The Crisis

From the Mission Statement
of Manhigut Yehudit
(Moshe Feiglin)

The Secular Roots of Zionism

The Land of Israel was given by God to the Jewish People. This gift of the holiest of lands brings with it great responsibility to fulfill God's word and to bring His light to the entire world.

Throughout the centuries of exile, the Jewish People longed and prayed to return to the Holy Land as a holy nation.

The Jewish People longed and prayed to return to the Holy Land.

The Zionist movement, which founded the State of Israel, was the result of these centuries of longing. However, it was a product of the times and place in which it was born. It is based on secular, 19th century Western views and ideologies. Miraculously, the Zionist movement succeeded in building the complete infrastructure of a modern state - replete with a strong army, high tech, immigration and absorption out of the wilderness.

An Israel Devoid of Divine Purpose

In its very essence, though, modern Zionism negates holiness. God and Israel's Divine destiny were left out of the equation. The holy Torah was deemed totally irrelevant to the state of Israel. It was relegated to purely ceremonial status while Western standards and ideas dictate every significant facet of Israeli life.

This secular orientation has stripped Israel of the tools necessary to reflect the Jewishness of the state and its ultimate holy purpose.

The very Zionist ideology that built the modern state of Israel has now turned against itself as it seeks to purge itself of its Biblical roots and Divine purpose. This self-destructive bent is the ultimate conclusion of the secular ideology upon which Zionism is based. It also explains the zeal of Israeli governments -- both left and right -- to divest Israel of its heartland. "Peace" has become a euphemism for the desire to rid Israel of its Jewish identity.

From "Safe Haven" to Surrender

Modern Israel's obsession with international recognition derives from the very foundation of Zionism. Theodore Herzl saw international recognition as a cornerstone of the Zionist movement and as integral to Israel's declared purpose as a safe haven for the Jewish People. This explains the near fixation that the state of Israel still displays to this very day with international approval. Israel has been willing to do almost anything (relinquish vital land, release terrorists, evade pre-emptive strikes or even refrain from counter-attack) making many grave and costly concessions at the expense of the very lives of its citizens in order to achieve this elusive endorsement. Ironically, it is this obsessive desire for international approval that has seriously compromised the security of the residents of the "safe haven."

A State of All its Citizens

In modern Western thought, nationalism is now passé. Modern countries of the "global village" are comprised of citizens from various cultures and places of origin. What binds them together is the mere fact that they all live in the same place, and eventually adopt a common language, and later, a common culture and history. This trend has also been adopted in modern day Israel. The momentum toward citizenship for all residents of Israel, regardless of their religion, is part of the Zionist ideology based on Western culture. If not checked, it will effectively transform Israel from a Jewish state to a state with some Jewish citizens.