AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2000, Pages 72-74

Israel and Judaism

Growth of Religious Extremism in Israel Threatens The Peace Process

By Allan C. Brownfeld

Just as the majority of Israelis and Palestinians have been moving toward acceptance of a compromise peace settlement for the region, the growth of religious extremism in Israel is making it increasingly difficult for the government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak to move forward in the final stage talks. At the same time, many sectors of the American Jewish community are encouraging such extremism as a roadblock to the territorial adjustments which are necessary and which they oppose.

Settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are now gearing up for what they describe as the Òfinal battle for our home.Ó Militant rabbis are also weighing in. As they did in 1995, prior to the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, they have issued statements declaring that giving up any portion of the ÒLand of IsraelÓ is contrary to Jewish law.

When Rabin held office, the ultra-Orthodox weekly Hashavna (ÒThe WeekÓ) was used by its publisher, Asher Zuckerman, to wage a vicious crusade against the prime minister. The magazine regularly called Rabin Òa Kapo,Ó Òan anti-Semite,Ó Òruthless,Ó and Òa pathological liar.Ó The weekly, which is read by close to 20 percent of the ultra-Orthodox community, published a symposium on the question of whether Rabin deserved to die and the appropriate means of executing him. By the critical summer of 1995 Hashavna went so far as to charge that Rabin and Peres Òare leading the state and its citizens to annihilation and must be placed before a firing squad.Ó

A group of Orthodox rabbis gave religious sanction to the murder of Yitzhak Rabin. These rabbis, both in Israel and abroad, revived two obsolete conceptsÑdin rodef (the duty to kill a Jew who imperils the life and property of another Jew) and din moser (the duty to eliminate a Jew who intends to turn in another Jew to non-Jewish authorities). By relinquishing rule over parts of the biblical Land of Israel to the Palestinian Authority, these rabbis argued, the head of the Israeli government had become a moser. By thus branding Rabin, they effectively declared open season on his life. Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun, an Orthodox rabbi critical of those who embarked upon this enterprise, declared: ÒHundreds of people heard the word rodef in connection with the late prime minister months before and around the time of the murder. The fact that these discussions leaked out and inspired heated public debate in the religious community turned the obsolete notions of rodef and moser into household words.Ó

ÒIf Barak evacuates settlements, he might be murdered.Ó

Now, once again, such extremism seems to be on the rise in Israel. For example, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas, a key party in Prime Minister BarakÕs ruling coalition, compared Education Minister Yossi Sarid, head of the leftist Meretz Party, to Satan and two other hated figures in the Scriptures. At a sermon during the festival of Purim, Rabbi Yosef said Mr. Sarid Òis Amalek [described in the Bible as the sworn enemy of Israel], he is SatanÉMay his memory be wiped out. He must be uprooted from the seed of Israel.ÉJust as revenge was wrought on Haman, so it will be wrought on him.Ó

The rabbiÕs words were received with thunderous applause and shouts of approval. This speech reminded many Israelis of the hostility which preceded RabinÕs assassination, and caused IsraelÕs attorney general seriously to consider a criminal prosecution.

In June, Benny Katzover, a settler leader, called Sarid Òan executioner among executionersÓ because he is Òready to transfer tens of thousands of Jews to the enlightened regime of his excellency Yasser Arafat.Ó Katzover also suggested that protesters not stick to the Òlaw bookÓ in their demonstrations.

Rabbi Daniel Shilo reiterated that Òthe transfer of parts of Eretz Yisrael amounts to treason.Ó Shimon Riklin, leader of a group of young militant settlers, warned: ÒIf Barak evacuates settlements, he might be murdered.Ó Carmi Gillon, head of the Shin Bet domestic security service, warns against such remarks, saying the possibility of their leading to violence should not be underestimated.

The ÒFinal BattleÓ

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported in June that, ÒThreatening letters arrive regularly to the premierÕs office. One recently sent anonymously to Moledat Knesset member Benny Elon read, ÔTo the best of my judgment, one should prepare a shelf plan to assassinate Ehud Barak. Just like the Oslo accord process was slowed down after the annihilation of Yitzhak Rabin, one can prevent withdrawal in the Golan by annihilating Ehud Barak.Õ Settler preparations for the Ôfinal battleÕ are strongest in the areas where radicalism is usually most pronouncedÑHebron, Beit-El and Kedumim.Ó

The Jerusalem Report of July 3 reports the views of settlement leader Shimon Riklin: ÒShimon Riklin walked into a pizza parlor in downtown Jerusalem the other day immediately after stating on a TV talk show that he thought Prime Minister Ehud Barak, because of his readiness to give up settlements to the Palestinians, was in danger of assassination. It was well after midnight, he recalls, and the five customers lingering about over their pizza slices and beer recognized the young settler leader and began chanting. ÔWhy were you so apologetic?Õ one asked him. ÔBarak is a traitor and should be killed.Õ No one protested; everyone seemed to agree. ÔAnd that,Õ says Riklin in an interview a few days later, Ôproves my point. Everywhere I go, all over the country, I hear that kind of talk.ÕÓ

Riklin, a 37-year-old settler who styles himself as head of a group he calls the ÒNext GenerationÓ of Jewish settlers, says that removing settlers would be the beginning of the end of the Jewish stateÑand that many Jews in the West Bank will not permit it. ÒBarak will be murdered if he attempts to evacuate settlements,Ó Riklin said. ÒThis is an invitation for big violence.Ó

Kedumim Rabbi Daniel Shilo, a signator of the January 1995 letter to fellow rabbis asking whether Yitzhak Rabin should be considered a moser, is now aiming his verbal assaults at Barak. He recently wrote in his settlementÕs newsletter that Òto turn over (moser) parts of the Land of Israel to gentiles when they can be defended and the handover prevented is a serious crime against the Jewish people. Even the most wicked of the Jewish rulers of the land throughout the ages did not do so of their own free will. It is a betrayal, not only of the Jewish Torah tradition through the ages, but also of our national tradition . . .Ó

In his new book, A Little Too Close to God, Jerusalem Report editor David Horovitz recalls that before the Rabin assassination he attended anti-Rabin rallies sponsored by Binyamin NetanyahuÕs Likud Party that he describes in these words: ÒI felt as if I were among wild animals, vicious, angry predators craving flesh and scenting blood. There was elation in the anger, elation bred of the certainty of eventual success.Ó Now, he fears, this extremism is on the march once again.

Religious Terrorism

There is too little understanding of the nature of the Jewish religious extremism which is so much a part of IsraelÕs political life. In his book Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, Prof. Mark Juergensmeyer describes the similarities between terrorist groups motivated by religion, whether Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh.

With regard to IsraelÕs terrorist groups, Juergensmeyer reports on a conversation he had with Yoel Lerner, an activist leader who served time in prison for his part in an attempt to blow up the Dome of the Rock, the Muslim shrine believed to be located almost exactly on the site of the Jewish Temple that was destroyed almost two thousand years ago.

He writes: ÒYoel LernerÉbelieves in a form of Messianic Zionism. In his view the prophesied Messiah will come to earth only after the temple is rebuilt and made ready for himÉthe issue of the temple was not only a matter of cultural nostalgia but also one of pressing religious importanceÉIn LernerÕs view the redemption of the whole world depends upon the actions of Jews in creating the conditions necessary for messianic salvationÉHeÉtold me that there had been a great deal of discussion in the months before RabinÕs death about the religious justification for the political assassinationÑor ÔexecutionÕ as Lerner called itÑof Jewish leaders who were felt to be dangerously irresponsible and were de facto enemies of Judaism. Thus it was Ôno surpriseÕ to Lerner that someone like Yigal Amir was successful in killing Rabin. The only thing that puzzled him, he said, was that Ôno one had done it earlier.ÕÓ

What is growing in Israel is a form of Òmessianic ZionismÓ which makes control over all of the Biblical Land of Israel a religious mandate. According to Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kuk, the chief rabbi of pre-Israel Palestine, the secular state of Israel is the avant garde for the religious Israel to come; it contains a Òhidden sparkÓ of the sacred.

Professor Juergensmeyer points out that, ÒThis messianic Zionism was greatly enhanced by IsraelÕs successes in the 1967 Six-Day War. The military victory led to a great national euphoria, a feeling that Israel was suddenly moving in an expansive and triumphant direction. Jewish nationalists impressed with KukÕs theology felt strongly that history was quickly leading to the moment of divine redemption and the recreation of the biblical state of Israel. [Meir] Kahane deviated from KukÕs version of messianic Zionism in that he saw nothing of religious significance in the establishment of a secular Jewish state. According to Kahane, the true creation of a religious Israel was yet to comeÉHe felt that it was going to happen fairly soon and that he and his partisans could help bring about this messianic act. This is where KahaneÕs notion of kiddush ha-Shem was vital; insofar as Jews were exalted and their enemies humiliated, God was glorified and the MessiahÕs coming was more likelyÉAnticipating the hatred that would animate a religious Jew such as Yigal Amir into assassinating the prime minister of Israel, Kahane said that although he loved all Jews, Ôsecular government is the enemy.ÕÓ

Jewish activists, Juergensmeyer writes, ÒhaveÉbeen convinced that their violent acts have been authorized as weapons in a divine warfare sanctioned by God. Dr. Baruch GoldsteinÕs massacre at the shrine of the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron in 1994 was described as a military act. ÔAll Jews,Õ one of his supporters told meÑimplying that it was common knowledgeÑare Ôat war with the Arabs.ÕÉYochay Ron, a young Jewish activist with whom I walked at the graveside of Dr. Goldstein near Hebron, told me that the war with the Arabs did not begin with the intifada in the 1980s, or even with the establishment of the state of Israel. It goes back Ôto biblical times,Õ Ron explained, indicating that the present-day Arabs are simply the modern descendants of the enemies of Israel described in the Bible for whom God has unleashed wars of revenge. Ultimately, he thought that the warfare could end, but only when Arabs leave the land and Israel is, in his view, complete.Ó

Religious extremism manifests itself not only in opposition to the peace process, but in a refusal to permit genuine religious freedom for non-Orthodox forms of Judaism. In June, a Conservative synagogue in Jerusalem was set on fire. Yonathan Liebowitz, a spokesman for the Conservative movement, said witnesses reported seeing apparently religious men, wearing black velvet skullcaps, fleeing as the flames raged. The synagogue had previously been defaced with graffiti that labeled it a place unworthy of worship.

A Minimal Response

The response to such religious violence has been minimal in Israeli religious and governmental circles. Writing in the June 30 Jerusalem Post, Barbara Sofer pointed out that when three synagogues were burned in Sacramento, California, the cityÕs entire religious communityÑProtestants, Catholics, Jews and MuslimsÑas well as the civic leadership came together to show solidarity in the face of such a brutal assault. Law enforcement authorities quickly apprehended the guilty parties.

In Israel, she laments, ÒWhere is our religious establishment? Where are our political leaders to publicly condemn the violence? Rabbis cannot remain silentÉIÕm just one observant Jewish Jerusalemite. I condemn the violence against the synagogue, I condemn violence against any synagogue, any church, and any mosqueÉÓ

Synagogue president Hilary Herzberger said that, ÒIf the chief rabbi had come out against such behavior, maybe it could have been prevented.Ó Rabbi Ehud Brandel, president of the Masorti, the Conservative movement in Israel, said that the lack of a strong response by the authorities the last time a synagogue was attacked Òsent a message of encouragement to those radical groups.Ó

Rabbi Brandel declared, ÒWe are still waiting for the Orthodox political and religious leadership to speak out.Ó Legislator Meir Porush of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism bloc accused the Conservative movement of being responsible for burning its own synagogue. This charge led Naomi Hazan of the secular Meretz Party to charge Porush with making Òanti-Semitic statementsÓ by blaming the victim for the crime.

Rabbi Andrew Sacks, director of the Conservative movementÕs Rabbinical Assembly in Israel, said the key to change lies as much with the ultra-Orthodox establishment as with the police, who made no arrests after past attacks on Reform and Conservative synagogues. ÒI have no reason to think that the arson will change anything,Ó he said. ÒAs long as there is no punishment meted out, then what incentive is there for an individual not to do this?Ó

In the American Jewish community, while the vast majority support the peace process and understand the necessity for compromise, the most vocal elements sometimes appear to be an echo of the religious extremism found in Israel.

In the June 8 edition of The Washington Jewish Week, columnist Douglas Bloomfield reported that, ÒAn Internet site run by Kahanists offers a ÔgameÕ called ÔWhack-A-BarakÕ that invites players to hit the prime minister on the head with a hammer to Ôknock some senseÕ into himÉEmanuel Winston, a Chicago-based polemicist, calls Barak Ôa coward [and]Éa traitorÕ who Ôshould be tried for treason.Õ Bernard Shapiro, director of the right-wing Freeman Center for Strategic Studies, another Web siteÉrecently reissued a statement that he put out prior to RabinÕs murder: ÔThe Israeli government is in rebellion against everything that Israel, Zionism and Judaism are all aboutÕ and Ôthey will be totally responsible for any resulting violence.Õ A Midwestern leader of the Zionist Organization of America sent out a message calling Barak Ôa traitor,Õ leading the Ômind boggling destruction of the state of Israel and the Jewish people [to the] final Holocaust.Ó

More established Jewish leaders, while not advocating violence, have nevertheless launched an offensive against Prime Minister Barak and the peace process. In an open letter to Barak, 30 leadersÑincluding the chairman of the American Israel Public Affairs CommitteeÕs (AIPAC) executive committee and two past chairmen of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish OrganizationsÑexpress concern over what they see as one-sided concessions from Israel.

The attack upon Barak and the peace process was initially circulated by the right-wing Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), but has attracted mainstream signatories. Among them are: Julius Berman and Leon Levy, both past chairmen of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Rabbi Seymour Essrog, immediate past president of the Rabbinical Assembly; Robert Zweiman, chairman of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA; Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld, past president of the Rabbinical Council of America; and Rabbi Joseph P. Sternstein, past president of the Jewish National Fund.

Voices in defense of Barak and the peace process have been few, and far less vocal than those of the critics.

Professor Juergensmeyer points out that, ÒThe Arab-Israeli conflictÉwas not widely regarded as a sacred battle from the perspective of either side until the late 1980s. Then the process of sacralization overtook the conflict and transformed it, in the eyes of religious activists on both sides, into cosmic war. When a struggle becomes sacralized, incidents that might previously have been considered minor skirmishes or slight differences of understanding are elevated to monumental proportions. The use of violence becomes legitimized, and the slightest provocation or insult can lead to terrorist assaults. What had been simple opponents becomes cosmic foesÉthe process of satanization can transform a worldly struggle into a contest between martyrs and demons. Alas, this inescapable scenario of hostility does not end until the mythology is redirected, or until one side or the other has been destroyed.Ó

It would be tragic indeed if, just as Israeli and Palestinian secular leaders are prepared to make peace, religious extremists on both sides are permitted to exercise power out of all proportion to their numbers. In Israel, the political system bestows unprecedented influence upon the most extreme elements. And too many American Jewish leaders appear to be encouraging the most strident voices of opposition not to make the concessions upon which a genuine and lasting peace can be created. If the present opportunity for peace is permitted to slip away, few on either side will profit from the resulting chaos and disorder.

Allan C. Brownfeld is a syndicated columnist and associate editor of the Lincoln Review, a journal published by the Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, and editor of Issues, the quarterly journal of the American Council for Judaism.