Jewish fascism



Jewish fascism is a term that is applied to Jewish political factions which are on the far-right wing of the political spectrum.

Fascism is an extreme right-wing political ideology which is characterised by authoritarianism, conservative values, and extreme nationalism (see Ultranationalism). Jewish nationalism is closely associated with Zionism, but Zionism has diverse meanings to different people, while the meaning of Jewish nationalism is more specific. Jewish nationalism has two aspects, religious   nationalism  and secular ethno-nationalism. Some extreme Jewish nationalist movements have either actively associated themselves with, or have been construed as engendering, fascism and historical fascist movements.

An early example of Jewish fascism was the short-lived Revisionist Maximalist movement that arose within the Brit HaBirionim faction of the Zionist Revisionist Movement (ZRM) in the 1930s and openly espoused its fascist values and goals.

In the 21st century, the Otzma Yehudit party (עָוצְמָה יְהוּדִית) has been characterized as an example of resurgent fascism or neo-fascism.

Mandatory Palestine (1920–1948)
Prior to the establishment of Israel, far-right Jewish groups were based on Revisionist Zionism, which promoted the Jewish right to sovereignty over all of Mandatory Palestine through the use of armed struggle. Revisionist Zionism's ideological and cultural roots were influenced by Italian fascism. Ze'ev Jabotinsky, the founder of Revisionist Zionism, believed that Britain could no longer be trusted to advance Zionism, and that Fascist Italy, as a growing political challenger to Britain, was therefore an ally.

Revisionist Maximalism


Revisionist Maximalism was a short-lived right-wing militant political ideology that was a part of the Brit HaBirionim faction of the Zionist Revisionist Movement created by Abba Ahimeir. Abba Ahimier was born in Russia in 1897 and migrated to Palestine at the age of fifteen. In 1928 Ahimier joined Jabotinsky's Revisionist movement and became one of the movement's important activists.

In 1930, Brit HaBirionim under Ahimeir's leadership publicly declared their desire to form a fascist state at the conference of the ZRM, saying: ""It is not the masses whom we need ... but the minorities ... We want to educate people for the 'Great Day of God' (war or world revolution), so that they will be ready to follow the leader blindly into the greatest danger ... Not a party but an Orden, a group of private [people], devoting themselves and sacrificing themselves for the great goal. They are united in all, but their private lives and their livelihood are the matter of the Orden. Iron discipline; cult of the leader (on the model of the fascists); dictatorship." (Abba Achimeir, 1930)"

The Revisionist Maximalist movement borrowed principles from totalitarianism and fascism and it also drew inspiration from Józef Piłsudski's Poland and Benito Mussolini's Italy. Revisionist Maximalists strongly supported the Italian fascist regime of Benito Mussolini and wanted the creation of a Jewish state based on fascist principles.

The goal of the Maximalists was to "extract Revisionism from its liberal entrapment", because they wanted Ze'ev Jabotinsky's status to be elevated to the status of a dictator, and desired to forcably assimilate the population of Palestine into Hebrew society. 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.

Nevertheless, the label "fascist" must be used with reservation because during that period of history as well as during later periods of history, non-fascist political factions frequently used it as a term of abuse during their disputes with each other, as in the 1930s, when the Social Democrat parties were accused of being "fascists" or "social-fascists" by Stalin and the communists. In the same way in Palestine in the 1930s, the Revisionist Zionists were frequently characterized as "fascists" by the Labor Zionist leaders and the Revisionists attacked the social democratic dominated General Confederation of Labor (Histadrut) and Ben Gurion by using terms like "Red Swastika" and comparing the Histadrut and Ben Gurion to fascists and Hitler.

In 1932, the Brit HaBirionim pressed the ZRM to adopt its policies which were titled the "Ten Commandments of Maximalism", and were made "In the spirit of Complete Fascism", according to Stein Uglevik. Moderate ZRM members refused to accept this and moderate ZRM member Yaacov Kahan pressured Brit HaBirionim to accept the democratic nature of the ZRM and not push for the party to adopt fascist dictatorial policies.

The Revisionist Maximalists became the largest faction in the ZRM in 1930 but collapsed in support in 1933 after Ahimeir's support for the assassination of Hayim Arlosoroff.

Lehi (founded in 1940)


The Lehi, also known as the Stern Gang, was a Revisionist Zionist militant group, founded by Avraham Stern in Mandatory Palestine in 1940. The group split from the Irgun, and sought a similar alliance with Fascist Italy. While the Lehi was not a homogeneous collective with a single political, religious, or economic ideology, the group has nonetheless been described as having its "worldview in the quasi-fascist radical Right", and most Lehi members appear to have been admirers of the Italian Fascist movement. Lehi publications described Jews as a master race and Arabs as a slave race, and the group advocated mass expulsion of all Arabs from Palestine and Transjordan or even their physical annihilation.

In the 2003 book "The Hope Fulfilled: The Rise of Modern Israel", Leslie Stein wrote that the Lehi also believed Nazi Germany was less of an enemy of the Jews than Britain was, and attempted to form an alliance with the Nazis, proposing a Jewish state based on "nationalist and totalitarian principles, and linked to the German Reich by an alliance".

Avraham Stern, then commander of the Lehi, objected to the White Paper of 1939, British plans to restrict Jewish immigration and Jewish land purchase in Palestine, and proposed the creation of a binational Jewish-Arab Palestine. calling for an armed struggle against the British instead.

Kach party (active from 1971–1994)


The Kach party, founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1971, was a far-right, Orthodox Jewish and Religious Zionist political party in Israel. The party's ideology, known as Kahanism, advocated the transfer of the Arab population from Israel, and it also advocated the establishment of a Jewish theocratic state, a state in which Jews would be the only inhabitants who would have voting rights.

Likud Party (unified in 1988)


The Likud party, founded by Menachem Begin, and led by Benjamin Netanyahu, is the right-wing major party in Israeli politics. So, within Israel, in relative terms, they are centre-right, and nominally liberal. However, by international standards, and according to their international critics, they are arguably "far right". In early 2023 the far-right Likud-led coalition were frequently called fascists and compared to historical fascist reigemes (see below).

From the signing of the Oslo Accords to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (1993–1995)
In Israel, the far-right opposed the Oslo Accords, and in 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated for signing them by Yigal Amir, a right-wing Israeli extremist. Yigal Amir, Rabin's assassin, had opposed Rabin's peace process, particularly the signing of the Oslo 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". Rabin was also criticized by right-wing conservatives and Likud leaders who perceived the peace process as an attempt to forfeit the occupied territories and a surrender to Israel's enemies. After the murder, it was revealed that Avishai Raviv, a well-known right-wing extremist at the time, was a Shin Bet agent and informant. Prior to Rabin's murder, Raviv was filmed with a poster of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in an SS uniform. His mission was to monitor the activities of right-wing extremists, and he allegedly knew of Yigal Amir's plans to assassinate Rabin.

Otzma Yehudit (founded in 2012)


In the 21st century, Otzma Yehudit or Jewish Power, a religious Zionist political party led by Kahanists, has been characterized as being a fascistic in nature. Israeli sociologist Eva Illouz has called Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir representative of Jewish fascism.

This aspect of its ideology is often described as being inherited from the Kach movement, and as having been propelled to the fore by Netanyahu's bringing of religious Zionist parties into government.

December 2022 cabinet of Israel
The 37th Cabinet of Israel, formed on 29 December 2022, following the Knesset election on 1 November 2022, has been described as the most right-wing government in Israeli history,  as well as Israel's most religious government. The coalition government consists of seven parties—Likud, United Torah Judaism, Shas, Religious Zionist Party, Otzma Yehudit, Noam, and National Unity—and is led by Benjamin Netanyahu. In association with the 2023 Israeli judicial reform the Likud-led Thirty-seventh government of Israel was frequently described as "Fascist" or "Dictatorial".

2023 Judicial reforms
In 2023, as part of a campaign for judicial reform, a bill known as the "reasonableness" bill was passed in Israel. This controversial law limited the power of the Supreme Court to declare government decisions unreasonable. In one instance, more than 80,000 Israeli protesters rallied in Tel Aviv against the far-right government's plans to overhaul the judicial system. In early 2024, the Supreme Court of Israel struck down the reform on the grounds that it would deal a "severe and unprecedented blow to the core characteristics of the State of Israel as a democratic state".

Allegations of fascism and comparisons to past fascist regimes
During 2022 and 2023, the Likud-led far right coalition was frequently described as "Fascist" or a dictatorship, and other references to extreme authoritarianism, such as "Stalinist" (the authoritarian aspects of Stalin, not the economics).

In association with the 2023 Israeli judicial reform the Likud-led far-right coalition were compared to Germany in the 1930s, by journalists and historians within in Israel.

In February 2023 Yossi Klein said, "Protests are for a democracy. Protests aren't effective in a dictatorship, and the dictatorship is already here," in a Haaretz opinion piece titled "Germany 1933, Israel 2023".

Criticism by Israeli Holocaust historian Daniel Blatman
Daniel Blatman, an Israeli historian whose specialty is the history of the Holocaust, is the head of the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. When he was interviewed for Haaretz by Ayelett Suhani, Blatman stated "Israel's government has neo-Nazi ministers. It really does recall Germany in 1933". His remarks drew some international attention from long-standing critics of Israel. However, while he was specifically referring to the authoritarian aspects of 1930s Germany, he did not make direct comparisons to either the ghettos or the Holocaust.

Additionally, Blatman has compared the current Israeli government to a previous Israeli government. In 2010, he published an opinion article in Haaretz titled, "1932 Is Already Here".

Predicted provocation of a "third intifada" in 2022 and 2023
Also during 2023 (but almost always separately), many people expressed concern that the policies and actions of the Israeli far-right would lead to a "third intifada". Such as Haaretz journalist Amos Harel. But this commentary went largely unnoticed outside of Israel and the middle east.

In 2024, many individuals and groups on the far-right in Israel are advocating for the reoccupation of Gaza following the Israel–Hamas war.

In March 2023, Yoav Gallant warned that something like 7 October attacks was looming, and was almost fired by Netanyahu for doing so.

Genocidal rhetoric in the 2023 war
At the onset of the war, Defence minister Yoav Galant, who is usually considered a moderate, made extremist statements that many considered incitement to war crimes or genocide. On 9 October 2023, Yoav Galant made a speech which many consider genocidal. "“I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly,”" In a piece for Jewish Currents, Raz Segal (an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University and the endowed professor in the study of modern genocide) wrote that the assault on Gaza can also be understood in other terms: as "a textbook case of genocide".