Messianic Religious Zionism Confronts Israeli Territorial Compromises [Paperback]

The book discusses the ways in which the rabbinical elite of the Israeli West Bank settlers responded to Israeli territorial compromises.The book discusses the ways in which the rabbinical elite of the Israeli West Bank settlers responded to Israeli territorial compromises. The withdrawals challenged their messianic expectations and were perceived as a setback in the path towards the coming of the Messiah. This book explains their profound disillusionment with the behavior of the state, reflected in an increase in religious radicalization due to the need to cope with the feelings of religious and messianic failure. The research also compares the American Christian Evangelical response to Israeli territorial compromises.The book discusses the ways in which the rabbinical elite of the Israeli West Bank settlers responded to Israeli territorial compromises. The withdrawals challenged their messianic expectations and were perceived as a setback in the path towards the coming of the Messiah. This book explains their profound disillusionment with the behavior of the state, reflected in an increase in religious radicalization due to the need to cope with the feelings of religious and messianic failure. The research also compares the American Christian Evangelical response to Israeli territorial compromises.The Six Day War in 1967 profoundly influenced how an increasing number of religious Zionists saw Israeli victory as the manifestation of God's desire to redeem God's people. Thousands of religious Israelis joined the Gush Emunim movement in 1974 to create settlements in territories occupied in the war. However, over time, the Israeli government decided to return territory to Palestinian or Arab control. This was perceived among religious Zionist circles as a violation of God's order. The peak of this process came with the Disengagement Plan in 2005, in which Israel demolished all the settlements in the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank. This process raisedlóx