Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-03T17:54:51.457Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - The Relations between the Nationalization of Israel’s Politics and the Religionization of Its Military, 1948–2016

from Part I - Israel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2021

Nadim N. Rouhana
Affiliation:
Tufts University, Massachusetts
Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian
Affiliation:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Queen Mary University of London
Get access

Summary

This chapter engages with the neglected correlation between the religionization of the Israeli military and the religionization of politics. It is argued that we can identify four main stages of the relationship between the religionization of military and politics. During the formative period of the state and the military (1950s–60s), the partial religionization of the military reflected similar processes in the general society. In the second stage, following the 1967 War, the responses to the war’s aftermath strengthened ethno-national religionization. However, ethno-national religionization prompted the proponents of this process – the national-religious sector – to develop an extra-military avenue for upward mobility in the form of the settlement enterprise in the Occupied Territories. The third stage (1980s–90s) was characterized by the denationalization of Israeli politics with the Oslo Accords at its center, during which the national-religious sector increased its strongholds in the military by leveraging new opportunities created by the partial retreat of secular groups from the military as an avenue of upward social mobility. The fruits of this move were felt in the fourth stage (2000s), when the religionization of the military occurred in tandem with, and was bolstered by, the religionization of politics.

Type
Chapter
Information
When Politics are Sacralized
Comparative Perspectives on Religious Claims and Nationalism
, pp. 113 - 133
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

B [Anonymous IDF senior officer]. 2010. “The Place of Religious in the Tactical Command of the IDF.” [In Hebrew.] Ma’arachot 432: 5057.Google Scholar
Barak-Erez, Daphne. 2008. “Law and Religion under the Status Quo Model: Between Past Compromises and Constant Change.” Cardozo Law Review 30, no. 6: 2495–507.Google Scholar
Ben-Porat, Guy. 2013. Between State and Synagogue: The Secularization of Contemporary Israel. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Benari, Elad. 2011. “Rabin had Virtues But Was a Poor Leader.” Arutz Sheva, November 16, 2011. www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/149789.Google Scholar
Ben-Yehuda, Nachman. 2010. Theocratic Democracy: The Social Construction of Religious and Secular Extremism. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Breaking the Silence. 2009. Soldiers’ Testimonies from Operation Cast Lead, Gaza 2009. Jerusalem: Breaking the Silence.Google Scholar
Cohen, Boaz. 2012. “Army Uniform as a Religious Commandment: The Zionist-Religious Public and the Army.” [In Hebrew.] Iyunim Bitkumat Israel 22: 325–58.Google Scholar
Cohen, Itamar. 2005. See Faith: Land of Israel to the People of Israel [in Hebrew]. www.mnokdim.org/shiurim.asp?page=2.Google Scholar
Cohen, Stuart A. 1999. “From Integration to Segregation: The Role of Religion in the IDF.” Armed Forces and Society 25, no. 3: 387405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Stuart A. 2004. “Dilemmas of Military Service in Israel: The Religious Dimension.” The Torah u-Madda Journal 12: 123.Google Scholar
Cohen, Stuart A. 2007. “Tensions between Military Service and Jewish Orthodoxy in Israel: Implications Imagined and Real.” Israel Studies 12, no. 1: 103–26.Google Scholar
Cohen, Stuart A. 2013. Divine Service? Judaism and Israel’s Armed Forces. Farnham, UK: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Cohen, Stuart A., Kampinsky, Aaron, and Rosman-Stollman, Elisheva. 2016. “Swimming against the Tide: The Changing Functions and Status of Chaplains in the Israel Defense Forces.” Religion, State and Society 44, no. 1: 110.Google Scholar
Drory, Ze’ev. 2015. “The ‘Religionizing’ of the Israel Defence Force: Its Impact on Military Culture and Professionalism.” Res Militaris: European Journal of Military Studies 5, no. 1: 121.Google Scholar
Feige, Michael. 2009. Settling in the Hearts: Jewish Fundamentalism in the Occupied Territories. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.Google Scholar
Gal, Reuven, and Libel, Tamir, eds. 2012. Between the Yarmulke and the Beret: Religion, Politics and the Military in Israel [in Hebrew]. Tel Aviv: Modan Publishing House.Google Scholar
Gluska, Ami. 2011. “What Turned Ben-Gurion from Hawk into a Dove?” Haaretz, June 3. www.haaretz.com/1.5019113.Google Scholar
Gorenberg, Gershom. 2009. “Settling for Radicalism.” The American Prospect, May 20. https://prospect.org/features/settling-radicalism/.Google Scholar
Harel, Amos. 2009. “IDF Rabbinate Publication during Gaza War: We Will Show No Mercy on the Cruel.” Haaretz, January 26. www.haaretz.com/1.5067403.Google Scholar
Harel, Amos 2011. “Is the IDF Becoming an Orthodox Army?” Haaretz, July 22. www.haaretz.com/1.5032934.Google Scholar
Harel, Amos 2016. “Just One More Battle in War between IDF and Rebel Rabbis.” Haaretz, July 24. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-just-one-more-battle-in-bitter-war-between-idf-and-rebel-rabbis-1.5414506.Google Scholar
Harel, Israel. 2009. “The Struggle between the Chief Education Officer and the Chief Military Rabbi.” [In Hebrew.] Haaretz, January 19. https://news.walla.co.il/item/1426101.Google Scholar
Hassner, Ron E. 2014. “Introduction: Religion in the Military Worldwide – Challenges and Opportunities.” In Religion in the Military Worldwide, edited by Hassner, Ron E., 119. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hermann, Tamar, Be’ery, Gilad, Heller, Ella et al. 2014. The National-Religious Sector in Israel 2014. Jerusalem: The Israel Democracy Institute.Google Scholar
Horowitz, N. 2009. “Halacha, Society and Politics: Service of Male Religious Soldiers in the IDF.” [In Hebrew.] Paper presented at the Symposium-Religion and Gender in the Military. Raanana, Israel. November 11.Google Scholar
Kampinsky, Aaron. 2009. “Support and Reservations: Ben-Gurion’s Attitude towards the Institutionalization of Religion in the IDF.” [In Hebrew.] Iyunim Bitkumat Israel 19: 447–48.Google Scholar
Kampinsky, Aaron 2010. “The Military Rabbinate and Its Dual Loyalty.” [In Hebrew.] In The Beret and the Kippa, edited by Rachimi, Moshe, 309–35. Elkana: Orot College Press.Google Scholar
Kimmerling, Baruch. 1985. “The Reopening of the Frontiers, 1967–1982.” In vol. 3 of Politics and Society in Israel, edited by Krausz, Ernest, 81116. Studies in Israeli Society. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.Google Scholar
Kimmerling, Baruch 1993. “Patterns of Militarism in Israel.” European Journal of Sociology 34, no. 2: 196223.Google Scholar
Krebs, Ronald R. 2005. “One Nation under Arms? Military Participation Policy and the Politics of Identity.” Security Studies 14, no. 3: 529–64.Google Scholar
Krebs, Ronald R. 2006. Fighting for Rights: Military Service and the Politics of Citizenship. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Lebel, Udi. 2013. “Postmodern or Conservative? Competing Security Communities over Military Doctrine: Israeli National-Religious Soldiers as Counter [Strategic] Culture Agents.” Political and Military Sociology: An Annual Review 40: 2357.Google Scholar
Lebel, Udi 2016. “The ‘Immunized Integration’ of Religious-Zionists within Israeli Society: The Pre-military Academy as an Institutional Model.” Social Identities 22, no. 6: 642–60.Google Scholar
Leon, Nissim. 2010. “The Transformation of Israel’s Religious-Zionist Middle Class.” The Journal of Israeli History 29, no. 1: 6178.Google Scholar
Levy, Yagil. 2007. Israel’s Materialist Militarism. Madison, WI: Rowman and Littlefield/Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Levy, Yagil 2008. “Israel’s Violated Republican Equation.” Citizenship Studies 12, no. 3: 249–64.Google Scholar
Levy, Yagil 2015. The Divine Commander: The Theocratization of the Israeli Military [in Hebrew]. Tel Aviv: Am Oved and Sapir Academic College.Google Scholar
Levy, Yagil 2016. “Religious Authorities in the Military and Civilian Control: The Case of the Israeli Defense Forces.” Politics and Society 44, no. 2: 305–32.Google Scholar
Levy, Yagil 2017. “The Gaza Fighting: Did Israel Shift Risk from Its Soldiers to Civilians?Middle East Policy 24, no. 3: 117–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, Yagil 2018. “This Is How Eisenkot Institutionalized the Religionization in the IDF.” [In Hebrew.] Haaretz, January 17. www.haaretz.co.il/magazine/the-edge/.premium-1.5743689.Google Scholar
Levy, Yagil, and Peled, Yoav. 1994. “The Utopian Crisis of the Israeli State.” In vol. 3 of Critical Essays on Israeli Social Issues and Scholarship, edited by Stone, Russell A. and Zenner, Walter P., 201–26. Books on Israel. Albany: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Libel, Tamir, and Gal, Reuven. 2015. “Between Military–Society and Religion–Military Relations: Different Aspects of the Growing Religiosity in the Israeli Defense Forces.” Defense & Security Analysis 31, no. 3: 213–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loveland, Anne C. 2014. Change and Conflict in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps since 1945. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.Google Scholar
Lustick, Ian S. 1993. Unsettled States, Disputed Lands: Britain and Ireland, France and Algeria, Israel and the West Bank-Gaza. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Meltzer, Hanan. 2012. “The IDF as the Military of the Jewish and Democratic State.” [In Hebrew.] Law and Business Journal 14: 347–94.Google Scholar
Newman, David. 2005. “From Hitnachalut to Hitnatkut: The Impact of Gush Emunim and the Settlement Movement on Israeli Politics and Society.” Israel Studies 10, no. 3: 192224.Google Scholar
Ohana, David. 2012. “The Politics of Political Despair: The Case of Political Theology in Israel.” In By the People, For the People, Without the People? The Emergence of (Anti) Political Sentiment in Western Democracies and in Israel, edited by Hermann, Tamar S., 356–78. Jerusalem: The Israel Democracy Institute.Google Scholar
Patterson, Eric. 2014. “Conclusion: Promising Themes, Future Approaches.” In Religion in the Military Worldwide, edited by Hassner, Ron E., 227–40. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Peace Index. 2015. “The Peace Index: October 2015.” www.peaceindex.org/indexMonthEng.aspx?num=298&monthname=October.Google Scholar
Peace Index 2016. “The Peace Index: July 2016.” www.peaceindex.org/indexMonthEng.aspx?num=307&monthname=July.Google Scholar
Ram, Uri. 2008. “Why Secularism Fails? Secular Nationalism and Religious Revivalism in Israel.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 21, no. 1: 5773.Google Scholar
Ravid, Barak. 2015. “Kerry Warns: Escalation in Israeli-Palestinian Violence Illustrates One-State Reality.” Haaretz, October 28. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/kerry-israeli-palestine-escalation-illustrates-one-state-reality-1.5414652.Google Scholar
Ringel-Hoffman, Ariela. 2006. “IDF Chief Rabbi: Not Sure Secular Zionism Exists.” Ynetnews, October 17. www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3316079,00.html.Google Scholar
Røislien, Hanne Eggen. 2013. “Religion and Military Conscription: The Case of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).” Armed Forces and Society 39, no. 2: 213–32.Google Scholar
Rosman-Stollman, Elisheva. 2014. For God and Country? Religious Student-Soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Rotenberg, Hagit. 2010. “Caution, Lawyers behind You.” [In Hebrew.] Arutz Sheva, October 28.Google Scholar
Sadan, Eli. 2008. Call to Religious Zionism [in Hebrew]. Eli: Bnei David.Google Scholar
Sadan, Eli. 2014. “Protective Edge: Carrying the Gates of Gaza to the Sleepers in Hebron – The Action of Unity and the Kingdom of Israel.” [In Hebrew.] July 27. Video, 45:55. https://bit.ly/3jQA5cP.Google Scholar
Shafir, Gershon, and Peled, Yoav. 2002. Being Israeli: The Dynamics of Multiple Citizenship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Yonathan. 1998. “The Secular Politicians and the Status of Religion in the State of Israel.” [In Hebrew.] In Multiculturalism in a Democratic and Jewish State, edited by Mautner, M., Sagi, A., and Shamir, R., 663–74. Tel Aviv: Ramot.Google Scholar
Sharon, Jeremy. 2014. “Religious Overtones in Letter from IDF Commanders to His Soldiers Draws Criticism, Support.” The Jerusalem Post, July 14. www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Religious-overtones-in-letter-from-IDF-commander-to-his-soldiers-draws-criticism-support-362673.Google Scholar
Sheleg, Yair. 2004. The Political and Social Ramifications of Evacuating Settlements in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip [in Hebrew]. Jerusalem: The Israel Democracy Institute.Google Scholar
Sorek, Yoav. 2006. “Building Jewish Identity.” [In Hebrew.] Makor Rishon Dyokan Magazine, October 13.Google Scholar
State Comptroller. 2011. Report No. 62 [in Hebrew]. Jerusalem: The State Comptroller of Israel.Google Scholar
Warhaftig, Zerach. 1988. A Constitution for Israel: Religion and State [in Hebrew]. Jerusalem: Mesilot.Google Scholar
Yadgar, Yaacov. 2012. “The Need for an Epistemological Turn.” Israel Studies Review 27, no. 1: 2730.Google Scholar
Yeshiva Ateret Yerushalayim. n.d. “The Mechina’s Mission.” www.ateret.org.il/english/mechina/goals.asp.Google Scholar
Zanany, Omer. 2015. The Annapolis Process: Negotiations and Its Discontents. Tel Aviv: The Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research and Molad.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×