On Faith, Redemption, and Messianism in West Bank Settlements

Studies of religiously motivated settlers in the West Bank indicate the intricate ties between settlement and a messianic theology about the advent of redemption. This messianic theology, which is strongly identified with Gush Emunim, links redemption with the maintenance of a physical union between Jews and the biblical Land of Israel, a union that will lead to the end of days. These days, however, Gush Emunim no longer exists, and messianism among religiously motivated settlers varies along lines that relate, among other issues, to the meaning of redemption and its ties to the land and the State of Israel. Nevertheless, Gush Emunim remains a trope that subsumes all religiously motivated settlers. On the basis of ethnographic research, this article moves beyond Gush Emunim and calls attention to contemporary changes within the religiously motivated settler population. In reviewing various forms of messianism among settlers, it argues for the persisting but altered centrality of messianism within the settlement project. The article concludes by raising the possibility of the emergence of post-Zionist messianism among settlers.