Israel is a political-theological project, not a secular nation-state

Evidence

In practice, focusing the discussion on religion’s place in Israel’s public life (a topic that is important in its own right) presumes that Israel is (or strives to be) a secular nation-state. In consequence, the discussion overlooks the theological elements that stand at the very heart of the definition of Israel as a Jewish state. The attempt to separate the discussion of religion and state conceals earlier questions and ignores the apocalyptic dimension that inevitably accompanies Israel, and is determined from the so-called secularization of the idea of redemption by depicting it as a national myth. The centrality of the political theological aspect in the formation and definition of the State of Israel is undeniable, and consequently any attempt to separate religion from the state is impossible. Zionism is not simply a national identity based on religious elements, and it would be too simplistic to present Israel as a case study of a nation-state with a national “church.” — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 300

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s thesis — a nation that presents itself as secular-modern yet is structurally theological; comparisons with Islamic cases in this volume. — connects to: Secular Zionism reinterpreted theology rather than departing from it; Israeli ‘secular’ identity is only definable negatively as not-religious. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 774

Broader Connections

• Israeli ‘secular’ identity is only definable negatively as not-religious. #corroborates (0.80) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 774
• Secular Zionism reinterpreted theology rather than departing from it #corroborates (0.78)