Redeeming the Promised Land: An analysis of the popularity of religious Zionism in Israel after the Yom Kippur War

This thesis asks how the rise of religious Zionism after the Yom Kippur War (1973) can be explained. This rise is puzzling, because whereas religious Zionism became more popular after the Six Day War (1967), this stemmed from the euphoria associated with the victory and the annexation of Jerusalem. The Yom Kippur War, in contrast, led to uncertainty, protests and delegitimation of the government. Why then, was religious Zionism not reduced in popularity but strengthened instead? Apart from researching this question, this thesis focuses on the relation between the religionization of Israeli society and the rise of religious Zionism. In the second chapter, the details of religionization in Israel are researched through statistics, secondary literature and primary sources. What aspects of society had been religionized, and in what ways? Chapter three analyzes the previous literature on the subject in light of the evidence found in the previous chapter, but also scrutinizes whether...Show moreThis thesis asks how the rise of religious Zionism after the Yom Kippur War (1973) can be explained. This rise is puzzling, because whereas religious Zionism became more popular after the Six Day War (1967), this stemmed from the euphoria associated with the victory and the annexation of Jerusalem. The Yom Kippur War, in contrast, led to uncertainty, protests and delegitimation of the government. Why then, was religious Zionism not reduced in popularity but strengthened instead? Apart from researching this question, this thesis focuses on the relation between the religionization of Israeli society and the rise of religious Zionism. In the second chapter, the details of religionization in Israel are researched through statistics, secondary literature and primary sources. What aspects of society had been religionized, and in what ways? Chapter three analyzes the previous literature on the subject in light of the evidence found in the previous chapter, but also scrutinizes whether there actually was a causal relationship between religionization and religious Zionism. Although this research found no conclusive evidence on the causal relationship between religionization and the popularity of religious Zionism, it does confirm other reasons behind its rise. Firstly, religious Zionists framed themselves as the new generation of pioneers, in contrast to the Labor government which took the blame for the Yom Kippur War. Moreover, the religious Zionists downplayed the influence on earthly events on the redemption of the Jewish people, which made the movement able to survive the setback that the Yom Kippur War arguably formed. Finally, secular ethno-nationalists were also attracted to religious Zionism as they shared a common goal: keeping the occupied (or ‘liberated’) territories.Show less

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Redeeming the Promised Land: An analysis of the popularity of religious Zionism in Israel after the Yom Kippur War