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Religious Zionist Party

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Religious Zionist Party
הציונות הדתית
ChairmanBezalel Smotrich
Secretary-GeneralOfir Sofer
FoundersHanan Porat
Zvi Hendel
Founded1998
Dissolved2023
Split fromNational Religious Party
Merged intoNational Religious Party–Religious Zionism
HeadquartersBeit HaShenhav Building, Jerusalem, Israel
Ideology
Political positionFar-right[1][2][8][9][10][11]
National affiliationNational Union (1999–2013)
The Jewish Home (2013–2019)
URWP (2019)[12]
Yamina (2019, 2020–2021)
Member partiesReligious Zionist Party
Otzma Yehudit
Noam
Most MKs7 (2022)
Election symbol
ט
ط‎

[13]
Website
zionutdatit.org.il

The Religious Zionist Party (RZP) (Hebrew: הציונות הדתית, romanized: “Ṣiyonut Daṯiṯ”, “Ẓiyonut Daṯiṯ”, “Tzi'onut Datit” or “Zionut Ha-Datit”, lit. 'Religious Zionist') also known as T'kuma (Hebrew: תקומה, romanized: “Ṯuqūmâ”, “Ṯ'qûma” or “T'kūma”, lit. 'Revival')[14] until 2021 is a far-right,[15] ultranationalist,[16] and Religious Zionist party[17] in Israel and the Palestinian territories.[18][19] In all the elections since its founding in 1998, the party had joined other factions and competed as part of a united list. In 2023, the Religious Zionist Party and Jewish Home agreed to merge to become Mafdal–Religious Zionism.[20]

History

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Tkuma was established by Rabbi Hanan Porat and Zvi Hendel in 1998. The pair left the National Religious Party in reaction to the Wye River Memorandum, signed between Ben Netanyahu, then 9th Prime Minister of Israel and Yassar Arafat, then 2nd president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).[source?] Almost immediately after the creation of Tkuma, it joined together with Moledet and Herut – The National Movement, to form the National Union, a right-wing coalition which won four seats in the 1999 elections, with only one of those seats going to Tkuma. These elections were a failure for the right-wing bloc, and were won by Barak, leaving the National Union and Tkuma in the opposition.[source?] In February 2000, Yisrael Beiteinu joined the National Union, alongside Tkuma, and the two parties joined Ariel Sharon's first government in 2001. One year later, Tkuma and the rest of the National Union left Sharon's government over disagreements over the handling of the Second Intifada. For the 2003 elections, the National Union kept its alliance with Yisrael Beiteinu, with its increased support helping to win seven seats for the entire list, and two for Tkuma. The party was included in Ariel Sharon's coalition, alongside Likud, Shinui, the NRP, and Yisrael BaAliyah.[source?]

Because of tensions over the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the Northern West Bank, National Union ministers such as BenYamin Elon and Avigdor Lieberman were sacked, and the party left the coalition. However, the National Union was bolstered by the addition of Ahi, which had split off from the National Religious Party when they decided to remain in the coalition.[21]

Before the 2006 elections, the alliance between the National Union and Yisrael Beiteinu was dissolved, and a new alliance between the National Union and the National Religious Party was formed, which won nine seats, two of which were allocated to Tkuma and taken by Hendel and Uri Ariel.

On 3 November 2008, ahead of the 2009 elections, Tkuma faced a crisis. The party itself announced that it would unite with Ahi, the National Religious Party, and Moledet, to form a new right-wing party, which was later named Bait HaYehudi. However, around half of the former Tkuma members later left the new party to re-establish Tkuma and rejoin the National Union alongside Moledet, Hatikva, and Eretz Yisrael Shelanu.[22] In the elections themselves, the National Union got four seats, with Tkuma getting two seats.

Ideology

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The RZP opposes land concessions to the Palestinians or Syria. Despite the fact that many members of the Religious Zionist Party support Israeli annexation of the West Bank and Gaza and prevent the establishment of a Palestine state, the official policy of HaBait HaYehudi Knesset faction, of which the party was aligned with between 2013 and 2019 only supports annexation of Area C, which makes up 63% of the Israeli-occupied West Bank per the Oslo Accords. The party advocates increased funding for Torah study institutes. Jewish-American columnist David E. Rosenberg has stated that the Religious Zionist Party's "platform includes things like annexation of Israeli settlement in the West Bank, the expulsion of asylum-seekers, and political control of the judicial system[15]". He further described the Religious Zionist Party as a political party "driven by Jewish supremacy and anti-Arab racism".[15] The party has been assessed by The Middle East Journal as "militantly anti-Arab" and far-right.

Leaders

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Leader Took Office Left Office
Porat at a Bible study in Alon Shvut
 Hanan Porat 1998 1999
Hendel at a groundbreaking ceremony in Kfar Darom
 Zvi Hendel 1999 2009
Katz's portrait
 Jacob Katz 2009 2012
Portrait of Ariel speaking at a conference
 Uri Judah Ariel 2012 2019
Portrait of Smotrich, Finance and Defence Minister of Israel
 Bezalel Smotrich 2019 2023

Knesset members list

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Knesset term Seats Members
2015–2019 2 Uri Ariel, Bezalel Smotrich
2019 2 Bezalel Smotrich, Ofir Sofer
2019–2020 2 Bezalel Smotrich, Ofir Sofer
2020–2021 2 Bezalel Smotrich, Ofir Sofer
2021–2022 5 Bezalel Smotrich, Michal Waldiger, Simcha Rothman, Orit Strook, Ofir Sofer[a]
2022–2023 7 Bezalel Smotrich, Ofir Sofer, Orit Strook, Simcha Rothman, Michal Waldiger, Ohad Tal, Moshe Solomon, Zvi Sukkot (replaced Smotrich on 5 February 2023)[23]
[change | change source]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 Cite error: The named reference Oren 2023 was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Cite error: The named reference Rosenberg 2022 was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  3. ↑ Sharon, Jeremy (10 July 2022). "Court rules online civil marriages valid, upending Israel's religious status quo". The Times of Israel. Jerusalem. ISSN 0040-7909. OCLC 1076401854. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  4. ↑ Hoffman, Gil; Sharon, Jeremy (9 August 2019). "Ayelet Shaked tells "Post" about the dramatic turnaround in her career". The Jerusalem Post. ISSN 0792-822X. OCLC 15700704. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  5. ↑ "Election Polls: 6-14 Seats for Bennett and Shaked's New Right-wing Party, Labor Party Crashes". Haaretz. 30 December 2018.
  6. ↑ "Israel elections: Netanyahu set for comeback with far right's help - partial results". BBC News. 1 November 2022.
  7. ↑ "Kahanism Won. Israel Is Now Closing in on a Right-wing, Religious, Authoritarian Revolution". Haaretz. Tel Aviv. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "Israel Election Poll: Far-right Party Allied With Kahanists Gains a Seat at Netanyahu's Expense". Haaretz. Tel Aviv. 14 March 2021. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  9. ↑ Boxerman, Aaron (3 June 2021). "History made as Arab Israeli Ra'am party joins Bennett-Lapid coalition". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  10. ↑ Sharon, Jeremy (25 March 2021). "Israel Elections: What is the Religious Zionist Party's agenda?". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  11. ↑ "Israel election: what could happen". euronews. 2 November 2022.
  12. ↑ Hezki Baruch (21 February 2019). ""Union of the Right-Wing Parties" submits Knesset list". Israel National News. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "הציונות הדתית בראשות בצלאל סמוטריץ'". Central Election Committee for the Knesset (in Hebrew). Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  14. ↑ "Amazon.com". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  15. 1 2 3 Oren, Neta; Waxman, Dov (2022-12-01). ""King Bibi" and Israeli Illiberalism: Assessing Democratic Backsliding in Israel during the Second Netanyahu Era (2009–2021)". The Middle East Journal. 76 (3): 303–326. doi:10.3751/76.3.11. ISSN 0026-3141.
  16. ↑ Rosenberg, David E. (2025-10-02). "What Makes Israel's Far Right Different". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  17. ↑ Oren, Neta; Waxman, Dov (2022-12-01). ""King Bibi" and Israeli Illiberalism: Assessing Democratic Backsliding in Israel during the Second Netanyahu Era (2009–2021)". The Middle East Journal. 76 (3): 303–326. doi:10.3751/76.3.11. ISSN 0026-3141. ... a political backlash that helped a militantly anti-Arab, far-right Religious Zionist Party to become the third-largest faction ...
  18. ↑ "'Post' poll shows mergers capable of bringing down Benjamin Netanyahu | The Jerusalem Post". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2021-01-08. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  19. ↑ Krauss, Joseph (2021-03-23). "Far-right party set to gain new influence after Israeli vote". AP News. Retrieved 2025-11-18.
  20. ↑ Baruch, Hezki. "Religious Zionism and Jewish Home parties merge". Israel National News. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  21. ↑ "Sharon Fires Two Who Oppose Gaza Plan". The Washington Post. 2004-06-05. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  22. ↑ "Hatikva Party courts Tkuma as hard-line factions fracture | The Jerusalem Post". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2008-12-24. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  23. ↑ "Far-right Settler Leader Becomes MK Under Law to Expand Size of Government". Haaretz. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  1. ↑ Joined during the Knesset term.
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