Post-Religious-Zionism: Alternative Ideas of Jewish Statism in the Writings of Moshe Koppel

Abstract

Abstract: This article discusses the rise of the Israeli conservative movement, and examines the dominance of religious-Zionists within the movement. The article focuses on the ideology of Moshe Koppel, the chair of the Kohelet Policy Forum and a dominant figure in the conservative movement. Through an analysis of Koppel's political writings, this article presents Koppel's unique worldview, and demonstrates how it is a critique of the secular-Zionist hegemony, and also of the "classical" religious-Zionist worldview. The article argues that Koppel's ideology appeals to religious-Zionists, who have undergone a political crisis as a result of their failure to convince the general Israeli public to oppose the evacuation of Gaza settlements in 2005. Koppel's worldview addresses the need for religious-Zionists to justify their commitment to Jewish settlement in the Occupied Palestinian territories in a way that will appeal tonon-Orthodox Jews as well. This is a key factor in the Israeli right's conscious attempt to achieve political hegemony in Israel.