The internal relationship between Judaism and Zionism has long been one of the most contentious issues in modern Jewish history. Alongside a strong current within Judaism that accepts Zionism as a legitimate – or even necessary – framework for Jewish political existence, a religious critique of this project has also been developing since the late nineteenth century. Religious anti-Zionism thus represents a distinct current within Judaism that rejects Zionism not from universalist or secular positions, but on the basis of a theological interpretation of Jewish tradition. Although this trend lacks mass support today, it plays a symbolically significant role in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The author of this text has long focused on the relationship between religion and politics in the Middle East. In both his academic and fieldwork research, he has repeatedly addressed the issue of Jewish religious anti-Zionism and has met representatives of anti-Zionist communities both in Israel and in the diaspora. The aim of this text is to briefly present the main theological and historical roots of religious anti-Zionism, place them within the broader context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and point to the transformations of these currents in the contemporary period.
Religious anti-Zionism in the Jewish milieu arises from a fundamental tension between the traditional theology of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Judaism and the modern project of Jewish nationalism – Zionism. The latter emerged only at the end of the nineteenth century in the context of the Jewish Enlightenment and was strongly influenced by secular thinkers and political activists, most notably Theodor Herzl. For many Jews of that time, shaped by modernity and Enlightenment thinking, Zionism primarily represented a political tool for protection against the rising tide of European antisemitism, while their relationship to traditional religion was often rather marginal. It was precisely this secular and nationalist character of Zionism, however, that a segment of religious Jews regarded as deeply problematic. Prominent rabbis within the Haredi community criticized it as a form of heresy which, in their view, replaced God with a “religion of nationalism” and violated the religious prohibition against striving to restore Jewish statehood before the coming of the Messiah. From these positions, a distinct doctrine of political theology gradually developed, rejecting any human attempts to end the Jewish exile and emphasizing that the establishment of a Jewish state can occur only through divine intervention, not human political activity.
Over the course of the twentieth century, however, the stance of part of the Haredi community – especially those living in the territory of today’s Israel – gradually evolved. Although these believers continued formally to distance themselves from Zionism, after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, they began to make pragmatic use of its existence: they participated in elections, accepted state support, and gradually integrated into the political system. It was precisely in opposition to these pragmatic tendencies that the Neturei Karta group defined itself as early as 1938, a decade before the founding of Israel, maintaining a consistently theological and uncompromising resistance to the Zionist movement and later to Israel itself. Its supporters were drawn from both non-Hasidic Haredi circles and Hasidic communities, especially from the Satmar yeshiva milieu. Although radical anti-Zionists today constitute only a minority within the Haredi community, their public activism ensures them relatively significant media and social visibility. At the same time, it should be noted that not all anti-Zionist Haredim identify with the Neturei Karta movement.
Radical anti-Zionists view Zionism – and subsequently the very founding of the State of Israel – as a grave religious transgression which, according to their interpretation, brought divine punishment upon the Jewish people, including the Holocaust and other modern forms of antisemitism or political violence. For this reason, they reject any cooperation with the Israeli state: they do not participate in elections, do not accept state financial support, and some of them, especially in the diaspora, even refuse to enter Israeli territory. At the same time, anti-Zionist Haredim categorically reject violence and often express conciliatory attitudes toward Palestinians. The Neturei Karta organization has repeatedly established contacts with Palestinian political representatives; in the 1990s, one of its prominent members, Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, was even informally appointed by Yasser Arafat to the role of “minister for Jewish affairs.” Some members of the movement have also taken part in highly controversial international events, such as the conference on the “review of the global vision of the Holocaust” held in Tehran in 2006.
Religious anti-Zionism remains a living phenomenon within Haredi Judaism and in recent years has become markedly more visible in connection with global protests against the war in Gaza that followed the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023. Although radical anti-Zionist currents remain relatively marginal in terms of numbers within the Jewish world, their symbolic importance and media visibility far exceed their actual size. Religious anti-Zionism thus continues to represent an important – albeit often misunderstood – phenomenon at the intersection of theology, politics, and contemporary forms of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Image credit: Marek Čejka
