They shoot prime ministers too, don't they? Religious violence in Israel: Premises, dynamics, and prospects

Abstract

The assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin struck Israelis with shock and horror. The realization that their leader has been gunned down in the heart of Tel Aviv by a Jewish zealot was overwhelming. The vexing question, “How could such an atrocity occur in the seeming bastion of democracy in the Middle East?” left Israelis bewildered and disillusioned. This paper attempts to answer this question by indicating the conditions and circumstances that enabled the assassination. It presents a counterculture of messianism at the core of religious Zionism, which has matured into a formidable force waiting to erupt. Drawing on insights from studies of political violence in general and religiously motivated violence in particular, the paper concludes that a violence tendency tandem (VTT) fosters and encourages religious violence in Israel, from the vigilante activities of the settlers’ Gush Emunim to the assassination of Rabin.