Rabbis: How Do They Control Israel's Fate?

By Muhammad Shaaban Ayoub

In March 2024, Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, head of the Shirat Moshe religious school in Jaffa, called for "the killing of all residents of Gaza, including women and children," considering it a response to the teachings of Jewish law. He also considered the war on Gaza "religious," demanding that no one be left alive in the Strip.

This fatwa, which Eliyahu considered consistent with Jewish law, and other fatwas shed light on the history of rabbis and the rabbinate institution in Israel, and how, over the course of more than 100 years, they have formed an extreme right-wing movement that has, over time, become a real force controlling Israel from behind the scenes!

How has the rabbinate exploited secular Zionist movements to achieve its goals? How did it emerge? What are the most prominent events of this religious Zionist movement in Israel's past and present?

Religious Zionism Exploits Secular Zionism!

During the second half of the nineteenth century, amidst the rise of movements seeking to persecute Jews on the European continent, a group of Jewish religious leaders known as "rabbis" emerged to establish intellectual movements aimed at inspiring Jews in Europe to envision a new future by seeking a safe haven.

These efforts extended over decades well beyond the mid-twentieth century, marking a turning point in the collective thinking of European Jews.

In this context, individual visions crystallized from prominent thinkers and rabbis, led by Zvi Hirsch Kalischer, Yehuda Alkalai, and Moshe Hess. With the contributions of these and others, they laid the foundations for projects that reshaped the concept of Jewish identity in the face of the existential challenges facing them in Europe. Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer (1795-1874), a German Orthodox Jew, is considered a pioneer of thought, predating the founder of political Zionism, Theodor Herzl, with his bold ideas. He presented a deeply rooted religious vision calling for Jewish settlement in Palestine, emphasizing that immigration to this land was not merely a practical option, but a spiritual duty that carried within it a divine mission. It is noteworthy that Kalischer adopted a syncretic vision that brought together the religious foundations and practical principles of the secular Zionist movement. This prompted him to join it, along with a group of religious Jews, such as Rabbi Moshe Hess and a number of pioneers of the "Lovers of Zion" movement, founded in 1881 in Tsarist Russia. These leaders were influenced by the millennium doctrine, which believes in the coming of the Messiah, the Savior, and his rule over the earth for a thousand years. At the same time, they refused to be content with passively awaiting the fulfillment of this prophecy. Instead, they proposed a revolutionary vision based on the establishment of a political entity in Palestine, which, as they envisioned it, would pave the way for the fulfillment of the divine promise through the power of the army and the state. This was an intellectual shift that changed the course of traditional Jewish thought.

In the context of the development of these ideas, 1898 witnessed the convening of a prominent Zionist conference in Russia, attended by 14 rabbis among the 140 delegates. Rabbi Isaac Jacob Reines united them under the umbrella of the "Mizrahi" bloc, which formed the nucleus of the first political party expressing religious Zionism.

This party called for active action to achieve Jewish sovereignty and establish "Israel" without being bound by the expectation of a Messiah, in stark contrast to the Orthodox Haredi vision, which linked the establishment of the state to a divine event coinciding with the end of history.

Thus, in Eastern Europe during the nineteenth century, where the ultra-Orthodox Jewish tradition dominated, linking the return to the "Promised Land" with the coming of the Messiah, religious Zionism emerged as an innovative, centrist movement seeking to reconcile religious faith and Zionist ambition. This movement, based on the concepts of the "Chosen People" and the "Promised Land," gained momentum among the "New Orthodox," driven by the vision of rabbis like Abraham Kook, considered the spiritual father of religious Zionism, who linked settlement in Palestine to repentance and divine salvation. The rabbis of religious Zionism, led by Kook (1865–1935), led intellectual efforts to stimulate Jewish immigration to Palestine, emphasizing that a Zionist could be religious, and a religious person a Zionist, without Zionism being purely religious in nature. Contrary to the traditional Jewish view that awaits divine intervention, Kook championed the idea that secularists are divine instruments for fulfilling the divine promise, even if they are unaware of it. This contributed to five major waves of immigration to Palestine before the establishment of "Israel."

Religious Zionism in the Shadow of the State of Israel

Following the establishment of Israel, religious Zionism strengthened its influence by penetrating official and popular institutions, such as the Chief Rabbinate, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the army. Every city or settlement had its own rabbi, and the military had its own.

Despite the initial reluctance of religious Jews to serve in the military for religious reasons, the 1965 settlement, supported by a religious edict by Rabbi Zvi Kook, which made military service a religious obligation, led to the integration of Torah study with military training in private schools, paving the way for religious Jews to integrate into the social and military fabric of the state. The 1967 war—which resulted in the occupation of Jerusalem, Hebron, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and Sinai—marked a major turning point. Rabbi Zvi Kook, son of Rabbi Abraham Kook, viewed it as a divine victory that reinforced the religious value of the Holy Land. This vision led to the strengthening of settlements in the occupied territories.

Through this intellectual and historical development, religious Zionism, led by Abraham and Zvi Kook, was able to exploit secular Zionism as a tool to achieve religious goals, while strengthening its presence in military colleges and settlements. However, Israel's defeat in 1973 revealed new challenges.

The role of religious Zionism escalated with the founding of the Gush Emunim movement in 1974. In its founding document, it declared its commitment to "the salvation of the people of Israel and the world," becoming a primary driver of religious Zionism, transcending traditional Jewish trends. It strengthened its insistence on establishing settlements as a pillar for achieving the vision of religious Zionism, declaring in its founding document its commitment to "the salvation of the people of Israel and the world," becoming a primary driver of religious Zionism, transcending traditional Jewish trends. This movement led the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza with the support of prominent political figures such as Ariel Sharon. The movement gained the support of the Likud government after 1977, enabling it to establish settlements close to Palestinian communities.

However, as Gush Emunim's momentum declined in the 1980s, other settlement groups emerged, such as Elad and Lehava, which continued to Judaize Jerusalem and the West Bank, based on a religious-nationalist ideology that viewed settlement as a fulfillment of the biblical promise. However, the role of the rabbinate in the military and settlement spheres has become prominent. In 1948, Shlomo Goren established the "Military Rabbinate" as an institution that justified military operations against the Palestinians on religious grounds. Meanwhile, Mercaz HaRav, founded by Abraham Kook in 1924 and later run by his son, Zvi, is considered a stronghold of religious Zionism, fueling the settlement movement in the West Bank after 1967.

Growing Influence

In his article "Rabbinishing Authority in Israel and the Abyss of Holy War," British author Jonathan Kook argues that David Ben-Gurion granted Orthodox Jewish rabbis broad authority over personal status and the public sphere, strengthening their role in mobilizing youth through religious military schools supervised by the army to revive religious fervor. Indeed, religious schools (yishivot) play a crucial role in disseminating Talmudic values, influencing the Israeli social and political fabric through their graduates. He also demonstrates the educational role of these institutions and their impact on the political, military, and settlement spheres. The Sanhedrin movement is considered one of the most dangerous movements sponsored by the rabbinates in Israel, because it serves as the authority for Temple organizations and because of its calls for and public support for Jewish incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The movement issued a judicial ruling in 2003 permitting these incursions, paving the way for its expansion from an individual movement to a collective one by 2006, leading to the performance of public rituals in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

As author Maha Shahwan argues in her study "Rabbis, Kingmakers in Israel," if we want to understand how religious Zionism infiltrates and the role of rabbis as a dominant and entrenched force in Israel today, we can see it through its control of politics, the media, the judicial, and security institutions.

According to the author, this influence reflects a major shift in the orientation of religious Zionism, shifting from a focus on religious law to nationalism and the practice of politics. This is evident in prominent figures such as Naftali Bennett previously, and today with Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and others like them. As Saleh al-Naami points out in an article for Al Jazeera Net, in the military sphere, adherents of Religious Zionism command elite units such as Sayeret Matkal and Egoz, and constitute a significant percentage of combat unit and Shin Bet officers, representing 60% of Shin Bet officers and 40% of combat units.

This influence undoubtedly reflects the power of the rabbis, their roles, and their fatwas, which sometimes override government decisions. A study by Israel's Bar-Ilan University revealed that 90% of religious recruits prefer to obey the rabbis and give them precedence if they conflict with government policy.

For this reason, Israel is witnessing a significant rise in the influence of Religious Zionism, which has become the backbone of coalition governments, exploiting political divisions to strengthen its dominance over security, economic, and legislative decisions. Therefore, religious parties such as Shas and United Torah Judaism strongly influence the formation of governments and elections through rabbinic edicts, as happened when Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Steinman ordered the ultra-Orthodox parties to boycott Benjamin Netanyahu's government in 2014, leading to its collapse. Remarkably, these parties have the ability to impose significant financial and political demands, including funding for religious schools and social institutions, enabling them to bring down governments if their demands are not met, as happened with Ehud Barak's government in 1999 when Shas withdrew due to disagreements over powers and financial support.

This influence reflects the transformation of religious Zionism into a central political force, capable of influencing the stability of governments and directing Israeli policies.

The most prominent example of this is Netanyahu's current alliance with Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, two pillars of the religious Zionist movement and followers of rabbis in Israel. Their continued pressure to displace and reoccupy Gaza, in the process leading to one of Israel's longest-running wars on the Strip, which has lasted more than a year and a half.

The repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, the accelerated arming of Israelis under Ben-Gvir's auspices in settlement areas in the West Bank, and their public discourse, especially that of Smotrich, about Israel's greater dreams of making Damascus part of Jerusalem, the necessity of annexing Jordan to Israel, and the imminent construction of the Temple on the ruins of Al-Aqsa Mosque, as he explicitly declared in a television interview with Israel's Channel 2. For all these reasons, rabbinic authorities in Israel, such as the Chief Rabbinate, established by Isaac Kook in 1921 under the British Mandate, constitute a dominant spiritual and legal force. They issue religious edicts (halakha) and define Jewish identity according to the Orthodox Jewish vision.

Israeli personal status law has adopted the rabbinic vision; for example, it refuses to recognize the Jewishness of those who convert outside the framework of Orthodox Judaism through civil conversions, as is the case in other countries. Recognition by the Chief Rabbinate is required first.

Deadly Fatwas!

For this reason, rabbinic edicts in Israel are gaining increasing influence, transcending the spiritual framework to influence political and military decisions, relying on inflammatory rhetoric that justifies violence against Palestinians. These edicts are often based on biblical or religious texts and enjoy legal protection that prevents them from being considered incitement, thus strengthening the rabbis' influence in decision-making. An investigation published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on December 19, 2015, indicates American support for rabbinic institutions calling for the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the killing of Arabs. This support is provided by tax exemptions to American Jewish organizations that fund these activities.

The rabbis' influence is centered on their control over religious and educational institutions financially supported by the Israeli government, along with the generous salaries they receive. Through these means, their fatwas (religious edicts) are widely disseminated among Israeli public opinion.

The rabbis' growing influence undoubtedly reflects the transformation of religious Zionism into a major political and social force, as rabbis exploit their role in mobilizing society and justifying the policies of the occupation. Remarkably, the previous investigation published in Haaretz also reveals the connection of these fatwas to schools such as the Rabbi Ginzenberg School, which incites violence. This profound influence is evident in the transformation of fatwas from individual directives into systematic actions that support extremism. In the 2009 book "The King's Doctrine," by Rabbis Yitzhak Shapira and Yossi Elitzur, we see the justification for the killing of "gentiles," including children, under the pretext of protecting Jews. The book asserts that such actions are not subject to state authority. These fatwas, which are disseminated through religious schools in West Bank settlements, have fueled extremist Israeli groups such as the "Hilltop Youth," who carry out organized attacks against Palestinians. Their influence is also evident in other organizations such as Lehava and Elad.

Rabbinical edicts have contributed to the intensification of raids on Al-Aqsa since the Sanhedrin decided to issue this order in 2003, paving the way for public Talmudic prayers by 2006, supported by groups such as the Temple Mount Faithful, which seek to impose Jewish sovereignty over the site.

This shift, described by Haaretz as having an impact on the mechanisms and systems of extremism, reflects the growing role of rabbis in mobilizing religious youth through institutions such as the Od Yossi Vehai seminary in Yitzhar, a hub for highly extremist Israeli organizations.

The extremist positions of many rabbis have been evident in the Gaza War since October 2023, such as the call by Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, head of the Shirat Moshe yeshiva in Jaffa, to kill all residents of Gaza, as we saw. Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu issued a fatwa permitting the killing of women and children in Gaza, arguing that "Jewish law and morality do not prohibit it," as part of what he described as "the extermination of the enemy." Source: Al Jazeera