Religious Zionists

Peter Beinart, Elliot Cosgrove and other Jewish leaders face off over the future of liberal Zionism

On Tuesday night in Manhattan, a group of prominent rabbis and Jewish thinkers gathered to ask whether liberal Zionism is now collapsing.

Peter Beinart speaks at a panel on "The Jewish Tent at a Crossroads" in the sanctuary of  B'nai Jeshurun in Manhattan, Jan. 6, 2026. Others on the panel were, from left, moderator Rabbi Irwin Kula, Esther Sperber, Rabbi Jill Jacobs and Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove.
 THEODOR HERZL.

How orthodoxy is redefining modern Zionism - opinion

NATIONAL SECURITY Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is seen wearing a gold pin of a noose, on December 8, 2025.

A golden noose around Israel’s soul: Ben-Gvir’s theology of death strangles society - opinion

Roman Gofman, military secretary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, waits before a joint press conference of US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu in the State Dining Room at the White House, in Washington, DC, US, September 29, 2025

Editor's Notes: What the next Mossad chief tells us about Israel’s new elite - comment


'Frayed': Is religious Zionism splitting apart? - review

Frayed is a serious and thought-provoking examination of issues of deep concern to many Israelis and can help understand the ongoing tension between the secular and the religious.

 THEN-PRIME MINISTER Naftali Bennett informs the country that he will not seek reelection, at a 2022 press conference at the Knesset.

When solidarity was lost on the most important day of the Jewish year - opinion

The hurt felt by the broad section of the Israeli public that is moderately traditional may have serious consequences for the struggle against the government’s judicial overhaul.

 WE WOULD all have benefited from a different approach that left Yom Kippur outside the struggle, says the writer.

'They don't recognize our right to exist': Protesters attack religious Zionist rabbi

Rabbi Yigal Levinstein was attacked by protesters in Tel Aviv, sparking criticism from multiple politicians, including some who compared it to Kristallnacht.

 Rabbi Yigal Levinstein is seen being escorted by police as he is surrounded by protesters, in Tel Aviv, on September 19, 2023.

There is more than one religious Zionism - opinion

The implication that The Religious Zionist Party represents all religious Zionists, as well as religious Zionism, is patently untrue. Rather, they hijacked it.

 FINANCE MINISTER Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionist Party, addresses a pre-Rosh Hashanah party event, in Jerusalem last week.

Smotrich to Hayut: 'You dare to invalidate a Basic Law, the responsibility is yours'

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich spoke at the right-wing pro-judicial reform demonstration in Jerusalem on Thursday night.

 Finance Minster Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a pro-reform rally in Jerusalem, September 7, 2023.

Racism has infested Israel's religious Zionists and must be fought - opinion

In no uncertain terms, it must be demonstrated to the Israeli public at home and to those who look at us from the outside that racism has no place among us.

 National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks to the media at the Shaare Tzedek hospital in Jerusalem on, January 28, 2023.

Religious Zionists today have forgotten real Jewish values - opinion

For these right-wing ideologues, land, sovereignty, and brandishing physical power are the apotheosis of Jewishness and tradition. Nothing else much matters.

 FUNDAMENTAL TRADITIONAL Jewish values are in peril in Israel today, undermined by so many of our leaders, our government, our rabbis, and by militant hypernationalists, says the writer.

A look at the religious Zionist education in Jerusalem

The Religious Zionist community makes up about 23% (or 130,000) of the city’s total Jewish residents, and their children have approximately 82 state-run religious elementary and high schools.

 HARTMAN STUDENTS, hard at work.

Religious Zionist rabbis call to boycott Strauss Group products

The letter was issued after the Strauss Group announced it would stop advertising on Channel 14 after right-wing pundit Ari Shamai called for Yigal Amir's release, who murdered Yitzhak Rabin.

 THE STRAUSS Elite candy factory in Nazareth.

Right-wing Israeli caucus pushes for return to 1967 war strategy

The Israel Victory Caucus, comprising right-wing lawmakers and security officials, advocates for a significant change in Israel's conflict resolution strategies.

 Rabbi Leo Dee speaks at a meeting of the Israel Victory Caucus, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 12, 2023.