Ze'ev Jabotinsky was a secular Zionist and an extremist nationalist.[5][better source needed] He was exiled from the British Mandate for supporting armed struggle against the British.[5]
The goal of the Maximalists was to "extract Revisionism from its liberal entrapment", because they wantedZe'ev Jabotinsky's status to be elevated to the status of a dictator,[19] and desired toforcably assimilate the population of Palestine into Hebrew society.[15] The Maximalists believed that authoritarianism and national solidarity was necessary to have the public collaborate with the government, and to create total unity in Palestine.[15]
Irgun emblem. The map shows bothMandatory Palestine and theEmirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" is written above the map, and "raq kach" ("only thus") is written below.
TheIrgun (Hebrew:ארגון), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel,[a] often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (אצ״ל), was aZionistparamilitary organization that operated inMandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the older and largerJewish paramilitary organizationHaganah.[20]
The White Paper's publication also intensified the conflict between the Zionist militias and the British Army; a Jewish general strike was called, attacks were launched against Arabs and British police, telephone services and power lines were sabotaged, and violent speeches of protest were held for several months.[35] A week after the publication of theWhite Paper of 1939, theIrgun planted an explosive device in the Rex cinema in Jerusalem, injuring 18 people, including 13 Arabs and 3 British police officers. On that same day, 25Irgun members attacked the Arab villageBiyar 'Adas, forced their way into 2 houses, and shot 5 Arab civilians to death.[36]
The hand represents the Lehisalute, with only two raised fingers on the right hand to represent the "If I forget thee / O Jerusalem...may my right hand forget its skill" (Ps. 137:5) pledge. The acronym "Lehi" is written below the hand.[37]
Far right activity in the early years of the State of Israel was partly inspired by the legacy of the British mandate. In 1948, Irgun and Lehi refused to disband and challenged the authority of the Israeli government underDavid Ben-Gurion. In 1951, a failed attempt to blow up the Knesset was made by an extreme Jewish organization that advocated Halakha-based state.
In the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured theGolan Heights, theWest Bank, theSinai Peninsula, and theEgyptian-occupied Gaza Strip.[42] This victory resulted in the revival of "territorial maximalism", with aspirations to annex and settle these new territories.[43] leading some Israeli political leaders to argue for the redefinition of the country's borders in accordance with the vision ofGreater Israel.[44] TheMovement for Greater Israel, which emerged about a month after theSix-Day War ended, advocated for the control over all of the territories captured during the war, including theSinai Peninsula,West Bank, andGolan Heights. The members of the movement demanded immediate imposition of Israeli sovereignty over the territories. The supporters of the movement were united by a territorial maximalist ideology.[44] During the summer of 1967, far-right nationalists began to establish settlements in the occupied West Bank to establish a Jewish presence on the land.[45]Menachem Begin's agreement to return theSinai Peninsula to Egypt, as well as his initiation of theAutonomy Plan, caused parts of the political right to radicalise and adopt far-right political ideologies.[46]
Shortly afterMeir Kahane was sworn in as a member of the Knesset, he made his first media-oriented provocation by announcing his plan to open an emigration office in the Arab village ofUmm al-Fahm. He stated that his plan was to offer residents of the village financial incentives to leave their homes and the country.[54] The town declared a general strike shortly after, and roughly 30,000 people, including liberal Jews, arrived at Umm-al-Fahm to prevent Kahane from entering the town. TheIsrael Police initially decided to accompany Kahane with 1000 police officers as he marched, but later decided to cancel Kahane's march altogether, in concern of negative consequences.[55]
Kach activists frequently enteredArab localities in Israel, distributing propaganda leaflets in demonstrations, provocatively raising the Israeli flag, making Arabs sign theIsraeli Declaration of Independence, threatening them against moving to majority-Jewish towns, and convincing Arabs to leave the country.[56] Some ofMeir Kahane's legislative initiatives were mostly related to the "Arab problem" in Israel, intending to separate Jews and Arabs in public swimming pools, banning romantic relations between Jews and Arabs, and revoking the citizenship ofArabs in Israel.[57] In his book, "They Must Go", Kahane wrote: "There is only one path for us to take: the immediate transfer of Arabs fromEretz Yisrael. For Arabs and Jews inEretz Yisrael there is only one answer: separation, Jews in their land, Arabs in theirs. Separation. Only separation."[58]
One bill which he proposed required the imposition of amandatory death penalty on any non-Jew who either harmed or attempted to harm a Jew, as well as the automatic deportation of the perpetrator's family and the perpetrator's neighbors from Israel and theWest Bank.[59]The Supreme of Israel struck down his initiatives, on the grounds that there was no precedent and provision for them in theBasic Laws of Israel.[60] To limit the potential influence of anti-democratic parties such as Kach, theKnesset, in 1985, proposed a new amendment to exclude parties that negate the democratic character of Israel.[60] Kach was later barred from the 1988 elections, and its appeal was denied by the Supreme Court.[60] 1994, followingBaruch Goldstein's massacre of 29 Palestinians at theCave of the Patriarchs, Israel designatedKach, for which Goldstein previously stood as a Knesset Candidate,[61] as a terror organization.[62][63]
The Oslo Accords and the 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin
Rabin delivering his speech at the 4 November 1995 rally, shortly before his assassination
The far-right in Israel opposed theOslo Accords, with Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin beingassassinated in 1995 by a right-wing Israeli extremist for signing them.[64]Yigal Amir, Rabin's assassin, had opposedRabin's peace process, particularly the signing of theOslo Accords, because he felt that an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank would deny Jews their "biblical heritage which they had reclaimed by establishing settlements".[45] Rabin was also criticized by right-wing conservatives andLikud leaders who perceived the peace process as an attempt to forfeit theoccupied territories and a surrender to Israel's enemies.[65][66] After the murder, it was revealed thatAvishai Raviv, a well-known right-wing extremist at the time, was aShin Bet agent and informant.[67] Prior to Rabin's murder, Raviv was filmed with a poster of Israeli prime ministerYitzhak Rabin in anSS uniform.[68][69][70] His mission was to monitor the activities of right-wing extremists, and he allegedly knew ofYigal Amir's plans to assassinate Rabin.[71]
Otzma Yehudit was founded in 2012 byMichael Ben-Ari, a former member of Kach. In the2021 Israeli legislative election,Itamar Ben-Gvir, a follower ofKach, was elected to the Knesset as a representative of theOtzma Yehudit party.[91] Since 2022, Ben-Gvir has served as a Minister of National Security, and the party presently holds six seats in theKnesset.Lehava, one of the largest far-right organizations in Israel, advocates for the segregation and oppression of Palestinians. It has also been involved in acts of violence against Palestinians, LGBT individuals, and Christians. Both the United States and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on Lehava.[92][93]
Noam is a far-rightOrthodox Jewish,Religious Zionist political party in Israel, established in July 2019 by a conservative faction in the Religious Zionist community inspired byRabbiZvi Thau and hisHar HamorYeshiva. The party's main goal is to advance policies against LGBT rights, and against what its backers call "the destruction of the family".[94]Avi Maoz, the party's leader, was elected to theKnesset in2021, and is the party's sole representative.[95][96]
In 2023, theLikud-led coalition was described in authoritarian terms byHaaretz, such as "Fascist", "a dictatorship", and "Stalinist" (for similarities to Stalinism's authoritarian aspects).[109]
Far-right Israeli politicians and the Al Aqsa Mosque
In 2023 and 2024, National Security MinisterItamar Ben-Gvir initiated at least four marches to theAl-Aqsa compound inEast Jerusalem, each of up to a thousandultra nationalistIsraeli settlers.[110] During the visits, Ben Gvir stated that his he intends to convey a political message.The Palestinian Authority's spokesman,Nabil Abu Rudeineh, described his visits as "blatant attacks" on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while Jordan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs described them as "a provocative step that is condemned, and a dangerous and unacceptable escalation".[111]
Israeli soldiers were in the area while the rampage by the settlers unfolded and did not intervene.[114] The rampage was called apogrom by an Israeli commander in charge of the area.[118]
Israeli and Palestinian officials issued a joint declaration inAqaba,Jordan to counter the recent round of Israeli–Palestinian violence.[115][116][119]
Smotrich's call for Huwara to be "wiped out"
In the rampage's aftermath, Israeli Finance MinisterBezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician partly in charge of the administration of the West Bank,[120] called for Huwara to be "wiped out" by the Israeli army.[121][122] Condemnations from the United States, European Union, and Arab countries led to Smotrich retracting his comments and claiming they were said in the heat of the moment.[118][123]
Israel's far-right ministers have made controversial comments during theGaza war.
Agriculture MinisterAvi Dichter (Likud) told IsraeliChannel 12 in November 2023 that the war would be "Gaza'sNakba", using the Arabic word for "catastrophe" that many use to describe the1948 displacement of roughly 700,000 Palestinians.[124][125]
Finance MinisterBezalel Smotrich (National Religious Party–Religious Zionism) said in a November 2023 letter that Palestinians should be excluded from "security zones" in the occupied West Bank even to "harvest olives". He has also called for the creation of "sterile security zones" around settlements in the West Bank to "prevent Arabs from entering".[128][129]
Minister for the Advancement of WomenMay Golan (Likud) said in a speech in February 2024 "I am personally proud of the ruins of Gaza, and that every baby, even 80 years from now, will tell their grandchildren what the Jews did."[130]
General strategy and courses of action
The far-right in Israel have used a variety of ways over the years to achieve their political goals. These include far-right parties such asKach,Otzma Yehudit, andEretz Yisrael Shelanu being represented in theKnesset, Israel's parliament.[131]
^Hebrew:הארגון הצבאי הלאומי בארץ ישראל,romanized: HaIrgun HaTzvaʾi Ha-Leumi b-Eretz Israel
^ There are two buildings in theAl-Aqsa compound, the large prayer hall that is formally referred to in English as "Al-Aqsa mosque" and the ornate central building known in English as the "Dome of the Rock", but colloquially both are referred to as "Al-Aqsa Mosque" or simply "Al-Aqsa". Muslims believe the site is the location where theprophet Mohammed (the founder ofIslam) ascended to heaven in the7th century AD. Israelis refer to the location as theTemple Mount, because it is thought to be the location of thesecond temple, which wasdestroyed by the Romans in the1st century AD.
References
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^Ghazi-Bouillon, Asima A. (2009).Understanding the Middle East peace process: Israeli academia and the struggle for identity. Routledge studies on the Arab-Israeli conflict. London: Routledge. p. 156.ISBN978-0-415-77597-7.
^Leonard Weinberg, Ami Pedahzur,Religious fundamentalism and political extremism,Routledge, p. 101, 2004.
^J. Bowyer Bell, Moshe Arens,Terror out of Zion,p. 39, 1996 edition
^(in Hebrew)Y. 'Amrami, A. Melitz,דברי הימים למלחמת השחרור ("History of the War of Independence"), Shelach Press, 1951. (a sympathetic account of events, mostly related to Irgun andLehi).
^Ben-Yehuda, Nachman (1993).Political Assassinations by Jews: A Rhetorical Device for Justice. Albany, N.Y.:SUNY Press. p. 204.
^abSofer, Sasson; Shefer-Vanson, Dorothea (1998).Zionism and the foundations of Israeli diplomacy. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 253–254.ISBN978-0-521-63012-2.
^W. Khalidi, 1971, 'From Haven to Conquest', p. 598
^Terry, Janice (2008).Encyclopedia of world history Vol 5 pg 20. Infobase Publishing.
^"Jewish Terrorism and Jewish Resistance".The Jewish Plan for Palestine—Memoranda and Statements presented by The Jewish Agency for Palestine to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. The Jewish Agency for Palestine, Jerusalem. 1947. pp. 20–26.
^"Major Political Developments".The Jewish Plan for Palestine—Memoranda and Statements presented by The Jewish Agency for Palestine to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. The Jewish Agency for Palestine, Jerusalem. 1947. p. 32.
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^Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Jewish Problems in Palestine and Europe; United Nations, eds. (1991).A Survey of Palestine. Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. p. 54.ISBN978-0-88728-211-9.
^"Milestones: 1961–1968".Office of the Historian.Archived from the original on October 23, 2018. RetrievedNovember 30, 2018.Between June 5 and June 10, Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan, and Syria and occupied the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights
^Meir Kahane (1987).Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews. Lyle Stuart. p. 270.ISBN978-0818404382.The Jew is forbidden to give up any part of the Land of Israel, which has been liberated. The land belongs to the G-d of Israel, and the Jew, given it by G-d, has no right to give away any part of it. All the areas liberated in 1967 will be annexed and made part of the State of Israel. Jewish settlement in every part of the land, including cities that today are sadlyJudenrein, will be unlimited.
^Čejka, Marek; Roman, Kořan (October 16, 2015).Rabbis of Our Time: Authorities of Judaism in the Religious and Political Ferment of Modern Times.Taylor & Francis. p. 89.ISBN9781317605447.
^Amara, Muhammad Hasan (2018).Arabic in Israel: language, identity and conflict. Routledge studies in language and identity. Abingdon, Oxon, New York:Taylor & Francis. pp. 124, 126.ISBN978-1-138-06355-6.
^Newton, Michael (2014)."Rabin, Yitzhak".Famous Assassinations in World History: An Encyclopedia, Volume 2. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. p. 450.ISBN978-1-61-069285-4.
^Ephron, Dan (2015).Killing a king: the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the remaking of Israel (1st ed.). New York London: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 137.ISBN978-0-393-24209-6.
^Hellinger, Moshe; Hershkowitz, Isaac; Susser, Bernard (2018).Religious Zionism and the settlement project: ideology, politics, and civil disobedience. Albany:SUNY Press. p. 105.ISBN978-1-4384-6839-6.
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^Kumaraswamy, P. R. (2015).Historical Dictionary of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Historical dictionaries of war, revolution, and civil unrest (2nd ed.).Rowman & Littlefield. p. 47.ISBN978-1-4422-5169-4.4 August: Security forces prevent thousands of Israeli protesters from marching into Gaza settlements