The Religionization of Israeli Society (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics)

During Israel's military operation in Gaza in the summer of 2014 the commanding officer of the Givati infantry brigade, Col. Ofer Vinter, called on his troops to fight "the terrorists who defame the God of Israel." This unprecedented call for religious war by a senior IDF commander caused an uproar, but it was just one symptom of a profound process of religionization, or de-secularization, that Israeli society has been going through since the turn of the twenty-first century. This book analyses and explains the reasons for the religionization of Israeli society, a process known in Hebrew as hadata. It argues that this process had its origins in the 1967 war, has been accelerating since 2000, and is manifested in a number of key social fields. It further argues that Jewish religion, inseparable from Jewish nationality, was embedded in Zionism from its inception at the end of the 19th Century but was subdued to a certain extent in favour of the national aspect in the interest of building a modern nation-state. In addition to discussing religionization in the military, the educational system, and the media of mass communications, the book includes a major chapter on the religionization of the Israeli visual fine arts field, a topic that has not been researched before now. Through careful examination of religionization, this book sheds light on a major development in Israeli society, which will additionally inform our understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As such, it is a key resource for students and scholars of Israel Studies, and those interested the relations between religion, politics and nationalism, secularization and new social movements.

• | Author: Yoav Peled, Horit Herman Peled
• | Publisher: Routledge
• | Publication Date: Aug 02, 2018
• | Number of Pages: 238 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover
• | ISBN-10: 1138954799
• | ISBN-13: 9781138954793