From the start of political Zionism in the
1890s, Haredi leaders voiced objection to
its secular orientation, and before the establishment
of the State of Israel, the vast majority
of Haredi Jews were opposed to Zionism.
This was chiefly due to the concern that secular
nationalism would replace the Jewish faith
and the observance of religion, and the view
that it was forbidden for the Jews to re-constitute
Jewish rule in the Land of Israel before the
arrival of the Messiah.
Those rabbis who did support Jewish settlement
in Palestine in the late 19th century had
no intention of conquering Palestine from
the Ottoman Turks, and some preferred that
only observant Jews be allowed to settle there.During
the 1930s, some European Haredi leaders encouraged
their followers not to leave for Palestine
where the Zionists were gaining influence.
When the dangers facing European Jewry became
clear, the Haredi Agudath Israel organization
decided to cooperate to an extent with Zionist
leaders in order to allow religious Jews the
possibility of seeking refuge in Palestine.
Some Agudah members in Palestine preferred
to form an alliance with Arab nationalists
against the Zionist movement, but this never
occurred.
Around 80% of European Haredim perished in
the Holocaust.
A study in late 2006 claimed that just over
a third of Israelis considered Haredim the
most hated group in Israel.
According to a 2016 Pew survey, 33% of Israeli
Haredim say that the term Zionist describes
them accurately.After the creation of the
state, each individual movement within Orthodox
Judaism charted its own path in their approach
to the State of Israel.
== History ==
=== Early opposition to Zionism ===
In the hope of winning over the Hasidic masses
to the Zionist Organization, Theodor Herzl
endeavoured to garner support from one of
the most prominent rabbis in the Austro-Hungarian
empire, David Moshe Friedman (d.
1903), the Rebbe of Chortkov.
He maintained contact with him for over three
years, during which time he tried to convene
a conference of rabbis to promote Zionism;
however, nothing ever materialized.
Friedman had been a long-time supporter of
efforts to settle Jews in Palestine on strict
conditions that they adhered to Jewish law.
He had in fact been an early member of Ahavath
Zion, a Zionist organization specifically
established in 1897 to inform religious Galician
Jews about the plan for a Jewish national
home.
Although Ahavath Zion was successful in attracting
thousands of members and numerous rabbis from
smaller communities, it could not stem the
rising anti-Zionist sentiment among the majority
of Orthodox leaders.
Besides for Friedman, they simply could not
persuade any of the other great Hasidic leaders
to support the Zionist project.
The Hasidim in particular were vociferous
in their opposition and often protested against
the Zionists.
They even went as far as banning the Star
of David, originally a religious symbol appearing
only in the synagogue, which had now become
"defiled" by the Zionists.In 1889, Rabbi Joseph
Dov Soloveichik had proclaimed early Zionist
initiatives as resembling the 17th-century
false messianic sect headed by Sabbatai Zevi.
His son Rabbi Hayyim Soloveichik further warned:
"The people of Israel should take care not
to join a venture that threatens their souls,
to destroy religion, and is a stumbling block
to the House of Israel."
When the Zionists in Brisk claimed that Zionism
would stem the tide of Jewish assimilation,
Soloveichik felt that what mattered most for
Judaism was the quality, not the quantity.Powerful
condemnations of political Zionism continued
into the twentieth century.
In 1903, Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn of
Lubavitch published Kuntres Uma'ayan, which
contained a strong polemic against Zionism.
He opposed the Religious Zionist movement,
and was deeply concerned that secular nationalism
would replace Judaism as the foundation of
Jewish identity.
Rabbi Baruch Halberstam (d.
1906) took a leading role in opposing Zionism,
in line with the position held by his father,
Hayyim Halberstam of Sanz.In 1912, Haredi
leaders in Europe founded the Agudath Israel
organisation which hoped to find a "solution
to all the problems facing the Jewish people
in the Spirit of the Torah."
From the outset, the Agudah vehemently opposed
the Zionist movement for replacing the historic
religious bond to the land of Israel with
secular nationalism.
Israel Meir Kagan stated that the fate of
the Jewish nation was to remain in exile until
the arrival of the Messiah.
But with the spread of anti-Semitism in Europe,
some Orthodox leaders became more favourable
towards the aims of Zionism.
Rabbi Isaac Breuer implored Agudah members
in 1934 "not to leave Jewish history to the
Zionists", hoping that religious Jews would
assist in establishing a Jewish homeland.
Others remained staunchly opposed, chief among
them the rabbi of Munkács, Chaim Elazar Spira
(d.
1937), who was the fiercest opponent of Zionism
among Hasidic rabbis.
Spira saw Zionism as a denial of the Divine
Redemption and faith in the Messiah.
He even objected to Agudath Israel because
of its support for immigration to Palestine.
In 1936, he initiated a publication against
the Zionist enterprise which was endorsed
by 150 rabbis.
During the wartime period, Rabbi Elchonon
Wasserman (1875–1941) of Baranowicze wrote
a pamphlet in which he blamed the Zionists
for the persecution of Jews in Europe.
He rejected the notion that a secular Jewish
state could be considered the "advent of Redemption."
The goal of Zionism was to uproot religion
and Jewish tradition.
At the 1937 Agudath Israel Great Assembly
in Marienbad, most discussions were devoted
to the question of the Jewish State and the
Nazi rise to power in Germany, and increasing
anti-Semitism in Poland and Lithuania.
Palestine beaconed as a refuge for the religious
European masses whose situation was gradually
worsening.
While the majority of attendees rejected on
principle and practical grounds the establishment
of a secular Jewish State, a minority, influenced
by the dire situation, were in favour.
=== Concern in Palestine ===
Within Palestine itself, the Old Yishuv was
alarmed by the influx of non-religious Jews
who wished to establish a secular state in
the Holy Land.
The chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi community
in Jerusalem, Rabbi Joseph Hayyim Sonnenfeld,
often referred to the Zionists as "evil men
and ruffians" and claimed that "Hell had entered
the Land of Israel with Herzl."
Sonnenfeld did not want the Orthodox Jewish
community to become subject to secular Zionist
authority.
The spokesman for the anti-Zionist Ashkenazi
community in Jerusalem, Dr Jacob Israël de
Haan, endeavoured to form an alliance with
the Arab nationalist leadership and hoped
to reach an agreement that would allow unrestricted
Jewish settlement in Arab lands in return
for the relinquishment of Jewish political
aspirations.
In June 1924, de Haan was assassinated by
the Haganah after having conveyed his proposals
to King Hussein and his sons, Faisal and Abdullah.The
1929 Palestine riots and the Nazi rise to
power led to a crisis within the anti-Zionist
Agudah camp.
Some still hoped for a Jewish-Arab alliance
against the Zionists, while others, such as
Yitzhak-Meir Levin and Jacob Rosenheim faced
a difficult dilemma.
They felt that such an alliance would not
be accepted by the masses of Haredi European
Jews, yet they did not wish to cooperate with
the Zionists.
Moshe Blau, another Agudah member, contended
that, "No matter how much the Haredi hates
the non-religious, heretical, apostate Zionists,
he hates the despicable Arab a hundred times
over."
The brutal murder by Arabs of dozens of Haredi
Jews in Hebron and Safed put an end to the
possibility of negotiation with the Arabs.
In 1937, the Central Committee of Agudath
Israel in the Land of Israel issued a declaration
claiming that independent Jewish rule would
pose a danger to Orthodox Jewry.
It stated:
Agudath Israel in the Land of Israel rejects
outright any attempt at despoiling the Land
of Israel of its sanctity and considers the
proposal to establish a secular Jewish state
in Palestine as a hazard to the lofty role
of the Jewish People as a holy nation.
Agudath Israel in the Land of Israel declares
that Orthodox Jewry could only agree to a
Jewish state in all the Land of Israel if
it were possible for the basic constitution
of this state to guarantee Torah rule in the
overall public and national life.
The Agudah in Europe grudgingly began to cooperate
with the Jewish Agency and other Zionist bodies
in an effort to alleviate the situation facing
European Jews.
In response to this, Amram Blau and Aharon
Katzenellenbogen of Jerusalem broke away from
Agudah in 1938 to form Neturei Karta who refused
to have any dealing with the Zionists.
During the 1940s the Neturei Karta became
increasingly critical of the Agudah's position
and in 1945 they succeeded in expelling Agudah
members from the Edah HaChareidis.
In 1947, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Yosef Tzvi
Dushinsky petitioned the UN on behalf of his
60,000 strong community that Jerusalem not
be included in the Jewish state and pleaded
that the city be placed under international
control.
=== Aftermath of the Holocaust ===
Before and during the Second World War, Haredi
opposition to the Zionists persisted.
But after the war, the devastating consequences
of the Holocaust softened the position of
many towards Zionism.
The ultra-orthodox in Eastern Europe had perished
in vast numbers; whole communities had been
wiped out.
One rabbi, Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal, hiding
in Budapest in 1942 and witnessing the persecution
of the Jews, renounced his previous hostility
to the Zionist movement, and instead strongly
criticized the Orthodox establishment for
not taking the lead in re-establishing the
Jewish homeland.
After World War II, many Jewish refugees found
themselves in Displaced person camps.
The Zionists controlled a camp for Jewish
refugee children near Haifa, Israel where
they operated an anti-religious policy in
an effort to cut off Haredi children from
their spiritual roots.
To a large extent they were successful, and
many children from Haredi homes were "poisoned
against religion".
== Post-1948 ==
The relationship between Haredim and Zionism
became more complex after the founding of
the State of Israel in 1948.
Some Haredi groups adopted a pragmatic position,
and involved themselves in the political process
of the state by voting in elections and accepting
state funding.
Others have maintained a more hardline rejectionist
position, refusing all funding from the Israeli
state and abstaining from taking part in the
political process.
The positions of specific Haredi groups are
discussed in greater detail in the remainder
of the article.
There is also a growing group of Orthodox
Jews known as Hardalim.
They are Religious Zionists who moved in their
religious observances towards Haredi Judaism.
Philosophically, however, they form a part
of the Religious Zionist world, and not of
the Haredi world.
United Torah Judaism and Shas, which advocate
for a halachic state, are the only two Haredi
parties in the Israeli Knesset.
In addition, even the anti-Zionist Satmar
Hasidim do take part in municipal elections
in some places, such as the Haredi stronghold
of Bnei Brak.
Notably, there is a substantial difference
in the positions taken by Ashkenazi and Sephardi
Haredim, the latter generally being quite
supportive of Zionism.
== Ideological reasons ==
There are many different ideological reasons
for religious opposition to Zionism; however,
the main two are most widely expressed by
Hasidim and Lithuanian Haredim.The overarching
motive behind Haredim's opposition to Zionism
stems from a historical animosity and rivalry
between orthodox observant Jews and secular
progressive forces throughout Jewish Exile
history.
Many Haredim see Zionism as another battle
against forces within who are out to redefine
and eradicate traditional Judaism.
However, there is also an Halachic standpoint
which makes the case against Zionism even
if Israel would - hypothetically - have been
a theocracy, where Israel would have been
governed under strict Jewish laws.
Historically, many dynasties in Hasidism have
expressed anti-Zionist opinions because of
the "Three Oaths".
The Talmud, in Ketubot 111a, mentions that
the Jewish people have been bound by three
oaths: 1) not to ascend to Eretz Yisrael (the
Land of Israel) as a group using force; 2)
not to rebel against the nations of the world;
and 3) that the nations of the world would
not persecute the nation of Israel excessively.
Some consider the establishment of the State
of Israel to be a violation of these oaths.
The first Haredi anti-Zionist movement was
Agudath Israel, established in Poland in 1912.
Haredi groups and people actively and publicly
opposing Zionism are Satmar, Toldos Aharon,
Neturei Karta.Lithuanian Haredim, sometimes
called mitnagdim, take a different approach
to their beliefs from their Hassidic counterparts.
Lithuanian religious Jews oppose the state
not because of the three oaths midrash but
because they feel that Zionism epitomizes
secularity and Jewish desire to be void of
Torah.
Many Lithuanian religious Jews, such as Rabbi
Yosef Sholom Elyashiv, have been involved
with Zionist politics as Israel progressively
becomes more Jewish-oriented.Amongst the Ashkenazi
Orthodox rabbinical leadership, religious
Zionists form a minority.
Generally speaking, most Sephardi Haredi authorities
have never shared the anti-Zionism of their
Ashkenazi counterparts, and some (such as
the late Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu) are strongly
affiliated with Religious Zionism, taking
a similar stance to the Hardal movements..
However, there are anti-Zionist elements in
the Sefardic communities as well.
It is known that the late Baba Sali supported
and celebrated the anti-Zionist views of the
Satmar Rebbe.
== Current positions of Haredi groups ==
=== 
Groups which do not recognize Israel ===
There are a number of Haredi groups which
not only oppose Zionism, but also do not recognize
the State of Israel.
Among them are the Hasidic sects of Shomer
Emunim (and its offshoots, Toldos Aharon,
and Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok), Mishkenos HoRoim,
and Dushinsky.
In July 1947, Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky,
Chief Rabbi of the Jerusalem-based Edah HaChareidis,
declared to the United Nations his "definite
opposition to a Jewish state in any part of
Palestine".
The largest anti-Zionist Hasidic group is
Satmar, which has around 130,000 adherents
worldwide.
The group’s position was crystallized by
their charismatic leader, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum,
who authored comprehensive and polemic tracts
detailing his opposition to Zionism.
He encouraged his followers who lived in the
"Holy Land" to form self-sufficient communities,
rejecting social state benefits, and not to
vote in general elections.
Anxious not to be viewed as supportive of
the actions of the secular Israeli government,
which he viewed as an abomination, he instructed
his people not to visit the Western Wall and
other holy sites which had been captured by
Israel in the 1967 war.
One of the most extreme sects is the Neturei
Karta.
Formed in 1938 as a breakaway from Agudath
Israel, its 5,000 members are based mainly
in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh.
A faction within the group openly supports
the PLO and Hamas, and calls for the "peaceful
dismantling of the Zionist entity".
=== Groups opposing secular Zionism, but recognizing
Israel ===
The Agudat Israel is an international organization
(with an Israeli association) of various Haredi
groups, mainly from the Lithuanian yeshiva
communities and Hasidic groups such as Ger
and Belz.
It initially adopted a stance of disregard
for the State of Israel, motivated by pragmatism.
They attempted to influence the politics of
the State of Israel from within, by participating
in national elections and sending their representatives
to the Israeli Knesset, but still did not
take full part in it by not serving in its
military, and not celebrating any of the State's
official holidays.
Today, the organization has shifted over time
to somewhat supportive of the state, although
not officially recognizing itself as a pro-Zionist
party.
An example of this is the revolutionary Hesder
legions in the IDF, which is a unit that combines
religious studies and national service, designed
specially for Haredi Jews.
The Agudat Israel party in the Knesset is
represented as United Torah Judaism, a collective
party of Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah.
It tries to influence the Knesset with a pro-Judaism
outlook, by mainly focusing on funding for
Jewish education (yeshivas), exemption from
military service for Haredi yeshiva students,
and trying to strengthen Israel's Jewish identity.
==== Lithuanian stream ====
A number of Lithuanian (non-Hasidic) leaders
like the Chazon Ish (1878–1953), Rav Shach
(1898–2001), and Rabbi Yosef Sholom Elyashiv
(1910-2012), have expressed strongly anti-Zionist
views.
Examples of this are found in lectures and
letters of Rav Shach.
One of the newspapers of the Litvish world,
the Yated Neeman, regularly publishes articles
strongly criticizing Zionism, naming it a
"heretical movement".
The main Litvish community does vote, as per
what many say were the instructions of the
Chazon Ish.
However, some of the Chazon Ish's disciples
dispute this claim.
Rabbi Elyashiv would urge his followers to
vote for the Degel HaTorah list.
Rabbi Shimshon Dovid Pincus, quoted in the
book of his speeches about Purim, explains
that in each generation, the Yetzer Hara (evil
inclination) appears in different forms.
Examples he gives are the Enlightenment and
communism.
He goes on to explain that nowadays, Zionism
is a form of the Yetzer Hara.
The opposition of much of the Litvish world
to Zionism differs from that of the Hasidic
world in that it is mainly focused on the
secular character of Zionism, and less strongly
so on the issue of a Jewish state being forbidden
whether it is religious or not.
One of the American leaders of the Lithuanian
Jewish world, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895–1986),
expressed something approaching ambivalent
support of the State of Israel, saying that
it is proper to pray for the Welfare of the
State of Israel, so long as one does not call
it the "first flowering of the Redemption".
(The reference is to the standard Zionist
Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel,
which refers to the State as the "first flowering
of the Redemption".)
In a responsum to a question whether it is
permissible to pray in a synagogue which displays
an Israeli flag, he writes: "Even though those
who made the flag for a symbol of the Israeli
state were wicked people ... to make a fight
over this is forbidden."
Anti-Zionism does not translate to personal
antagonism, and Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz, the
Mirrer rosh yeshiva, openly displayed thanks
to soldiers of the Israeli army.The Soloveitchik
dynasty of Lithuanian Haredi Judaism is known
as one of the most elite scholastic dynasties
in all of Orthodox Judaism.
The dynasty split into two groups in the 20th
century, as parts of the Soloveitchik Rabbinical
family veered away from their anti-Zionist
tradition set by Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik
of Brisk, and adopted views aligned with Modern
Orthodox Judaism and Religious Zionism.
Ironically, the Zionist faction of the Brisker
dynasty was centered in the United States,
and the anti-Zionist faction was, and continues
to be, centered in Israel.
Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Soloveitchik and Rabbi
Dovid Soloveitchik, who lead two of the Brisker
yeshivos in Jerusalem, continue to be outspoken
opponents of Zionism.
==== Hasidic groups ====
While ideologically opposed to secular Zionism,
the moderate Hasidic groups of Ger, Breslov,
Vizhnitz, Belz, and Klausenberg do vote in
the Israeli elections, support religious Zionism,
and accept Israeli government funding.
Ger and Belz are two of the most influential
movements behind the Israeli political party
Agudat Yisrael, which, together with the Lithuanian
Degel HaTorah, forms the United Torah Judaism
party.
Prominent Gerrer rabbi, Yitzhak-Meir Levin,
was a signatory to the Israeli Declaration
of Independence.
He also served as Minister of Welfare, though
today, members of Agudat Israel prefer to
serve as Deputy Ministers, or in Knesset Committees.
These groups do not observe any days associated
with the state, and neither do they recite
the Prayer for the State of Israel.
Agudat's position evolved into one generally
cooperative with the State of Israel, with
an emphasis on supporting religious activities
within its borders and the maintenance of
Haredi institutions.
Some rebbes affiliated with Agudat, such as
the Sadigura rebbe Avrohom Yaakov Friedman,
took more hard-line stances on security, settlements,
and disengagement.
==== Chabad-Lubavitch ====
The fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom
Dovber Schneersohn (1860–1920), also known
as the RaShaB, published Kuntres Uma'ayan,
the beginning of which contains a strong polemic
against secular Zionism.
He was deeply concerned that secular nationalism
would replace Judaism as the foundation of
Jewish identity.
The seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Schneerson, as wells as his predecessor,
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, nonetheless
insisted on trying to increase the observance
of the Torah in Israel, both among individuals
as well as to make the state's policies more
in line with Jewish law and tradition, He
also expressed overwhelming support for the
State's military endeavors, and vehemently
condemned any transfers of land as against
Jewish law.
His reasoning was based on the code of Jewish
law, the Shulchan Aruch which states that
the Sabbath must be violated (carrying weapons)
by the residents of a Jewish community (in
any country) that borders a hostile gentile
settlement, even if they are threatened in
the most subtle manner.
He viewed the whole of Israel as such a community,
and that was the impetus for his support.
He argued that the safety of the Jewish people
was paramount, and the physical presence of
so many Jews in the land meant that its borders
had to be protected as a matter of course.
At the same time, he also drew support for
his statements from the notion in the Torah
that the land of Israel was given to the Jewish
people, and that inherent Jewish ownership
of the land could not be superseded by mere
political interests.
Nevertheless, he refused to call the state
by name, claiming that the holy land exists
independent of any authority that sees itself
as sovereign over the land.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe embraced the land of
Israel as place where God can always be found,
no matter how secular some of its inhabitants
may be.
He was a man who is believed by his followers
to have loved every Jew, and to have especially
loved Israel.
Many Chabadniks in the world live in Israel,
and there are a great deal of Chabad houses
there.
Their young men serve in the Israeli military.
In line with the late Rebbe's instructions
to vote for a party that refuses to support
giving away parts of the Land of Yisrael as
part of any peace negotiations, Chabad does
not endorse any particular party in the election
process.
==== Chabad Zionism ====
Chabad Yeshiva students have been joining
the IDF in record numbers.
There are Chabad synagogues that celebrate
Yom Ha'atzmaut.Chabad Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg
spoke at Yom Hazikaron Ceremony in Jerusalem
in 2011.
He also lit one of the torches at the Zionist
state ceremony commemorating Israel Independence
Day on behalf of his grandson, Chabad Rabbi
Moshe Hotzberg.Chabad Rabbi Sholom Lipskar
celebrated Jerusalem Day at Yeshiva Mercaz
HaRav in Jerusalem, the most prominent yeshiva
in the Religious Zionist world.In 2011, Rabbi
Menachem Brod of Kfar Chabad, who is a spokesman
for Chabad, says the group is Zionist in its
support for Israel.
He stated: “When the average Israeli citizen
says ‘Zionism’, he is referring to love
of the land, strengthening the state, and
being close to the nation and the land, to
military service.
If all this is Zionism, then Chabad is super
Zionist!"
=== Groups generally supportive of Zionism
===
==== Chardal ====
Chardal Jews usually refers to the portion
of the Religious Zionist Jewish community
in Israel which inclines significantly toward
Charedi ideology (whether in terms of outlook
on the secular world, or is their stringent
(machmir) approach to Halacha); however, it
is sometimes used to refer to the portion
of the Charedi Jewish community in Israel
which inclines significantly toward Religious
Zionist (Dati-Leumi) ideology.
Chardal is an initialism of the words Charedi
and Dati-Leumi.
==== Sephardim ====
Sephardic Haredim are generally supportive
of Zionism and the State of Israel, certainly
more so than their Ashkenazi counterparts.
The number of outspoken opponents of Zionism
among Sephardi or Mizrahi rabbis is far lower
than among Ashkenazi rabbis, and these constitute
a small minority of the Sephardi Haredi leadership.
The Sephardi Haredi political party in the
Knesset is Shas, which represents the vast
majority of Sephardi Haredim, and is headed
by Aryeh Deri.
In 2010, Shas joined the World Zionist Organization,
and officially became the first Zionist Haredi
party.
The party's long-time spiritual leader, Rabbi
Ovadia Yosef, opposed saying Hallel in the
Yom HaAtzmaut prayer service, but writes that,
"One may say Hallel after the completion of
the prayers, without the blessing..."
While in the past, when he served as Chief
Rabbi of the State of Israel, he wrote that
one should say Hallel (though without the
blessings preceding and following it), he
later changed his position.
Shas is the dominant umbrella organization
and political party among Sephardic Haredim,
and represents an overwhelming majority of
the Sephardi Haredi population.
In 2010, Shas joined the World Zionist Organisation,
and became the first officially Zionist Haredi
political party.
According to Shas MK Yaakov Margi, Shas has
long operated as a Zionist party: "There's
nothing earth-shaking about saying Shas is
a Zionist party.
We operate as such, we join governments and
are partners in the Zionist experience, (our
members) serve in the army.
There's nothing new here."There are a number
of Sephardic organizations and rabbis who
actively oppose the state, such as Rabbi Yaakov
Hillel and the Edah HaCharedit HaSefaradit.
They draw their ideology from the writings
of Sefardi leaders such as the Ben Ish Chai,
who lived before the State of Israel was founded,
and the Baba Sali, who openly praised the
book VaYoel Moshe of the Satmar Rebbe.
== Haredi newspapers in Israel ==
The main Haredi newspapers, Hamodia, HaMachane
HaHaredi, and Yated Neeman, occasionally publish
articles strongly criticizing Zionism, naming
it a "heretical movement".
They sometimes refer to the country as "Israel",
and at other times will only refer to the
geographical entity as "Eretz Yisroel".
The Israel news columns are almost exclusively
right of centre, lambasting Arab terrorism.
Articles about outreach movements in Israel
and Israeli culture are very common, and are
shown without ideological bias.
== Haredi books about Zionism ==
Several books on the issue of Zionism were
written by different rabbis.
=== Sefer Vayoel Moshe ===
Vayoel Moshe was written by the Satmar Rebbe,
Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum (1887–1979).
It consists of three parts: Maamar Shalosh
Shevuos (three oaths), Maamar Yishuv Eretz
Yisroel (settling the Land of Israel), and
Maamar Loshon HaKodesh (the holy language).
The first part, discusses the three oaths
mentioned in Ketubot 111a - that the Jewish
people are not allowed to ascend to Eretz
Yisrael by force, that the Jewish people are
not allowed to rebel against the nations of
the world, and that the Jewish people may
not by their sins delay the coming of Moshiach,
the Jewish messiah.
It is primarily a book of Halacha (Jewish
law).
Rabbi Teitelbaum refers to Religious Zionism
as a major desecration of God's name, blames
Zionism for the Holocaust, and refers to Zionist
leaders such as Theodor Herzl as "heretics".
=== Kuntres Al HaGeulah VeAl HaTemurah ===
Also written by the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Joel
Teitelbaum, this small book consists of inspirational
polemics against Zionism.
He wrote it in 1967 as a rebuttal to those
who said that the Six-Day War was a divine
miracle that showed God's support for the
State of Israel.
Teitelbaum wrote that he did not believe anything
miraculous had occurred; small but advanced
armies often defeat far larger ones.
However, for those who insist that the Israeli
victory was a supernatural event, it should
be viewed as a test from God to see whether
the Jewish people would follow the Torah or
be led astray by miracles which seemed to
support Zionism in the eyes of the masses.
He compared this to the miracles that are
often done by idolaters in support of their
religions, inasmuch as Judaism is not based
on miracles, but rather the national revelation
on Sinai.
=== Eim HaBanim Semeicha ===
Eim HaBanim Semeicha was written by Rabbi
Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal, and published in
1943.
Teichtal grew up as a staunch anti-Zionist
Chasid of the Munkatsher Rebbe.
However, during the Holocaust, Rabbi Teichtal
changed his position from the one he espoused
in his youth.
The physical product of that introspection
is the book, Eim HaBanim Semeicha, in which
he specifically retracts his previous viewpoints,
and argues that the true redemption can only
come if the Jewish people unite and rebuild
the land of Israel.
Many of his coreligionists viewed the book
with skepticism, some going so far as to ban
Rabbi Teichtal from their synagogues.In the
book, Rabbi Teichtal strongly criticizes the
Haredim for not supporting the Zionist movement.
When it was written, it was a scathing criticism
of the Jewish Orthodox establishment, and
Agudat Israel in particular.
He writes:
It is clear that he who prepares prior to
the Sabbath will eat on the Sabbath (Avodah
Zarah, 3a), and since the Haredim did not
toil, they have absolutely no influence in
the Land (of Israel).
Those who toil and build have the influence,
and they are the masters of the Land.
It is, therefore, no wonder that they are
in control...
Now, what will the Haredim say?
I do not know if they will ever be able to
vindicate themselves before the heavenly court
for not participating in the movement to rebuild
the Land.
(p. 23)
== Involvement with the State of Israel ==
Among Haredi anti-Zionist movements, opinions
differ on what attitude to take now that de
facto a state exists.
Some movements remained actively anti-Zionist,
while others lowered their voice; some refuse
to vote, while others do vote; some accept
money from the government, while others will
not.
Many Hasidic Rebbes with followers in the
land of Israel, including the Gerrer Rebbe,
the Belzer Rebbe, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe,
and others have encouraged their followers
to vote in Israeli elections.
Lubavitcher Hasidim are encouraged to join
the Israeli Defense Forces, in order to ensure
the state's security (inasmuch as the State's
security is inextricably entwined with the
safety of the Jewish people who live within
its borders).
Meanwhile, the Edah HaChareidis Rabbinical
Council of Jerusalem and its associated communities,
including Satmar, Dushinsky, Toldos Aharon
and Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok, do not vote and
do not accept government money.
Around election days, posters by the Edah
HaChareidis are posted throughout Haredi neighborhoods
of Jerusalem proclaiming that it is forbidden
to vote in the elections, and that doing so
is a grave sin.
The Edah HaChareidis and its affiliated movements
have permitted cooperating with the Israeli
police under extenuating circumstances.
== See also ==
2013 Haredi anti-draft protests in Israel
== References ==
== Further reading ==
Aviezer Ravitzky, "Munkacs and Jerusalem:
Ultra-Orthodox Opposition to Zionism and Agudaism",
Zionism and Religion, eds.
Shmuel Almog, Jehuda Reinharz, and Anita Shapira
(Hanover and London, 1998), 67-89.
Yosef Salmon, "Zionism and Anti-Zionism in
Traditional Judaism in Eastern Europe", Zionism
and Religion, eds.
Shmuel Almog, Jehuda Reinharz, and Anita Shapira
(Hanover and London, 1998), 25-43.
