Why Israel’s Religious Zionists don’t care about the hostages

For Israel's rising jingoistic, messianic religious right, the war in Gaza is about recovering pride. Desperate hostages don't fit their narrative, writes ISHAY ROSEN-ZVI.

A fundamental ideology is at work, according to which the war in Gaza is the ultimate national drama, a rare opportunity to recover national pride and a sense of invincibility. In this narrative, the hostages are a source of collective weakness. Supporting their cause means elevating the cause of the individual above that of the state.

This is not just a matter of immediate priorities but of a whole value system. Several right-wing speakers presented the war as a rare opportunity to recover a sense of honor and unity. Yinon Magal, a prominent right-wing journalist described this period as a "great era that does good for Israel"

Then there is religion. According to a recent poll, 73 percent of the secular Jewish population supports a deal with Hamas to release the hostages, in comparison to 52 percent of those who define themselves as "masorati," 41 percent of those identified as religious, and only 24 percent of the Haredi community.

An unequivocal correlation thus exists between the level of religiosity and hostility toward negotiations with Hamas. This correlation cannot be explained by religious sensibilities per se, since halakhic tradition by and large espouses a deep commitment to and compassion for hostages.

Some in the far right Religious Zionist Party have cultivated a visceral antagonism towards the very idea of Jewish vulnerability. In this telling, Jewish Israelis should at all times project an image of power and dominance.

This is not just a reincarnation of the old "Sabra" image from early statehood, but an entirely new ideology.Too much consideration and attention to human weakness is an expression, they think, of corrupt, emasculating "Western" values. 

This is not an authentic expression of Jewish tradition, but rather a new type of Judaism, one that glorifies power and scorns the weak and needy. 

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Why Israel's new nationalistic Judaism doesn't care about the hostages in Gaza (Haaretz)