To: michael97123 who wrote (102168 ) 6/20/2003 11:43:18 AM From: Neocon Respond to Actually, Zionism is mostly a secular movement. For a long time, Orthodox Jews were hostile, because it was impious to plan to rebuild the Holy Land without the Messiah. There is now one large party which is Orthodox and Zionist, the National Religious Party, but even Likud is officially secular. Even in Israel, most Jews are either secular or semi- observant, much like members of Conservative congregations in the States. The Orthodox monopoly of religion in Israel, in terms of marriage rules, schuls, and so forth, is a result of the multi- party system of the Knesset, which gives unusual power to small parties in the building of coalitions. Non- Zionist or even anti- Zionist religious parties exist, and take advantage of the rivalry between the major parties to get portfolios in the cabinet that give them inordinate cultural influence.
