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Jewish terrorism is terrorism, including religious terrorism, committed by extremists within Judaism. [1] [2]
According to Mark Burgess (a Center for Defense Information research analyst), the 1st century Jewish political and religious movement called Zealotry was one of the first examples of the use of terrorism by Jews. [3] They sought to incite the people of Judaea to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from Israel by force of arms. The term Zealot, in Hebrew kanai , means one who is zealous on behalf of God. [4] [5] The most extremist groups of Zealots were called Sicarii. [3] Sicarii used violent stealth tactics against Romans. Under their cloaks they concealed sicae , small daggers, from which they received their name. At popular assemblies, particularly during the pilgrimage to the Temple Mount, they stabbed their enemies (Romans or Roman sympathizers, Herodians), lamenting ostentatiously after the deed to blend into the crowd to escape detection. In one account, given in the Talmud, Sicarii destroyed the city's food supply so that the people would be forced to fight against the Roman siege instead of negotiating peace. Sicarii also raided Jewish habitations and killed fellow Jews whom they considered apostates and collaborators.
From 1939 to 1947, two Jewish terrorist organisations, Irgun and Lehi, engaged in terrorist activities with a view to undermining Britain's control over Palestine. [6]
Jewish terrorism in Israel existed for a few years during the 1950s and was directed at internal Israeli-Jewish targets, not at the Israeli Arab population. [7] There was then a long intermission until the 1980s, when the Jewish Underground was exposed. [7] The phenomenon of price tag attacks began around 2008. These are hate crimes committed by extremist settler Jewish Israelis that usually involve the destruction of property or hateful graffiti, particularly targeting property associated with Arabs, Christians, secular Israelis, and Israeli soldiers. The name was derived from the words "Price tag" which may be scrawled on the site of the attack — with the allegation that the attack was a "price" for settlements the government forced them to give up and revenge for Palestinian attacks on settlers. [8]
Researchers Ami Pedahzur and Arie Perliger suggested that similarities exist between Jewish religious terrorists and jihad networks in Western democracies, among them: alienation and isolation from the values of the majority, mainstream culture, which they view as an existential threat to their own community; and that their ideology is not exclusively "religious", as it attempts to achieve political, territorial, and nationalistic goals as well (e.g. the disruption of the Camp David accords). However, the newer of these Jewish groups have tended to emphasize religious motives for their actions at the expense of secular ones. In the case of Jewish terrorism in modern Israel, most networks consist of religious Zionists and ultra-Orthodox Jews living in isolated, homogeneous communities. However, unlike jihad networks, Jewish terrorists have not engaged in mass-casualty attacks, with the exception of Baruch Goldstein. [9]
Shin Bet has complained that the Israeli government is too lenient in dealing with religious extremism of Jewish extremists who want the creation of a Jewish land based on halacha, Jewish religious laws. Says Haaretz: "The Shin Bet complained that the courts are too lenient, particularly in enforcement against those who violate restraining orders distancing them from the West Bank or restricting their movement. The Shin Bet supports the position of Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who has called for limited use of administrative detention against Jewish terrorists." [10] Israeli agencies keeping tabs on the religious terrorist groups say they are "anarchist" and "anti-Zionist", motivated to bring down the government of Israel and create a new Israeli "kingdom" that would operate according to halacha (Jewish law). [10] A week after the July 2015 attacks, administrative detention was approved for Jewish terror suspects. [8] In 2024, Haaretz reported that the settlements and outposts from which many settler attacks come are financed by the Israeli government.
Haaretz's investigation reveals that at least six government ministries are involved in financing and maintaining this whole burgeoning enterprise, whose underlying purpose is the forceful takeover of land and systematic dispossession of Palestinian residents. [11]
The following groups have been considered religious terrorist organizations in Israel (in chronological order by establishment year):
Several violent acts by Jews have been described as terrorism and attributed to religious motivations. The following are the most notable: [50]
Our Jewish terrorism dataset consists of a list of terror incidents perpetrated by Jewish terrorists in Israel.