Sanctity of the Land and Sanctity of the State: An Analysis of Religious Zionism and Settlement

Abstract

Settlement activities have always been one of the goals of Zionism. For the past 40 years, religious Zionists have been the driving force behind the Israeli settlement project, and the Bloc of the Faithful is its main activist organization. They see territorial identity as a core principle, and settlement in the land of Israel as a messianic activity, a further stage of redemption. The withdrawal of the Sinai settlements and Gaza settlements created a clash between religious Zionism and state policy, and it was assumed that the result would be a violent, bloody confrontation. But despite turmoil and resistance, in the end, most religious Zionists acted with restraint, and the sanctity of the state transcends the sanctity of the land.