories
territorieswould
wouldlose
lose its
its legal
legal basis.
basis.0prominent attorney
attorney who stood behind the pronouncement,
Elyakim Haetzni, aa prominent
pronouncement, did
did not
not hesitate
hesitate to tell
Prime Minister Shimon Peres that a territorial
territorialconcession
concession would
would put
put him
him in
in the
the position
position of
of French general
and was
waslater
later tried
tried for
for treason:U.
treason. 62
Petain, who collaborated
collaborated with
with the
theNazis
NazisininWorld
WorldWar
WarIIIIand
Finally, there were the themes of
of militarism
militarism arid
and aabelief
belief in
in the
theuse
use of
of force.
force. A
A leading segment within the .
Israeli Radical Right was convinced
convinced that
that Israel's
Israel's immense military
might
could
be translated
military might
translated at
at any
any given
given
power and national achievements. A quick examination reveals that
moment into political power
that the
the sourCe
source of
of
goesback
back twenty
twenty years,
years, to
to the
the Six
SixDays'
Days' War.
War. The 1967
1967 campaign,
campaign, in
in which
which three
three Arab
this conviction goes
armies were defeated in six days, proved that Israel was aa major power and that a well-coordinated
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(~
.
area.
of power in the area. For the fundamentalist
military operation could change the balance of
fundamentalist elements
elements of
of the
Radical Right, Israel's might does not require a rational
rational explanation.
explanation. In
Inthe
theage
age ofredemption,
of redemption, in
in which
which
standing behind the army.
the nation is expected to reclaim the land, God is definitely standing
army. This
This is, for
name of
of God) to be
example, the reason Kahane believed that it was hillul hashem (the desecration of the name
63fearful of the Gentiles.
fearful
Gentiles.0
contrast, do not need the religious argument.
The secular neofundamentalists, in contrast,
argument. Zahal
Zahal (Israel
(Israel Defense
Defense
qualified and
and welltrained
well trained army that
Force) is for them a highly qualified
that can
can beat
beatany
any combination
combinationof
of its
its enemies
enemies at
The military
military setbacks
setbacks that took place in
any given time. The
in the Yom Kippur War
War were
were caused
caused by
by a non
of surprise attack
repeatable combination of
repeatable
attack and
and erroneous
erroneous operation
operationof
ofthe
thearmy.
army.Against
Againstall
all these
these odds,
odds, the
war was won militarily. The same thing happened in Lebanon in 1982. Had the army
army been
been led by a
terminated by
determined government, the war would have been terminated
by aa great
great victory
victory and
and with
with the
the possible
possible
annexation of
of biblical
biblical Jewish
Jewish territories.
territories.
ofthe
the Radical Right, there is only one explanation why the
the great potential
Thus for the militaristic school of
of the nation is not realized. Israel's
Israel's political
of
political life is dominated bya
bya handful
handful ofleftists,
of leftists, Zionists without
and hesitant individuals. The ranks
and weak and
vision, and
ranks of
of the
the people who do not stand up
up to
to the
the greatness
greatness of
the nation are not only manned by Labor and
and left
left politicians but
but also by Likud
Likud members who are scared
of their own shadows. Israel,
Israel, according to this school, has
has never been so strong. Had military force been
of
Judea and
and Samaria
Samariawould
wouldhave
have long
long since
since
used correctly, the Jewish state would not now be in trouble.
trouble. Judea
and PLO bases
bases all
all around
around the Mediterranean
Mediterranean destroyed.
been annexed and
destroyed. The
The Temple
Temple Mount's
Mount's Muslim
shrines would either have been
"shameful escape"
escape"
been demolished
demolishedor
orkept
kept under
under tight Israeli control and the "shameful
from Lebanon would have been
been prevented.prevented.664
A
The Israeli Radical Right, despite its consistent growth in power and popularity,
popularity, is
is living a paranoid life.
Its leaders and
and spokespersons are convinced that a conspiracy to betray
betray the
the people
people of
of Israel and the
destiny of
ofZionism
Zionism isis under
under way. Many
Many political
political agents
agents play
play leading
leading roles
roles in
in the
the grand conspiracy: the
JeWish
(PLOmembers)
Jewish Ashafists (PLO
members) who collaborate willingly with the enemy; the leftists
leftists who care about
ofthe
the international
international Left more than they do about their homeland;
the sentiments of
homeland; President
President Sadat
Sadat (when
(when
State Department.
Department.
alive), who
who"fooled"
"fooled" Israel
Israel into a phony peace; and the
he was alive),
the evil-mongers
evil-mongers of
of the U.S. State
evildoings isis aa Palestinization
Palestinization of
ofthe
the Jewish mind:
.
The result of
of all these evildoings
[Palestine in
in Arabic] infiltrates Eretz Yisrael slowly
through the radio and
Filastin [Palestine
slowly through
and T.V. and
not in the least through the military
military broadcasting
broadcastingsystem.
system. Filastin
Filastinisis served
served by
by many
many of
of
Israel's
experts on
on the
the Middle
Middle East.
East. Filastin
Filastin has
has almost
almost completely
completely monopolized Israel's
Israel's experts
Israel's
literature and
literature
and poetry,theater
poetry, theaterand
andmovies.
movies. Filastin
Filastin does
does increasingly penetrate
penetrate the
the schools
schools and
movements and the army's
army's chief
the youth movements
chief educational
educational officer
officer invites Israelis, who are
ofthe
the Palestinian
Palestinian claim
claim for
for rights
rights in
in Eretz
Eretz Israel (including Jerusalem), to
supportive of
"educate" the
"educate"
the military.
military. Former
Former presidents
presidents of
of the World Jewish
Jewish Congress are working hard to
money for
for Filastin
Filastin and
and a helpful prime minister
get money
minister meets
meets King
King Hussein's
Hussein's cousin,
cousin, with whom
for Filastin
Filastin is
is constructed by thousands
.
Israel is in a state of
Israel
of war.
war. ... Abridge
Abridge for
thousands of
of Jewish
"solidarity" protest
demonstrators in "solidarity"
protestin
in the
the midst
midst of
of Ramaalla
Ramaalla and
and Hebron
Hebron and
andatatthe
thegates
gates of
of
Um-Al-Fahm and Ixal. 65u.
course be
be argued
argued that
that because
because overt
overt plans
plans for
for territorial
territorial compromise with a JordanianIt may of
of course
Palestinian entity are
are constantly
constantly raised
raised and
anddiscussed,
discussed, fears
fearssuch
suchas
asthose
thoseexpressed
expressed above
above can
can be
be seen to
However, the
the writings
writings and remarks
remarks of
be genuine. However,
of the
the spokespeople
spokespeople of the
the Radical
Radical Right
Right disclose
disclose the
ofthe
the fundamentalists
fundamentalists and
and neofundamentalists of
Most of
difference. Most
of this camp are unable to make the
distinction between legitimate opposing schemes and conspiracy.
conspiracy. Their
Their political
political epistemology
epistemology is not
pluralistic but
but monistic.
monistic. Their ideational
ideational world
world isis simply divided between the children of
of light and the
children of
children
of darkness.
darkness. In
In such
such aa world
world no
no room
room isis left
left for
for legitimate
legitimate opposition.
opposition. Every
Every political
political rival
rival is a
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conspirator.
An outstanding example of
of the conspiracy mentality is the
the Radical
Radical Right
Rightview
view of the Israeli
Israeli media.
media. The
The
spokespersons of
ofthe Radical Right are convinced that Israel's
Israel'spublic
publictelevision,
television, the
the only
only channel
channel in the
the
country,
ofanti-Zionist
anti-Zionist leftists. These
These traitors
traitors project
country, is full of
project in
in their
theirstories
storiesaanegative
negativeimage
image of
of the
the Right
Right
and
and instead of
of boosting public morale impair it greatly.
greatly. The media
media are
are seen
seen to
to be
be constantly
constantly presenting
presenting
ofthe
the PLO
PLO and
and avoiding
avoiding "constructive"
"constructive" national
national projections.
projections. They are
are responsible
responsible for
for Israel's
Israel's lost
lost
the case of
war in Lebanon and
and for
for much
much of
of the
the present
present gloomy
gloomy spirit
spirit of
of the
the nation.
nation. Elyakim
Elvakim Haetzni,
Haetzni, aa leading
leading
Tehiya activist and a KnesSet
reacted to
Knesset member
member since
since 1990, reacted
to aa television
television interview with
with Shimon Peres:
Peres:
"The interviewers
But why
why the
the surprise?
surprise? It was already
"The
interviewers begged
begged most of
of the political questions. But
already pointed
pointed
that aa self-imprisOned
self-imprisoned person
personcan
cannever
neverfree
freehimself
himselffrom
fromjail.
jail.Few
Fewtelevision
television
out by our Elders that
interviewers are
are people who are not iniprisoned
imprisoned with
with Peres
Peres in
in the
the same
same spiritual
spiritualand
andideological
ideologicaljail
jail of
of
'PeaceNownics,'
Nownics,'Jordano-Palestinian
Jordana-Palestinian concepts."
66- .
.
leftist, Peace
concepts." 0
Politics
Although the Israeli Radical Right is gradually
gradually becoming
culture, shared
becoming a salient political culture,
shared and
andespoused
espoused
infrastructure. The
inany unrelated groups and individuals, it has at its core a very determined political infrastructure.
by many
The
leaders of
movements that
that shaped the new culture know that
that as
of the movements
as favorable
favorable as
as the
the Israeli
Israeli political
political .
conditions have been
been to
to them
them in the last decade, nothing would have happened without their
their incessant
incessant
struggle. They recognize
recpgnize just as well
well that
that none of
oftheir
their ultimate political goals have been secured and that
the creeping annexation of
territories has
of the occupied territories
has not
not yet
yet reached
reachedthe
thestage
stageof
of irreversibility.
irreversibility.This
This is
is
the reason they continue to work hard and
and are
are today
today by
by far
far the
themost
mostenergetic
energetic ideological
ideological and cultural
cultural
force in Israel. The radicals may not yet represent the majority
majority of the nationalist
nationalist Right,
Right, but
but their
their intensity
intensity
and devotion make up
up for
for large numbers.
nwnbers. These
The.se efforts
efforts help
help them
them create
create many
many "accomplished.
"accomplished. facts."
facts." Four
Four
movements or
Israel's voters—shape
and the
the
or political
political schools—attracting
schools-attracting only
only 55 percent
percent of
ofIsrael's
voters-shape the present and
future of
of the Radical Right:
Right: Gush Emunim,
Emunim, the
the Tehiya
Tehiya and
and its
its satellit~,
satellites, Kach,
Kach, and
andthose
those who
who might
might be
be
future
called concealed
concealed radicals. Each of
of the groups
groups and
and most
most of
of the
the individuals
individualsinvolved
involved were
were active
active in
in the
the late
late
1970s
but each
each has
has changed,
changed,grownup,
grownup, and
and developed
developed new
19708 when
when the
the Radical Right reemerged,
reemerged, but
some unavoidable
unavoidable internal conflicts and
perspectives. Thus despite some
and controversies,
controversies, the
the Radical·
Radical Right
Right is
is aa
ofthe
the components
components fulfills
fulfills aa different
different role and appeals to a different
functional
functional system in which each of
public.
GusbEmuuim
Gush
Emunim
Gush Emunim
Emunim is
is by far
far the
the most
most dynamic
dynamiccomponent
componentof
ofthe
thenew
newradicalism.
radicalism.Between
Between12,000
12,000and
and 15,000
15,000
Judea, Samaria,
Samaria,and
andGaza
Gazaconsider
considerthemselves
themselvesactive
activemembers
membersof
ofthis
thismovement.
movement. Despite
Despite
settlers in Judea,
several recent internal
internal conflicts
that have
conflicts that
have damaged
damaged the
the political
political unity
unity of
of the
the movement,
movement, Gush remains
remains aa
mutual sociocultural
revitalization movement held together by
homogeneous revitalization
by aa cohesive
cohesive ideology, mutual
origins, common
common existential
existential interests,
interests, and
and shared
shared aspirations.67
aspirations. 67 Most of
of the members
members are
are well
well educated,
educated,
idealistic, and hardworking.
hardworking. They
They relate
relate nearly
nearlyevery
every aspect
aspect of
of their
theirdaily
dailylives
lives to
to national
national goals
goals and
understand
theirexistence
existence in
in the
the context
context of
of aa divine
divine order.
order.T.he
Theleadership
leadershipof
ofthe
themovement
movementisis made
madeup
upof
of
understand their
talented and devoted individuals who bring together exemplary spiritual
spiritual authority
authorityand
andfirst-class
first-class political
political
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perfonnance.
performance.
,As important
important as
as the
the spiritual
spiritualdevotion
devotionof
of the
the young
youngmembers
membersof
ofGush
Gushis,
is, the
themovement
movementdoes
does not
not exist
exist by
by
enthusiasm alone. Its present power and
and influence
influence are
are based
based on
on dozens
dozens of settlements and
and on a
sophisticated organizational infrastructure.
infrastructure. Ever
Eversince
sincethey
they assumed
assumed the
the mission
mission of
of settling Judea and
and
Samaria, Emunim's
Samaria,
Emunim's leaders
leaders wanted
wanted to
to obtain
obtain legal
legal status
status and
andinstitutional
institutionallegitimacy.
legitimacy.They
They were
were anxious
anxious
to shed the youthful and adventurous image that
that made
made them
them look
look like
like aa belated
belated youth
youth movement
movement during
. the 1970s.
1970s. This
This goal
goal was
wasachieved
achievedduring
duiingBegin's
Begin's first
first administration.
administration. In
In 1978 Gush Emunim
Emunim was
was
and state-supported
state-suppbrted settlement
allowed to establish Amanas (Covenant), an official and
settlementmovement.
movement. By
By this
very act it obtained the same legal status as the prestigious
prestigious kibbutzim
kibbutzimand
andmoshavim
moshavimmovements
movements of
of
Israel.
legalizationof
ofEmunim
settlementsas
as ordinary
ordinary rural
rural and
Israel. A civic
civic legalization
Emunim 's'ssettlements
and regional
regional Israeli
Israelilocalities
localities
followed suit.
suit. The
The movement's most talented leaders,
lawbreakers, became
leaders, who
who previously
previously ~xcelled
excelled as lawbreakers,
became
municipal and district
oVernight, they and their councils entitled to state budgets and to
district officials
officials overnight,
ofthe
the World
World Zionist Organization.68
Organization.68
allocations from the funds of
Gush Emunim today is
is a great
great deal
deal more
more than
thanthe
thepolitical
politicalmovement
movementof
ofpenniless
penniless true
truebelievers
believers itit was
was in
in
the 1970s.
1970s. From
From an organizational perspective it is a highly effective
machine. Its
Its members
members are spread out
effective machine.
,in
in many West Bank settlements and control Moetzet Yesha, the actual
actual government
government of
of the
the West
West Bank.
Through
establislllng economic corporations
corporations that
Through Moetzet Yesha and its regional councils, they are now establishing
them regain future
future independence from external constraints.2
constraints.69 Moetzet Yesha,via
could help them
Yesha, via its security
say in
in military
military matters.
matters. Its
ranking army
committee, also has a say
Its experts,
experts, some of
of whom are ranking
army officers
officers in the
contact with
with the
the military government of
territories. The settlers'
reserves, maintain close
close contact
of the occupied territories.
settlers'
opinion is heard and attended
attended to
to not
not because
because of its professional quality but
but because
because it reflects the attitude
of
who are
are involved
involved in
in the
the routine security of
of those who
of the
the area.
area. Ever
Eversince
since 1979
1979 this
this sensitive
sensitive job
job has
has been
been
ofarmed
armed settlers in the reserves.
handed out
handed
out to
to the
the Regional
Regional Defense Unit, a local militia composed of
reserves.
'During
During the recent Arab
Arab uprising
uprising in
in the
the occupied
occupied territories,
territories, the
the settlers
settlerswere
were kept
keptconstantly
constantly infonned
informed by
by
the highest military authorities.
ofMoetzet
Yesha and
and the heads of
ofEmunim's
authorities. The
The officials
officials of
Moetzet Yesha
Emunim's other organs
are welcomed
officesof
ofthe
theKnesset,
Knesset,the
thegovernment,
government, the
the administration,
administration, and
welcomed in the offices
and the
the military.
military. Several
Several
of
Porat and
of their leaders, such as Hanan Porat
and Gershon
Gershon Shafat,
Shafat,have
havebeen
beenKnesset
Knesset members
members for
for years.
years. This
This
representation, and
in the parliament and
representation,
and their
their very
very effective
effective lobbying in
and cabinet,
cabinet, make
make the
the Gush
Gush leaders
leaders
partners to
political and
and military deliberations that take place.
70 No wonder that
partners
to some
some of
of the most delicate political
place.70
private interviews
private
interviews with
with these people reveal
reveal competence
competence and
and self-confidence.
self-confidence. Despite the historic
historic setback
of
of Camp David and the recent Palestinian uprising,
uprising, most
most of
of Emunim
Emunim 's's activists
activists believe
believe that they are,
are,
in good
goodshape
shapeand
and that
that their course is successful.
successful. At
At present
present unable to attract
attract large
politically, in
large numbers
numbers of
of
support for
new pioneering settlers or to get significant governmental support
for newly
newly planned
planned settlements,
settlements, they
they
infrastructure and
constantly strengthen their organizational infrastructure
andare
arefurther
furtherdeveloping
developingexisting
existing settlements.
settlements.
Many of
of Emunim's
Emunim's members are scornful of
ofIsrael's
Israel's established politicians
politicians and are certain about
about their
ll
, ability
is is
inin
charge.
ability to manipulate
manipulatethe
thesystem
systemno
nomatter
matterwhich
whichpolitical
politicalparty
party
charge.
Tebiya
Tehlya and Its SateWteJi
Satellites
If Gush Emunim provides the radical right with pioneering quality and
If
and material
material resources,
resources, three
three political
political
parti~he Tehiya (Renaissance) , Tzomet
Tzomet (Crossroad),
(Crossroad), and Moledet (Homeland), together representing
parties—the
5%
spearhead. Tzomet
5% of
of the nation in the Knesset-are
Knesset—are its political spearhead.
Tzomet and
and Moledet
Moledet were fonned
formed in 1986
respectively, as
as aa result
result of
ofdisagreements
disagreements within the Tehiya but
and 1987, respectively,
but have
have otherwise
otherwise advocated the
same ultranationalist
ultranationalistviews.
views. They have also endorsed all the activities and
and positions
positions of
of Gush Emunim.
Emunim.
But there
cultural and
Gush,and
there are,
are, nevertheless,
nevertheless, significant cultural
and social
social differences
differences between
between the Gush
and its
parliamentary supporters.
parliamentary
supporters.Gush
GushEmunim
Emunimisisaareligious
religiousmovement.
movement,solidified
solidifiedby
byaaunique
uniquetheology
theology of
of
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national redemption, whereas the Tehiya and its satellites are basically heterogeneous secular parties.
Their leaders are
are not
not religious,
religious, and all
all the
the political operations
operations they
they conduct
conduct are
are explained
explained in
in the
thecontext
context of
of
12
make this alliance possible: agreement on long-range goals and the
secular symbols.
symbols:72 Two elements make
. ,neofundamentalism of
of the secular leaders. Many observers associate the radicalism
of many of
radicalism of
of the
parliamentary Radical
ofGush
Gush Emunim
Emunim or
or the
the ultranationalist tradition
parliamentary
Radical Right with either the theology of
tradition of
of
main representative is outspoken Knesset member Geula
Lehi, whose main
Geula Cohen.
Cohen. What
Whatthey
theyfail
fail to
to recognize
recognize
is that the dominant individuals in these
these parties
parties identify with
with the
the prestigious
prestigious tradition
tradition of
of Israel's Labor
spokespersons of
ofthis
this school
school believe
believethat
that they
they are
are the
the true successors of
"vigorous"
movement. The spokespersons
of the "vigorous"
73
Gurion (of the 1940s and 1950x)
1950s).13 They are convinced that the
David Ben Gurion
the security
security of
of the state
State ofIsrael
of Israel
as aa very
very tough
tough stand vis-it-vis
vis-a.-vis the Arabs.
requires every single square inch ofEretz
of Eretz Yisrael, as well as
Eitan, the
Raphael Eitan,
the head
head ofTzomet
of Tzomet and Israel's
Israel's former
formerchief
chief of
of staff,
staff, is a typical representative
representative of
of this
He isis an old
old Mapai
Mapai man,
man, a rugged moshavnik, who is ready to do whatever
school. He
whatever is
is necessary
necessary for
for
If removal of
ofan
an Arab
Arab village
village isisneeded
needed in
inorder
order to
to further
further advance the
security. If
the Jewish
Jewish hold on the land,
Eitan, "swiftly
then it should be done, according to Eitan,
"swiftly and
and without
withoutexcessive
excessive noise."
noise."
an
most controversial
controversial concept
concept has
has been
been added
added to
to the slogans
slogans of
ofthe
the Israeli
Israeli parliamentary
parliamentary Radical
A most
Radical Right in
the concept
concept of
oftransfer,
transfer, aa shorthand
shorthand for
1987, the
for the removal
removal of
of the Palestinians of
of the occupied territories
first introduced by a retired
and their resettlement
resettlement in the neighboring Arab
Arab countries.
countries. The
The concept was first
the leader
leader of
ofMoledet.
Zeevi argues
argues that
that because
because the West
west Bank and Gaza are
general, Rehavam Zeevi, the
Moledet. Zeevi
ofIsrael
essential for the security of
Israel and their
their 1.5
1.5 million hostile Palestinians are aa mortal
mortal liability,
liability, the
the local
local
be transferred
transferred out.
74 The introduction of
the
transfer
to
the
nation's
public
agenda
can
residents have to be
out.74
of
transfer to the nation's public agenda can be
seen as aa strong indication of
ofthe
the intense
intense radicalization
radicalization of
0 f the Extreme Right and its supporters.
seen
supporters. In
In 1984
1984
one party whose
there was only one
whose program called for the removal
removal of
of the Arabs from
from the
the occupied
occupied
territories; Kach
territories;
Kachof
of Rabbi
Rabbi Kahane.
Kahane.At
Atthat
thattime
timeeveryone,
everyone,including
includingmost
mostof
of the
the spokespersons
spokespersons of
of the
Radical Right, saw Kahane as a racist
racist and
andbelieved
believed that
thathis
hisopinions
opinions were
were beyond
beyond the
thepale
paleof
of legitimacy.
legitimacy.
1980s, the
the public climate
climate changed dramatically.
dramatically. The increasing friction
But during
during the
the middle
middle of
of the 1980s,
friction
Jews and
and Arabs
Afabs in the west
between Jews
West Bank, the Palestinian uprising,
uprising, as
as well
well as the intense Palestinization
ofthe
the Israeli
Israeli Arabs produced an
of
an atmosphere
atmosphere in
in which
which every
every radical
radical solution
solution became
became legitimate.
Kach
Whereas Gush Emunim and the parliamentary
parliamentarygroups
groupsproject
projectthe
thepositive
positive and
andcreative
creativeface
face of
of the
the Radical
Kahane's movement, barred
Right in Israel, Kahane's
barred in
in 1988
1988 from
from running
running for
forthe
the Knesset,
Knesset, casts
casts aa hostile
hostile and
Kach is
is aa classical
classical angry
angry movement
movement of
ofprotest,
protest, a right-wing backlash
negative image. Kach
backlash that
that isis politically
politically
people who
who support
support Kahane have never read
organized. The vast majority of
of the people
read his
his boOks.
books. They hardly
know the man or his long-range goals. The movement has mostly been aa one-man show that responds to
events spontaneously and has a weak organization.
organization. Meir
Meir Kahane
Kahanewas
wasthe
themovement.
movement.He
He was
was the
the sole
sole
only public
publicspeaker,
speaker, top
toporganizer,
organizer, fund-raiser,
fund-raiser, and
and treasurer.
treasurer. There
theoretician, its only
There were
were many
75
departure would
mark the
indications that his departure
would mark
the end
end ofthemovement.
of the movement.75
The recent decline of
ofKach,
Kach, which
which isisaa direct
direct result
result of
of the disqualification of
of the movement by Israel's
supreme court, stands in some
some contradiction
contradiction to
to the
the lingering
lingeringpopularity
popularity of
ofICahane's
Kahane's ideas
ideas and
and to
to the
movement. A
A more
more general
general explanation
explariation for
for the Kahane phenomenon
continuous functioning of
of his movement.
phenomenon is
therefore needed.
needed. Students
Students of
of right-wing radicalism
radicalismknow
know the
the conditions
conditionslikely
likely to
to give
give rise to
to right-wing·
right-wing
protest drives, which are neither anchored
anchored in
in aa solid
solid social class nor in
in significant economic reSources.
resources.
for the consummation
They know that what is mostly needed for
consummation of
of such drives
drives are
are aa prolonged
prolongedsense
sense of
of
alienation, a continuous period of
of economic
economic insecurity,
insecurity, and
and the uneasy and threatening
social alienation,
threatening presence
presence of
of
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community. 76ItItappears
appearsthat
that the
the existence
existenceof
ofaarespectable
respectable right-wing
right-wing radicalism,
radicalism, external
an alien community.-7
threats, and
threats,
and military
military dangers
dangers alsO
also produce
produce the
the conditions
conditions for
for the
the rise
rise ofa
of a movement
movement of
of this type. In the
Israeli society
society experienced
experienced plenty
plenty of
ofthese
these conditions.
conditions. The
The traditional
traditional social alienation of Jews
1980s Israeli
and the Far East and
from North Africa and
and the security pressures
pressures of
of Arab
Arab terrorism
terrorismhave
have been
been joined
joined by the
ofeconomic
economicinsecurity
insecurityand
and the
the political
political growth
growth of
ofaa respectable
respectable Radical Right.12
Right. 77 Kahane,
grave agonies of
who once
once lived
lived in
in Israel's
Israel's political wilderness, was able in the 1980s to emerge from his isolation not
ofan
an ideological
ideological compromise
compromiseon
onhis
hisbehalf
behalfbut
but as
as aa result
result of
of the movement of
ofthe
the entire political
because of
of racism and violence that were unheardofin
culture in his direction.
direction. Extremist
Extremist messages
messages of
unheard of in the
the 1970s
acceptable in the 1980s.
1980s.Kahane
Kahane gradually
gradually became a legitimate vehicle
for the enraged, the
became acceptable
vehicle for
representatives of
alienated, and the deserted.
deserted. These people-the
people—the representatives
of the weakest and most vulnerable
stratUm ofIsraeli
never be
beattracted
attracted by the cultural
stratum
of Israeli society--<:ould
society—could never
cultural elitism
elitism of
of the Tehiya and Gush
Emunim. For aa long time they supported
Emunim.
supported Likud.
Likud. But
Butfollowing
following the
the retirement
retirementof
ofBegin,
Begin, the
the fiasco
fiasco in
blunders of
oftheir
their party,
party, they discovered the
the eloquent
eloquent rabbi.
rabbi.
Lebanon, and the economic
economic blunders
portrayal of
The portrayal
of the disqualified Kach as the protest
protest component
component of
of the Radical
Radical Right
Right does not exhaust the
Rightwing protest
protest movements
movements vary
vary aa great
great deal. Kach, it appears,
phenomenon. Rightwing
appears, belongs
belongs to the quasiFascist breed that
that includes
includes political
political groups
groups that
thatdo
donot
notprofess
professfull
fullideological
ideological fascism but display typical
Fascist behavior and politics. Kahane was never attracted
attractedby
bysecular
secularfascism.
fascism.His
Hisbelief
belief system
system w~
was
religious and
and very
very Jewish.
Jewish. The
The special
special ideology
ideologythat
that he
he carved
carved out
out of
ofhisBetar
always very religious
his Betar training,
offundamentalist
fundamentalist readings
rabbinical studies,
rabbinical
studies, and
and Brooklyn experience
experience was always a mixed bag of
readings of
of the
scriptures, immense antiGentile sentiment, and an admiration
holy scriptures,
admiration of
of physical
physical force.
force. Today what makes
but Kahane's practice.
phenomenon is
is not
not Kahane's
Kahane's ideology
ideology but
Kach a quasi-Fascist phenomenon
practice. The
The man was a
combination of
ofaa very
very violent
violentcharacter
character with unrestrained
unrestrained ambitions.
ambitions. He
He was
was especially unable to separate
~tegy from
strategy
from tactics:
tactics: The
The Arabs
Arabs should
should be
be expelled
expelled now, Palestinian terrorism
terrorism must
must be
be destroyed
destroyed (by
(by
Israeli counterterrorism) today; the government, which does not do its job, ought to be brought down
tomorrow. The sociopolitical
sociopoliticalresult
result of
ofthis
thisimpatience
impatiencecannot
cannot produce
produce anything
anything but Fascist behavior and
The syndrome
syndrome is
is well
well known.
known. ItIt includes
includes the
the preaching
preaching of
ofvulgar Social
Social Darwinism
Darwinism and antialien
politics. The
legitimation of
ofviolence
violenceand
andterrorism,
terrorism, and
and aa rapid shift from ideology
to propaganda
propaganda and
racism, a public legitimation
ideology to
from propaganda
propaganda to
to smear
smear campaign.
campaign. It
It ends
ends in
in street
street hooliganism
hooliganism and
and in
in the
the personality
personality cult
cult of
of the
leader)l
The
quasi-Fascist
nature
ofKach
has
been
most
apparent
since
its
1988
disqualification.
leader.2
of Kach has been
apparent since its 1988
Followers of
ofKahane
Kahane first
first formed
formed an
an organization
organization called
called the
theIndependent
Independent State
State of
ofJudea
Judea and later a secret
Followers
assassin group named Sicarii. Although advocating typical Kahane ideas, both organizations gained
ofunrestrained
unrestrained anti-Arab
theW
est Bank and for threatening
notoriety for the application of
anti-Arab violence
violence in the
West
moderate Israelis and
and issuing phony death sentences to Jews advocating direct talks with the PLO. Many
oftheir activists
activists have
have been
beendetained
detained and
and arrested.
arrested.
.
of
cealed Radical,
The Coo
Concealed
Radicals
movements of
ofthe
the Radical
Radical Right—Gush
Right-Gush Emunim, the Tehiya and its
Unlike the institutionalized movements
Kach-the fourth
fourth component of
satellites, and Kach—the
of this camp, which I suggest naming the concealed radicals,
existence. Its
Its general
general ideological
ideological orientation
orientation lies somewhere
somewhere between
between Kahane
Kahane and Gush
has no formal existence.
Emunim, but it is not yet clear whether its members
members will assume an independent existence or remain
politically dispersed.
dispersed. Concealed
Concealed radicals
radicals are
are people who, though they believe
believe that
that Jewish moralists stand
politically
conventional moralists
moralists and
and that
that the Arab
above conventional
Arab question
question should be
be solved by deportation, do not
propagate these views
in public.
public. They
They disapprove
disapprove of
ofthe
the personality
Personality of
of the violent
violent rabbi
rabbi and were·
views in
were
with his
his unpredictable
unpredictable drives,
drives, his
his rude
rude style,
style, and
and his
his vulgar
vulgar propaganda.
propaganda. They think Kahane
disgusted with
too much
much and
and was
was therefore
therefore counterproductive.
counterproductive. Things that may
or thirty
spoke too
may be done in ten, twenty, or
years (i.e., aa possible
possible expulsion
expulsionofofArabs
Arabs and
and aa takeover of
of all the Temple Mount) should not be spelled
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outtoday.79
out today.2
The concealed
concealed radicals
radicals come
come from
from the
the extremist
extremist circles
circles of
ofthe
the settler
settler community
community in
in Judea,
Judea, Samaria, and
and
Gaza and from
from former
former Kahane
Kahane associates.
associates. Their
Their radical
radicalapproach
approachisisan
anideological
ideological extension
extension of
of the
collective mood
moodthat
that was
was created
created by the crisis of
ofCamp
Camp David, the struggle in Yarnit,
collective
Yamit, and the
the failure
failure of
of the
government to stop PLO terrorism
terrorismin
inthe
theWest
WestBank.
Bank.Many
Manyof
ofthe
theindividuals
individualswho
whomay
maybe
be said
saidto
to belong
belong
Emunim; and
to this group did not study in Yeshivat
Yeshivat Merkaz
Merkaz ha-Ray,
ha-Rav, the spiritual center of Gush Emunim;
and were
not students ofRav
of Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook, the mentor of
of the movement.
movement. Thus
Thus theyhave
they have little
little patience
patience with
with
what they perceive as Emunim's
Emunim's excessive homage to the
the Israeli government
government and
and its
its agencies.
agencies. They are
militant fundamentalists
fundamentalists who trust
trust the
the sword
swordas
as much
muchas
asthey
theytrust
trustthe
thebook.
book.Among
Amongthem
themititisispossible
possible to
some well-known
well,.known rabbis
rabbis such as Israel Ariel, the former
identify some
former cohead
cohead ofy
ofY amit's
amit'syeshiva.,
yeshiva, and
andDov
Dov
Lior,
ofKiryat
Arba's yeshiva.
underground, like
Lior, the cohead of
Kiryat Arba's
yeshiva. Several members of
of the Gush Emunim underground,
like
Yehuda Etzion and Menachem Livni,
Livni, and
and some
some former
former Kahane
Kahane supporters,
supporters, such as Yoel Lerner and
Y
osefDayan,
Dayan, also
also qualify
qualify as
as concealed
concealedradicals.
radicals. A
A small
small Jerusalem
Jerusalem youth movement, Hashmonaim,
Yosef
whose political activity
activity rises
rises and declines occasionally,
occasionally, may
may also
also be
be counted
counted within
within this group.
group.
ofthe concealed radicals is epitomized by the Jewish
The unorganized yet.concrete
yet, concrete existence of
underground. It
underground.
It is
is clear today that
that the
the underground
undergroundwas
wasnot
notaahit
hitsquad
squadof
ofGush
GushEmunim,
Emunim,selected
selected and
and
operated by its heads
heads in
in order
order to
to strike
strike hard at the PLO centers in Judea
Judea and
and Samaria.
Samaria. Rather,
Rather, itit was
was a
self-selected
splinter group
group whose
whose leaders
leaders had come to the conclusion that neither
self-selected splinter
neither the
the government
government of
of
Israel nor
978 conditions.
Israel
nor the
the settler
settler community
community responded
respondedcorrectly
correctlytotothe
thepost-l
post-1978
conditions. ItIt isis not
not Clear
clear how
how many
many
of the concealed
concealed radicals
radicals were aware
aware of
ofthe existence
existence of
ofthe
the underground
underground and
of
and of
of the
the theories
theories of
of its
leaders, but those who were not involved
involved had
had entertained similar
similar ideas
ideas in
in isolation.
isolation. When the
underground
underground was
was exposed,
exposed, the concealed radicals were thrilled.
thrilled. Although
Although most
most members
members of
of Gush
Emunim were greatly shocked and critical, the
the concealed radicals
radicals responded
responded vigorously
vigorously and
and in the
summer of
1984 established
established aa supporting
supporting association named Tzfia
of 1984
Tzfia (Looking
(Looking Ahead).
Ahead). They also started aa
new magazine under
under the same title and
and took upon
upon themselves
themselves the
the job
job of
of challenging the moderate
the Gush Emunim-oriented journal
Samaria, and
position of
of Nekuda (Point), the
journal of
of the settlers of
of Judea, Samaria,
and
spiritual force
Gaza. Yehuda Etzion, the leading spiritual
force of
of the underground,
underground,has
hasbecome
becomean
aninfluential
influentialvoice
voice in
Tzfia. In an
ofmoral support, Ephraim
Ephraim Caspi.
Tzfia.
an exemplary act of
Caspi, the magazine's publisher,
publisher, printed
printed Etzion's
Etzion's
account of
Temple Mount
Mount ideology.E
ideology.~InInaddition
additionto
tosupporting
supporting Etzion's
Etzion's "liberation
"liberation theology,"
of his Temple
theology," the
the
essayson
onthe
theArabs,
Arabs, on
onthe
the need
need for
for aa further
further territorial
magazine published extremist essays
territorialexpansion,
expansion, and
and on
on
the misconduct of
ofthe
the Israeli
Israeli government.
A typical concealed
concealed radical
radical is
is Rabbi
Rabbi Ariel. In
In a private interview,
interview, he
he did
did not
not hide
hide his
his opinion
opinion that
that itit was
was
war of
ofconquest of
ofall
all the
the biblical
biblical promised
promised land
land (from the Euphrates
high time for the nation to wage aa war
to the Nile).
Nile). Asked
Askedabout
aboutcurrent
current political
political constraints
constraints and diplomatic limitations, the rabbi replied that
"Joshua had
had far
farworse
worse political
political constraints and
and limitations
limitations but
but he
he did
did not
not question
question God's
God's command
command to
conquer the Land."
Land." When
When further
furtherpressed
pressedabout
aboutpotential
potentialcasualties
casualtiesand
andnational
nationallosses,
losses, the
fundamentalist rabbi
rabbi referred
referredto
to aa Halakic
Halakic ruling
rulingthat
thatininaaholy
holywar
warno
noquestion
questionabout
aboutcasualties
casualties is
is
legitimate until one-sixth of
of the nation
nation is extinct.!!'
extinct:al
At present the concealed radicals are
are not
not organized
organizedpolitically
politically and
and cannot
cannotbe
beseen
seenas
as an
anactive
active agent
agent of
of
Some of
ofthem
them operate
operate in
in the framework
framework of
political action. Some
of the Temple Mount
Mount Loyalists,
Loyalists, aa small
dedicated to
to the
the full
full Jewish
Jewishreturn
return to the Temple Mount. Others collaborate with Kahane's
movement dedicated
in several
several West
West Bank
Bank communities
communitieslike
likeKiryat
Kiryat Arba,
Arba, and still others teach and
people in
and preach
preach in
in their
their own
own
yeshivoth
or internal circles. Their impact and
yeshivoth or
and influence
influence within
within the
the Radical
Radical Right
Rightshould
should not,
not, however,
however, be
be
underestimated. Theirs
underestimated.
Theirs is a qualitatively
qualitatively distinct
distinct voice.
voice. In my opinion they form the potential nucleus that
can playa
play a critical role in times of
of national crisis.
crisis. If the
the Radical
Radical Right
Right isis ever
ever pushed
pushedto
toaafInal
finalshowdown,
showdown,
most probably in a situation of territorial
territorialcompromise
compromisein
inthe
theWest
WestBank,
Bank,they
theyare
arelikely.
likelyto
tobecome
become the
the
focus of
of anited
armed resistance. The concealed radicals will draw
draw the support
support of
of both
both Kahane's
Kahane's hard-liners,
hard-liners, who
.
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. would not trust the emotional and unstable rabbi,
rabbi, and
and Gush
Gush Emunim
Emunimextremists.
extremists. The
Theconcealed
concealed radicals
radicals
of today may very well lead
lead the
the real
real Sicarii of
of tomorrow.
of
Riot
The Impact of the Radical Right
Few observers, Israeli
Israeli or
or non-Israeli, are prepared
preparedtotorecognize
recognize the
the magnitude
magnitudeof
of the
the new
new Israeli
Israeli Radical
Radical
national politics. When
When faced with
with the
the attitudes of
Right and its influence on national
of this camp and the operations
of its members, they argue
argue that
that it is made up
of
up of
of the
the lunatic
lunatic fringe.
fringe. As
As disturbing
disturbing as
as these
these activities
activities might
be, so
so runs
runs the argument, the Radical Right has
has no say in the government and
and its
its impact on
on critical
critical
fonnal examination of
national
national decisions
decisions is dismal at best. A formal
of the case tends to support
support this
this proposition.
proposition.
The hard-core movements and parties
parties of
of the
the Radical
Radical Right
Right are
aresmall,
small,young,
young, and
andhave
haverelatively
relatively few
few
economic
assets. Their
Their representation
representation in the Knesset does not exceed 5S percent.
percent. They are no Match
match for
economic assets.
for
Israel's
Israel's older
older and
and larger
larger political
political parties
partiessuch
such as
as Labor,
Labor,Likud,
Likud,the
theNational
NationalReligious
Religious party,
party, and
and even
even the
the
smaller ultraorthodox
ultraorthodox parties
parties of
of Agudat
Agudat Israel
Israeland
andShas.
Shas.They
Theycannot
cannotcompete
compete with
with the
the powerful
powerful
Histadrut
Histadrut (General
(General Federation
Federation of
of Labor)
Labor) or
orchallenge
challenge the
the old
old and
and prestigious
prestigious kibbutz
kibbutz and
and moshav
moshav
settlement movements.
But the proponents of
of this argument are
are missing
missing three
three elements that
that make
make the
the Radical
Radical Right
Right aa most
most
inpresent-day
present-day Israeli
Israeli politics
politics and
and culture:
culture: its sophisticated penetration of
effective agent
agent in
effective
of the larger
determination of
parties, the exceptional determination
of its members,
members, and
and the
thestrategic
strategiclocation
locationof
ofits
its constituency.
constituency. One
One
of the great successes
ofthe
theRadical
Radical Right
Right has
has been
been its
its ability
ability to
to penetrate
penetrate the Likud and
of
successes of
and National
National
Religious party. Thus about 2S
25 percent of
of the leaders
leaders of
of the Likud,
Likud, and
and their
theirfollowers,
followers, look
look at the
the world
world
today through
through the
the ideological
ideological and symbolic prism of
of the Radical Right. The most outstanding
Likud radical "rightism"
nrightism n isis fonner
representative of
of this Likud
former cabinet
cabinetmember
memberAriel
Ariel Sharon.
Sharon, aa person
person with
with
great charisma
and
a
large
following
charisma and a large following who thinks
thinks and
and talks
talks like
like the
the ideologues
ideologues of
of the Extreme Right and
and
influence in
in the
the party's
party's councils. The NRP, an old power broker
exerts a significant influence
broker in
in Israeli
Israeli politics,
politics, has
of the young and talented
Emunim.
also been a target of
of the Radical
Radical Right,
Right, especially of
talented activists
activists of
of Gush Emunim.
Indeed,
1986 and
and 1988
1988 the
the NRP
NRP underwent
underwent a quiet ideological reshuffle
reshuflle that drove
Indeed, between
between 1986
drove it to
to the
the
bosom of
ofthe
the Radical
Radical Right.
Right. Two
Two of
ofthe
the first
fll'St three Knesset members of
of the NRP are
are devoted
devoted radicals,
radicals, and
and
its political platform
platfonn reads almost like a Gush Emunim pamphlet.
pamphlet. The radical
radical leaders
leaders of the Likud and the
the
NRP are not isolated in the Knesset. Their opinions are shared
sharedby
by several
several Knesset
Knesset members
members of
of the
the
ultraorthodox
ultraorthodox Agudat
Agudat Israel
Israel and
and Shas,
Shas, and
and they
they enjoy
enjoy the support
supportof
of hundreds
hundredsof
ofthousands
thousandsofIsraelis.
of Israelis. In
In
my estimation Radical Right ideas pertain
pertain to
to 20
20 to
to 2S
25 percent
percent of
of the
the Jewish
Jewish citizens
citizens ofIsrael
of Israel and are
are felt
felt
UA
everywhere:
military camps, the markets,
A proper
proper measure of
everywhere: in schools, military
markets, and
andsynagogues.
synagogues.n
of the real
real
parliamentary
parliamentary power
power of
of the Radical
Radical Right
Right is
is the
the recently
recently established
established Eretz
Eretz Yisrael
Yisrael Front
Frontin
in the
the Knesset,
Knesset, aa
political lobby
lobby of
ofabout
about thirty
thirtY Knesset members (one-fourth ofIsrael's.parliament),
of Israel's parliament),who
who have
have constituted
constituted
in order
order to express concern about the undue
themselves in
undue moderation
moderationof
ofthe
the 1989
1989 Unity
Unity government and
and to
to
block any compromise
compromise on
on the
the occupied
occupied territories.
territories.
Another fact about the Israeli
Israeli Radical
Radical Right
Right that
thatmany
manyobservers
observersignore
ignoreisisthe
thehigh
high intensity
intensity of
of its
Israelis in
operations and
and the
the great
greateffectiveness
effectiveness of
of its activists.
activists. Israelis
in general
generalhave
have never
neverbeen
been silent,
silent, but
butsome
some
have been more vocal
vocal than
than others and much
much more
more effective.
effective. The hlifd
hard core
core of
of the
the Israeli
Israeli Radical
Radical Right
Right is
is
made up of
of true believers
believers who are also pragmatic
pragmatic and
andpolitically
politically skillful.
skillful. These
These activists are
are totally.
totally
committed to the defense of
ofGreater
Greater Israel
Israel and
andwill
will advance
advance this
this cause
cause in
in many
many sophisticated
sophisticated ways.
ways. Their
Their
leaders are
are good
good communicators,
communicators, excellent
excellent political
political lobbyists, and,
and, when
when necessary,
necessary, skillful
skillful
demonstrators
demonstrators and
and extraparliamentary
extraparliamentaryactivists.
activists.Several
Several leaderS
leaders of
of the
the Israeli
Israeli Radical
Radical Right are fonner
former
illustrious generals, scientists, and
and mainstream
mainstream Zionist
Zionist public
public figures
figures who
who have
have been
been converted to the
the
ofGreater Eretz
cause of
Eretz Yisrael
Yisrael by the traumatic
traumaticexperience
experienceof
of the
the Six
Six Days'
Days' War.
War. They
They speak
speak in
in the
the name
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of
of traditional
traditional Zionism, of
of which
which they
they believe
believethey
theyare
arethe
theonly
onlyremaining
remaining representatives,
representatives, and manipulate
its pioneering,
pioneering, settlement,
settlement, and
and defense.
defense. Their
Their leadership
leadership and dedication are
such as
national symbols such
beyond their
their immediate constituency.
respected well beyond
But perhaps the most important
important asset
asset of the Israeli
Israeli Radical
Radical Right
Right is the strategic
strategic location of
of its hard core,
ofthe
the West
West Bank.
Bank. The
The Radical
Radical Right
Right was
was crystallized
crystallized around
around the demand to annex the
the settlements of
territories to Israel and
occupied territories
and has
has emerged
emerged in response
response to political developments that led Israeli leaders
·in
opposite direction.
direction. It
It isistherefore
therefore no
no surprise
surprise that
that the settlers of
ofJudea, Samaria, and
in the opposite
and Gaza,
Gaza, for
whom the dilemma of
of annexation versus evacuation is an essential
essential issue, have always been the most
underground of
determined part
part of
of this camp.
camp. The Jewish underground
of Gush
Gush Emunim
Emunim was
was made
made up
up of
of devoted settlers;
several supporters of
of Rabbi Kahane who are presently active in a few conspiratorial groups organized to
prevent a similar retreat
retreatin
in the
the West
West Bank,
Bank, also
also come
come from
from settler
settler circles.
circles. The settler community
community may not
110,000strong
Strong in
in 1992,
1992,but
butititrepresents
represents for
for many
many Israelis the true
be very large, about 110,000
true pioneering
pioneering of
of the
ofour
our time. The ethos of
ofthe
the Zionist pioneers who expanded the
19908,
only meaningful
meaningful Zionism
1990s, the only
Zionism of
boundaries of
of the small Jewish
from scratch
scratch is
is still very strong
JeWish community
community in
in Palestine
Palestine and
and built this land from
in particular
particular represents
in Israel. Gush Emunim in
represents for
for the
the entire
entire Israeli
Israeli Right
Right (about
(about50
50 percent
percent of
of the
nation) the idealism and self-sacrifice of
ofthe
the good old
old days.
days. In
In many respects the group
group fulfills
fulfills for the
ofJudea,
fulfilled for
for the
the Labor
Labor movement. The settlers of
Right the role the tiny kibbutz movement once fulfilled
Samaria, and
Samaria,
and Gaza
Gaza are
are also
also the
the ones
ones who maintain the
the daily
daily contact
contact with
with over
over 1.5 million unhappy
Palestinians. In that capacity they have an impact on national politics that far
far exceeds
exceeds their sheer
numbers.
In spite
spite of
of the
the heavy presence of the army in the West Bank, the settlers, who are armed
numbers. In
anned and
couid turn
tum the occupied territories
territories into
well organized, could
into hell
hell if
if they wanted
wanted to.
to. Therefore
Therefore even
even hostile
ignore the
the attitudes
attitudes and demands of
cabinets cannot afford to ignore
of the Radical Right. Rabbi Kahane's thugs
be beyond
beyond the
the pale,
pale, but
but not Gush Emunim, Tzomet, and
may still be
and Moledet.
Moledet. These movements and their
partners to
leaders are part
part and
andparcel
parcelof
of the
the Israeli
Israeli body
body politic
politic and are
are considered
considered legitimate partners
to the
the political
political
process. This is the reason why the presence of
of the Radical
Radical Right
Right in
in Israeli
Israelicollective
collective existence
existence casts a
peace and war.
~ar.
future of
large shadow over the future
of the Jewish state
state and
and is
is deeply
deeply involved in questions of
of peace
not do
do isisaa major
major question
question that no Israeli, Arab,
What the Radical Right does or does not
Arab, or anyone interested
in the Middle East can afford to ignore.
No fact
fact dramatizes
dnUnatizes the centrality of
life of
ofIsrael
No
of the Radical Right to the life
Israel more than the Palestinian
broke out
ocCupied territories.
territories. It
It is
is true
true that the intifada, which broke
uprising in the occupied
out in
in December
December 1987, was not
directed against the Israeli Radical Right and the settlers but
but was
was instead
instead aa Palestinian
Palestinian cry
cry for
for selfselfdetermination, directed at Israel's occupation
occupation in general. But the outbreak of
of the intifada cannot be
without the
the growing
growingArab-Israeli
Arab-Israeli friction
friction in
in Judea,
Judea, Samaria,
Samaria, and Gaza, and
explained without
and the Palestinian fear
that the Jews
Jews are about to
to take over the entire
entire area
areathrough
throughmassive
massive settlement.
settlement. The
The settler
settler community
communityin
in
the occupied territories and
and the
the spokespersons
spokespersons of
of the Radical
Radical Right
Right have
have played
played aa crucial
crucial role
role in
in instilling
instilling
thePalestinians
Palestiniansand,
and,more
more importantly,
iinportantly.in
consciousnessofofthe
this fear in the collective
collective consciousness
in realizing it through
100 settlements
settlements in
in the
the occupied
occupied territories.
territories. Even moderate critics of
the establishment of
of over 100
of the settlers
harder
maintain that
that they
they have created
created for
for Israel
Israel aahuge
huge time
time bomb
bomb whose
whose safe detonation is becoming harder
occupation continues.
continues. There
There is,
is,furthermore,
furthermore, no
no doubt
doubt that the settler community
each day the occupation
community and the
Radical Right are among the most concrete stumbling blocks against Israeli
Israeli compromises with the
Palestinians and the Arab
Arab world,
world, aa significant
significant force
force to be reckoned
reckoned with
with whenever aa peace
peace plan is worked
specUlated about.
.
out or speculated
\
Conclusion
file://DATextbook
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RightHistory,
History,Culture
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andPolitics
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History, Culture
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Ehild Sprinzak
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The Radical
Radical Right
Right can
can be
be viewed
viewed as
as aa growing
growing success
success story.
story. Polls
Polls conducted
conducted since
since the
the 1987
1987 beginning
beginning of
of
the uprising in the West Bank and Gaza showed a growing radicalization within the Israeli Right and a
movement of.some
of.someofofHerut's
movement
Herut's supporters
supportersto
to the
the small
smallparliamentary
parliamentary ultranationalist
u1tranation~list parties.
parties. The
The Radical
Right appears,
appears, in this
this perspective, as a thriving
culture and
andaasophisticated
sophisticatedpolitical
political system.
system. Even
Even
thriving public culture
strong adversaries
adversaries agree that
that aa long
long time
time will pass before the present rise
rise of
of this camp is reversed or
brought to aa halt.
halt. By
By that
that time
time the
the Jewish
Jewish politY
polity is likely to be greatly different from
from the
the Israel
Israel of
of David
David
Gurion. Golda Meir, and
Ben Gurion,
and even Menachem
Menachem Begin.
Notes
1.
See author's
author's The
The Ascendance of
1. See
of Israel's Radical Right (New York: Oxford University
University Press,
Press, 1991). On
Aran. "From
"From Religious
Gush Emunim, see Gideon Aran,
Religious Zionism
Zionism to
to Zionist
Zionist Religion:
Religion: The
The Roots
Roots of Gush
Emunim," in
(New York:
York: Oxford University
Emunim,"
in Peter
Peter Medding
Medding (ed.),
(ed.), Studies in
in Contemporary Jewry,
Jewry, vol. 2 (New
ofGush Emunim (London:
(London: Croom
. Press,
Press, 1986); David Newman (ed.) , The Impact of
Croom Helm,
Helm, 1985);
1985) ; Zvi
Raanan. Gush Emunim (in Hebrew) (Tel Aviv: Sifriyat
Sifriyat Poalim, 1980); Danny
Danny Rubinstein, On the Lord's
Raanan,
(Tel Aviv:
Aviv: Hakibbutz
Hakibbutz Hamaeuchad,
Hamaeuchad, 1982);
1982); Ehud
Ehud Sprinzak,
Sprinzak, "Gush
Side: Gush Emunim (in Hebrew) (Tel
ofPolitical
Political Extremism"
Extremism" (Hebrew), in Medina Mimshal Vevehasim
. Emunim:
Emunim: The Iceberg Model of
(Fall 1981);
1981);Ehud
Ehud Sprinzak,
Sprinzak. "Gush Emunim:
BeinJeumiim,
Beinleumiim, no.17 (Fall
Emunim: The
The Politics of
of Zionist Fundamentalism
Israel" (New
"Jewish Messianism,
in Israel"
(New York:
York: American
American Jewish
Jewish Committee,
Committee, 1986);
1986); Eliezer
Eliezer Don-Yehiya,
Don-Yehiya, "Jewish
Messianism,
andIsraeli
Israeli Politics:
Politics: The
TheImpact
Impact and
and Origins of
ofGush
Gush Emunim,"
Emunim," in Middle Eastern
Religious Zionism
Zionismand
Religious
Studies, vol. 23, no.2
n02 (April 1987).
1987)..
2.
2,. Cf. Yair Kotler,
Kotler,Heil
(New York:
York: Adam
Adam Books,
Books, 1986)
1986)chapter
chapter 16;
16;Ehud
Ehud Sprinzak,
Sprinzak, "Kach and
Heil Kahane (New
Kahane: The Emergence of
of Jewish
Jewish Ouasi-Fascism."
Quasi-Fascism," in Asher Arian and
Kahane:
and Michael
Michael Shamir
Shamir (eds.)
(eds.) The
Also essays
essays by
by Aviezer
Aviezer Ravitzki,
Ravitzki, Ruth
Ruth Gabizon,
Gabizon.
Elections in Israel
Israel 1984 (Tel Aviv: Ramot, 1986) p. 182. Also
The Ideology
Jerald Krumer,
Krumer, and
and Ehud
Ehud Sprinzak in The
Ideology of
of Meir Kahane and His
His Supporters (in Hebrew)
(Jerusalem: Van Leer Institute
(Jerusalem:
Institute Publications,
Publications, 1986).
I.,
3.. The
The jerusalem
JerusalemVan
Van Leer
Leer Foundation
Foundation conducted
conducted three
threesurveys
surveysof
of the
the political
political attitudes
attitudes ofIsrael's
of Israel's high
high
generation (those
(those fifteen
fifteen to
to eighteen
eighteen years
years old). The
The September
September 1984
1984 study
study found
found that 60 percent
school generation
ofthe
the respondents
respondentS thought Arabs did not deserve full equality and
of
and 42
42 percent
percent were
were in favor of
of restricting
subsequent survey, taken in
rights for non-Jews. A subsequent
in May 1985, showed that 40 percent agreed
agreed with
further breakdown
Kahane's opinions
ICahane's
opinions and
and 11
11 percent
percent were
were ready to
to vote
vote for him. A further
breakdown of
of the results
exceptionally strong
strong support
support for Kahane's
indicated exceptionally
Kahane's ideas
ideas among
among religious
religious youth
youth (59
(59 percent)
percent) and
and among
among
people of
ofNorth
North African
African and
and Far Eastern
young people
Easternorigin
origin(50
(50 percent).
percent).The
TheApril
April1986
1986 survey,
survey, which
which was
anti-Kahane campaign
conducted after an intense anti-Kahane
campaignthroughout
throughoutmost
mostof
ofthe
thepolitical
politicalsystem,
system, showed
showed aa small
in support
support for
for the
the rabbi's positions. Only one-third of
decline in
decline
of the respondents thought Kahane'sopinions
. were right and
percent were still favorable
and 7.5 percent
percent said
said they
they would
would vote
vote for
for him.
him. However,
However, 50 percent
favorable to the
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Israeli Radical
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The Israeli Radical Right: History, Culture
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ofrestricting
restricting the rights of
of Arabs and 56 percent opposed
opposed equal
equal rights for non-Jews. For a further
idea of
ofIsraeli
Israeli ultranationalism,
ultranationalism, see Charles S. Liebman, "Jewish Ultra-Nationalism
description of
of the growth of
Strands," in
(London: Associated
Associated
in Israel: Converging Strands,"
in William
William Frankel
Frankel (ed.)
(ed.) Survey of
of Jewish Affairs (London:
.
Universities Press,
Press, 1985).
4.
Frank Cass,
Cass, 1988) chapters 3
4. Cf. Yaacov Shavit, Jabotinsky and the Revisionist Movement (London: Frank
and 4.
~.
Ibid., pp.
pp. 149-150
149-150..
5. Ibid.,
.2.
(Jerusalem: Keter,
Lehi: Ideology
Ideology and
and Politics
Politics 1940-1949 (Jerusalem:
Keter, 1989)
1989) pp.
pp. 19-35.
19-35.
6. Cf. Joseph Heller.
Heller, Lehi:
1.
Ibid., pp.
7. Ibid.,
pp. 24-31.
24-31.
~.
8. Ibid.
~.
different version,
version, see Joseph
9. For a different
Schechtman, The
The Life
Life and
and Times
Times of
of VladtmirJabotinsky:
Vladimir Jabotinsky: Fighter
and Prophet (Silver Springs,
Springs, Md.:
Md.: Eshel
Eshel Books,
Books, 1986) pp.
pp. 434-441.
434-441.
10. Cf. Shlomo Avineri, Varieties of
10.
of Zionist Thought (in Hebrew)
Hebrew) (Tel
(Tel Aviv:
Aviv: Am
Am OVed.
Oved, 1980)
1980) pp.
pp. 195202.
11.
ahistorical attempt to portray
11. For an impressive although somewhat ahistorical
portray Jabotinsky
Jabotinskyas
asaaclassical
classical Western
Western
Thought of
liberal, see Raphaella Bilski Ben-Hur, Every Individual Is
Is a King:
King: The
The Social
Social and Political
Political Thought
of
Zeev (Vladimir) Jabotinsky (in Hebrew) (Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1988)
1988) chapter
chapter 2.
rot to
12. See
See Yonathan
Yonathan Shapira, The
12.
The Road
Road of
of He
Herut
to Power:
Power: A
A Socia-Political
Socio-Political Explanation (in Hebrew) (Tel
OVed, forthcoming)
forthcoming) pp.
.
Aviv: Am Oved,
pp. 30-36.
13. Cf. Charles S. Liebman and
(Berkeley: University
13.
and ElieZer
Eliezer Don
Don Yebiya,
Yehiya, Civil Religion in Israel (Berkeley:
University of
of
California Press,
California
Press, 1983),
1983), pp.
pp. 74-76.
14. Shapira,
Shapira, op.
14.
op. cit.,
cit., pp.
pp. 42-52.
42-52.
U.
Avineri, op.
15. Cf. Avineri,
op. cit.,
cit., pp.
pp. 210-215.
210-215.
16. Sasson Sofer,
York: Basil
16.
Soler, Begin: An
An Anatomy
Anatomy of
of Leadership
Leadership (New York:
Basil Blackwell,
Blackwell, 1988) pp.
pp. 19-24;
Shapira, op.
.
Shapira,
op. cit.,
cit., pp.
pp. 76-81.
76-81.
11.
chapter 4.
17. On Stern
Stem and Lebi,
Lehi, see Heller, op. cit., chapter
18~
See, for
for example,
example, Yonathan
Y onathan Shapira,
Shapira, Democracy in Israel (Ramat Gan:
18. See,
Gan: Massad,
Massad, 1977);
1977); Dan
Dan Horowitz
Horowitz
OVed, 1977
1977 [Hebrew]);
[Hebrew]); Peter
and Moshe Lissak, The
The Origins of
of the
the Israeli
Israeli Polity
Polity (Tel Aviv: Am Oved,
Medding,Mapai
Medding,
Mapai in Israel:
Israel: Political Organization and Government in
in a New Society (Cambridge:
(Cambridge:
(Assen:
Cambridge University
University Press,
Press, 1972); Myron Aronoff, Power and Ritual in
in the
the Israeli
Israeli Labor
Labor Party
Party (Assen:
Van Gorcum,
.
Gorciun, 1977).
19. Cf. Shavit,
Shavit, op. cit.,
cit., pp.
pp. 350-357;
350-357;Ehud
EhudSprinzak,
Sprinzak, "Atalena,
"Atalena, Thirty
Thirty Years
19.
Years After;
After; Some
Some Political
(Spring 1979).
Thoughts" (in
Thoughts"
(in Hebrew) in Medina mimshal veuehasim bein leumiim, no. 14 (Spring
20.
Horowitz
and
20. Cf. Horowitz
and Lissak,
Lissak, op.
op. cit.,
cit., pp.
pp. 114-117.
)
.
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Israeli Radical
RadicalRight
RightHistory,
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and Politics by Ehud Sprinzak
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Princeton University
n.
(Princeton: Princeton
the Great Powers 1945-1948, (Princeton:
21. Cf. Michael J. Cohen, Palestine and the
PreSs, 1982)
1982) chapter
chapter 10.
Press,
Horowitz and
and Lissak,
Lissak. op. cit.,
cit., pp.
pp. 137-146;
137-146;Itzhak
Itzhak Galnur,
Galnur, Steering the Polity: Communications
22. Cf. Horowitz
(Tel Aviv: Am Oved,
Oved, 1985) pp.
pp. 103-112.
and Politics in Israel (in Hebrew) (Tel
pp. 113-135.
23. Cf. Heller, op. cit., pp.
(New York:
York:
Amos Perlmutter,
Perlmutter, The Life and Times o/Menachim
of Menachim Begin (New
24. Cf. Shapira, op. cit., p. 92; Amos
1987) and
and Sofer, op.
op. cit.,
cit., chapter
chapter 5.
Doubleday, 1987)
25. On Herut's
Herut's maximalist
maximalist program
programand
andradical
radicalmyths,
myths,seeShapira,
see Shapira,op.
op.cit,
cit, pp.
pp. 138-151.
138-151.
25.
cit., chapter
chapter 12.
26. Cf. Heller, op. cit.,
3, no.3
no.3 (June
(June 1951)
1951)p.p.32.
32.For
Foraageneral
generalbackground
background on
on the
the group,
groUp, see
see Israel
Israel Eldad,
27. Cf. Sulam, vol. 3,
27.
Hadar, 1975) pp. 385-400,
385-400, and
and Isser Havel, The
The Truth
Truth about
about the
the Kastner
Kastner
The First Tenth (Tel Aviv: Hadar,
(Jerusalem: Edanim,
Murder (in Hebrew) (Jerusalem:
Edanim, 1985),
1985), pp.
pp. 47-48.
47-48.
1989) chapter 10.
28. Cf. Isser Harel, Security and Democracy (in Hebrew) (Tel Aviv: Edanim, 1989)
29. Personal interview with Israel Eldad, February
February 28,
29.
28, 1985.
30. Cf. Baruch
Baruch Kinunerling,
Kimmerling, Zionism
The Socio-Territorial Dimension o/Zionist
Zionism and Territory: The
of Zionist Politics
Politics
30.
(Berkeley: Institute ofIntemational
Studies,
University
of
Cali
fomi
a,
1983)
pp.
17O-i
71.
of International Studies, University of California, 1983) pp. 170-171.
·ll.
Rael Jean
Jean Isaac, Israel Divided:
Politics in
in the Jewish State (Baltimore: Johns
31. Cf. Rael
Divided : Ideological Politics
1976) chapter
chapter 3.
Hopkins University Press, 1976)
between Gush
Gush Emunim
Emunim fundamentalism
fundamentalism and
Ehud Sprinzak,
32. On the distinction between
32.
and messianism,
messianism, see Ehud
"Fundamentalism, Terrorists,
Underground" Occasional
"Fundamentalism,
Terrorists, and
andDemocracy:
Democracy: The
The Case
Case 9fGush
of Gush Emunim Underground"
Occasional
Wilson International
International Center
Paper (Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson
Center for
for Scholars,
Scholars, 1987) p.9.
•
33. Cf. Sprinzak,
Sprinzak, "Gush Emunim:
33.
Emunim: The
The Iceberg Model,"
Model," op.
op. cit.,
cit., p.
p. 23.
34. Personal interview with Meir Kahane,
34.
Kahane, April
April 18,
18, 1973.
35. Cf.
Ct: Kotler, op. cit., p. 221.
I.
35.
36. Personal interview with Kahane.
Kahane.
36.
37. Meir
MeirKabane.
Elections" in The Jewish
37.
Kahane, "The
"The Activist
Activist Column:
Column: Reflections on the Elections"
Jewish Press
Press (June 3,
1977) p. 20.
38. Danny Rubinstein, op. cit., pp. 147-152;
147-1 52;Sprinzak.
"the Iceberg Model,"
38.
Sprinzak, "the
Model," op.
op. cit., p.
p. 27.
12.
39. Personal interview with Geu1a
Geula Cohen,
Cohen, August
August 23,
23, 1985.
40. Personal interview with Gershon Solomon, February
February 14,
40.
14, 1985.
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Israeli Radical
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Page 25
41. Cf. Rubinstein, op. cit., pp. 152-156;
152-156; personal interviews with Geula Cohen and Gershon Solomon.
41.
42. Meir Kahane, "The Second Revolution," in Jewish Press (October
(Qctober 20, 1978) .
42.
43. Meir Kahane, Thorns in Your Eyes (in Hebrew) (New York: Druker,1981)
Druker,198 I) chapter 4.
43.
44. Sprinzak, "Kahane and Kach,"
Kacb," op. cit., pp. 175-176.
44.
45. Cf. Haggai Segal, Dear Brothers (in Hebrew) (Jerusalem: Keter, 1987) pp.4757; Sprinzak,
45.
"Fundamentalism, Terrorism," op. cit., pp. 5-6.
46. Cf. David Rapoport, "Messianic Sanctions for Terror," in Comparative Politics, vol. 20, no. 2
46.
(January 1988) pp. 204-205.
47. Segal, op. cit., p. 55; Ehud Sprinzak, "From Messianic Pioneering to Vigilante Terrorism:
Terrorism: The Case
47.
ofStrategic Studies,
vol.10, no.4 (December 1987) p. 200.
of Gush Emunim Underground," in Joumal
Journal of
Studies, vol.lO,
48. In May 1980 Menachem Livni, the "leader" of
of the underground, told Rabbi Levinger, his religious
48.
purposeS we have to choose pure people, highly observant and sinless, people with no
mentor, "for these purposes
of violence in them and who are disciplined to reckless action." M. Livni, interrogation (court
. shred of
documents, May 18, 1984).
(Jerusalem: Institute for
49. Cf. Gideon Aran, Eretz Israel: Between Politics and Religion (Jerusalem:
49.
for the
the Study
Study of
of
Israel, 1985, Hebrew publication) pp. 36-43.
50. On Herut's
Henit's New Zionism as an ideology, culture, civic religion, and symbolic system, see Ofira
50.
Seliktar, New Zionism and the Foreign Policy System of
of Israel (London: Croom Helm, 1986) chapters 3
Don-Yehi·ya, op. cit., p.
p.234;
and 4; Liebman and Don-Yehiya,
234; Myron J. Aronoff, "Establishing Authority:
Authority: The
The
of Jabotinsky and the Burial of
of the Bar-Kocha Bones in Israel Under the Likud" in
Memorialization of
Aronoff(ed.),
Myron J. Aronoff
(ed.), The Frailty of
of AuthOrity,
Authority, vol.
vol. 5 of Political Anthropology (New Brimswick:
Brunswick:
Transaction Books, 1986).
and
n.
Sho~d Not Be Thrown Away" (in Hebrew), in Nekuda,
51. Moshe Levinger, "Old Flags Should
Nekuda, no.
no. 97 (March
25, 1986)
1986) p. 8.
52. Personal interviews with Geula Cohen and Gershon Solomon.
52.
53.
53. We
We Struggle for
for the Integrity of
of the Land (in Hebrew), undated early pamphlet of Gush Emunim.
ofthe
the fundamentalism
fundamentalism of
ofultraorthodoxy
54.
For an excellent
excellent discussion
discussion of
M. For
ultraorthodoxy in ISrael
Israel in relation to the new
ofthe Radical Right, see Aviezer
Aviezer Ravitsky, "Messianism, Zionism,
Zionist fundamentalism of
Zionism, and the
ofIsrael
Future of
Israel in the Divided Religious Schools in Israel," (in Hebrew) in Alouph Haraven, ed
ed.,.•
(JtmlSalem: Van Leer, 1984) ; MenachemFriedman,
Towards the 21st Century (Jerusalem:
Menachem Friedman, "Radical Religious
Religious
Groups in Israel: Conservatism and Innovation," in Emanuel Sivan and Menachem Friedman, (eds.),
Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East (Albany, N.Y.:
N.Y.: State University of New York Press,
1990) .
1990).
. 55.
55. Benny Katzover, "The Gravitation Point," in Nekuda,
Nekuda, no. 27 (April 17 , 1981) p.
56. The main representative
representative of
ofthis
this approach
approachwas
was the
the late.
late Eliezar Livneh in Israel and the Crisis
56.
Crisis of
of
Western Civilization (Tel
(Tel Aviv: Schoken, 1972).
1972). For years the same approach dominated lot
Zot haretz, the
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Nekuda.
ofthe
the Land
Land of
ofIsrael
Movement that
that was later
later channeled into Nekuda.
magazine of
Israel Movement
57. Cf. Ehud
Ehud Sprinzak, "Extreme
"Extreme Politics in Israel,"
Israel." in Jerusalem
Jerusalem Quarterly, no. 15 (Fall 1977), and
57.
Sprinzak, "Gush Emunim:
Emunim: The
The Iceberg Model,"
Model," op.
op. cit.
58. Many members of
ofGush
Gush Emunim
Emunim never
never trusted
trusted Begin
Begin and his declarative, but impractical,
58.
commitment to settling Judea and
and Samaria.
Samaria.Personal
Personalinterview
interviewwith
withRabbi
RabbiYoel
YoelBen
Ben Nun,
Nun, June
June20,
20, 1985.
1985.
59. Judith
Judith Carp,
Israelis in Judea and Samaria:
Carp, "Investigation
"Investigation of
of Suspicions
Suspicions Against Israelis
Samaria: AA Report
Report of
of the
59.
Up Committee"
Committee" (in Hebrew), May 23, 1982.
1982. See
Seealso
also Dedi
DediZuker,
Zuker, "A
"A Study of
of Human Rights
Follow Up
Rights in .
1979-1983:Interim
InterimReport"
Report" (International
(lriternational Institute
the Territories Administered by the IDF, 1979-1983:
Institute for
for Peace
Peace in
the Middle East,
East, 1983).
60. David Weisburd with Yered Vinitzky, "Vigilantism as Rational
Rational Social
Social Control:
Control: The
The Case
Case of the Gush
60.
in Israeli
Israeli Culture
Culture and
andPolitics,
Politics, vol.
vol. 44 of
of
Emunim Settlers,"
Settlers," in
in Myron
Myron J.J. Aronoff
Aronoff (ed.),
(ed.), Cross Currents in
Political Anthropology (New
(N~ Brunswick:
Brunswick: Transaction
Transaction Books,
Books, 1984) p.
p. 74.
21.
1985).
61. Cf. Nekuda, no. 93 (November 22, 1985),
62. Cf. Avinoam
A vinoam Bar
Bar Yosef
Y osefand
andYehoshua
YehoshuaBitzur,
Bitzur,"A
"APrime
PrimeMinister
MinisterThat
That Surrenders
Surrenders Parts of
of Eretz
62.
Be Considered
Considered aa Traitor,"
Traitor," in Yediot Achronot (November 8,
8, 1986).
Israel Will Be
63. Meir Kahane, "The Second Revolution," in Jewish
(October 20,
Jewish Press
Press (October
20, 1978).
63.
64. Cf. Nekuda editorial and Yehoshua
Yehoshua Zohar,
Zohar, "The
"The Retreat
Retreat from
from Lebanon:
Lebanon: Spiritual
Spiritual Weakness,"
Weakness," in
64.
Nekuda, no. 83 (February
(February I,
pp. 5-7; also, the Tzjia
report on
on the
the establishment
establishment ofagariin
of a gariin (a
1, 1985) pp.
Tzfia report
nucleUs) for
for aa future
future settlement in Lebanon in Tzjia,
Tzfia, no. 2 (Spring
(Spring 1985) pp.
pp. 95-96.
settlement nucleus)
"A State with No
No Protection
Protection Against
AgainstInternal
lriternal Erosion,"
Erosion," in Nekuda,
I,
65. Elyakim Haetzni, "A
Nekuda, no. 84 (March 1,
.
1985) p. 22.
(March 3,
66. Elyakim Haetzni,
HaetzDi, "The
"The 'Focus' That
66.
That Was
Was Not
Not Focused.
Focused,"n in Nekuda,
Nekuda, no.97 (March
3, 1986) p.
p. 14.
67. Cf. Myron
Myron Aronoff,
Aronoff, "The
"The Internatiorialization
Internatiorialization and
67.
andCooptation
Cooptationof
ofaaCharismatic,
Charismatic,Messianic,
Messianic, ReligiousReligiousReviWization Movement,"
Moveinent," in Newman, op. cit
Political Revitalization
cit.
The West
68. Cf. Meron Benvenisti, The
West Bank
Bank Data
Data Project
Project (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise
Institute, 1984) pp. 52-63;
52-63; and
and Sprinzak,
Sprinz3k, 'Gush Emunim,"
Institute,
Emunim,"op.
op. cit.,
cit., pp.
pp. 18-22.
69. Cf. Meron Benvenisti, 1986 Report: Demographic,
Demographic, Economic,
Economic, Legal,
Legal, Social
Social and
and Political
Political
Developments in the West
West Bank (Jerusalem:
(Jerusalem: Jerusalem
JerusalemPost,
Post, 1986)
1986) pp.
pp. 57-62.
57-62.
70. Otniel Sclmeller,
Schneller, the secretary
secretary general
esha,told
70.
generalofMoetzet
of Moetzet Y
Yesha,
toldme
me in
in an
aninterview
interview(August
(August5,5, 1985)
1985)
that the government's most secretive deliberations about Judea,
Judea, Samaria,
Samaria, and
and Gaza
Gazaare
areconfided
confided to
to him by
friendly cabinet members
friendly
members within
within half
half an
anhour
hourof
ofthe
thediscussion.
discussion.See
See also
also Yael
Yael Yishai, Land or Peace:
(Stanford: Hoover
Whither Israel? (Stanford:
Hoover Institution
InstitutionPress,
Press, 1987)
1987) pp.124-126.
pp.124-126.
71. "We have become
such an
an influential body that no minister can
71.
become such
can afford
afford not
not to
to see
see me,
me, not even Itzhak
that if
ifhe
wants Judea
Judea and Samaria quiet
Rabin. Rabin knows that
he wants
quiet and
and the
the settlers
settlers out
out of
of the
the roads,
roads, he
he has to
talk to
to me."
me." Personal
Personal interview
interview with
with Otniel
Otniel Schneller,
Schneller, August
August 5,
5, 1985.
file://D:\Textbook CD\
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72. See Tehiya original manifesto, Kol korah, 1979. In
In the 1992 elections,
elections, Tehiya
Tehiya failed
failed to
to return
return to the
72.
and Moledet,
Mo1edet, however,
however, increased
increased their
their share to 11
II seats (9.5 percent).
percent).
Knesset. Tzomet and
73; The approach is mostly stressed
stressed by the influential chug (circle)
(crrcle) Ein Vered,
Vered, which
which isis composed
composed of
73.
Mapai and Hakibbutz
Hakibbutz Hameuchad
Hameuchad Veterans.
Veterans. Personal
Personal interview
interview with
with Ephraim
EphraimBen
BenHaim,
Haim,May
May5,
5, 1985.
74. Cf. Moledet: The
The Movement of
no. I (platform
(platform explanations,
74.
of the Erett
Eretz Yisrael Loyalists, no.1
explanations, 1988).
75. Cf. Sprinzak, "Kahane
"Kahane and
75.
and Kach,"
Kach,"op.
op. cit.,
cit., pp.
pp. 185-187.
185-187.
76.
"The Dispossessed," in Bell, ed., The
The Radical
(Garden City,
76. Cf. Daniel Bell, "The
Radical Right (Garden
City, N.Y.:
N.Y.: Doubleday,
Psychological View
View of
ofthe National Front (London:
1963), pp.
pp. 1-45; M.
M. Billig, Fascists: A Social Psychological
1978);
E. Bonachich,
Bonachich,"The
"ThePast,
Past, Present
Present and
and Future of
Harcourt, Brace,
Harcourt,
Brace, Jovanovich,
Jovanovich, 1978)
; E.
of Split Market
S. Cummings,
Cummings, "White
"White Ethnics, Racial
Theory, " in Research in Race and Ethnic Relations, no. 11 (1979); S.
Prejudices and Labor Market Segmentation,"
Segmentation," in American Journal
no. 85,4,
. .Journal of
of Sociology,
Sociology, no.
85, 4, (1980);
(1980); G.
G. PP.
Freeman, Immigrant Labor and Racial
Racial Conflict
Conflict in Industrial Societies: The
The French
French and the British
Experience.
Press. 1979);
1979); C.
C. T.
T. Husbands,
HUsbands. "Contemporary
"Contemporary
Experience, 1945-1975 (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
Right-Wing Extremism in Western European
European Democracies:
Democracies: A
A Review Article,"
Article," in European Journal of
of
Political Research no.9 (1981);
(1981); and
and S.
S. M.
M. Lipset,
Lipset, "The
"The Sources of
of the Radical
Radical Right,~
Right,"in
inD.
D. Bell,
Bell, op. cit.
77.
"Thorns in
of the Kahane
77. Cf. Gershon Shafir and
and Yoav
Yoav Pe1ed,
Peled, "Thorns
inYour
YourEyes:
Eyes:The
TheSocioeconomic
Socioeconomic Basis of
Vote," in Arian and Shamir,
Shamir, op. cit.
78.
and Kach,"
Kach," op.
op. cit.,pp.
cit.,pp. 181-185; Ehud
"The Kahane
Kahane Movement
Movement in
78. Cf. Sprinzak,
Sprinzak. "Kahane and
Ehud Sprinzak, "The
The Ideology
Comparative Perspective,"
Perspective," in The
Ideology ofMeir
of Meir Kahane and His Supporters (in Hebrew) (Jerusalem:
Van Leer Publications,
Publications, 1986).
79. This judgment is based on interviews with Yoel
Yoel Lerner
(December 12,
12, 1984).
1984), Rabbi
Rabbi Israel
Israel Ariel
Arid
79.
Lerner (December
(January 31,
1984), and
and Rabbi Dov Lior (January
(January
31, 1985), Ephraim Caspi
Caspi (July
(July 16, 1984),
(January 19,
19, 1985).
80. Cf. Yehuda Etzion,
80.
EtzloR, Temple Mount (in Hebrew) (Jerusalem:
(Jerusalem: E.
E. Caspi,
Caspi, 1985) .
81. Personal interview with Ariel. See also
n.
also Ariel's
Ariel's essay,
essay, "Is
"Is It Really a Rebellion Against the Kingdom?"
Kingdom?"
in Nekuda, no.73 (May
(May 25,
25, 1984);
1984);Ariel,
Ariel,"Things
"Things as
as They
They Are"
Are" in Tzfia,
Tzjia, no.1
no. 1 (Summer 1984); and Ariel,
"When Will
Will the Temple Be Built?"
Built?" in Tzfia
Tzjia no.2 (Spring 1985).
82. My estimation is
is conservative
conservativeand
and isis based
based on
on regular
regular. opinion polls
polls that
that indicate an 8 percent to 12
82.
and Kahane; a 10
10 percent to 12
12 percent
percent support for the Sharon camp
percent support for Teruya,
Tehiya, Tzomet, and
and other radicals in the Likud and an additional
additional 3 percent to 5 percent support for
for the
the Radical Right
and the right-wing fringes of
ofLabor.
Labor.
within such parties as NRP, Shas, and
Contents
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Israeli Radical
RadicalRight
RightHistory,
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Page 28
28 of29
of 29
Title
1.1984:
1984: The Shock
1.
2. The Ultranationalist Legacy
2.
of the Old Radical Right
3. The Marginality of
of the Post-1967 Radical Right
4. The Rise of
5. Culture
5.
6. Politics
6.
Gush Emunim
6.1. Gush
Teruya and its Satellites
6.2. Tehiva
6.3. Kach
6.4. The Concealed Radicals
6.5. The Impact of
of the Radical Right
7. Conclusion
7.
Notes
Ote
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to conform
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I X Alabasters
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