A Clash of Authority: Lay Leaders and Rabbis in the National Religious Party

For more than a decade, rabbis identified with religious Zionism have become more outspoken and involved in politics, a change that has moved religious Zionist politics in general, and the National Religious Party (NRP) in particular, closer to an ultra-orthodox model of religio-political leadership...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Israel affairs 2007-04, Vol.13 (2), p.401-417
Main Author: BICK, ETTA
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Church and state
Clergy
Disengagement
Disputes
Israel
Leadership
Parliament
Participation
Party systems
Political Parties
Political systems
Rabbis
Regional studies
Religion and politics
Secularism
Zionism
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Summary:For more than a decade, rabbis identified with religious Zionism have become more outspoken and involved in politics, a change that has moved religious Zionist politics in general, and the National Religious Party (NRP) in particular, closer to an ultra-orthodox model of religio-political leadership. This growing involvement and greater authority of the rabbis has generated tension within the NRP between those in the leadership who want to continue the party's tradition of an independent lay leadership and those who consult the rabbis on political issues and follow their rulings. This dispute, which came to the fore on several issues, particularly in response to the government's 'disengagement' policy from the Gaza Strip, contributed to a dplit in the NRP Knesset faction in 2005. An enervated NRP ran on a joint list with the National Union in 2006. The future of the NRP as an independent party will depend, in part, on how it resolves the issue of lay-clergy relations. Reprinted by permission of Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
ISSN:1353-7121
1743-9086
DOI:10.1080/13537120701205024