Extreme Haredi Leaders and their Isolation from the Zionist Enterprise: Between Ideology and the Challenges of Reality

Abstract

High on the ideological and theological agenda of extreme Haredi groups is the delegitimization of the Zionist enterprise, its institutions, and the State of Israel, and the subsequent expectation of their rank-and-file to thoroughly isolate themselves from them. Based on existing scholarship and previously undiscovered primary sources, this article traces the conduct of extremist Haredi leaders vis-à-vis Zionist institutions during the British mandate in Palestine and after the establishment of the State. As we shall see, some extreme Haredi leaders elected to implicitly recognize the Zionist enterprise and its institutions. The specific circumstances surrounding the different cases enable us to understand the general phenomenon and to advance some preliminary observations.