Question

We’ve been hearing the word “messianism” a lot over the past two years. As I understand it, the definition of messianism is a position, usually a religious one, that does not fit with actual reality. On the other hand, if we look at politicians who are considered messianic, like Smotrich, Sukkot, and so on—their positions, for example regarding settlement in Gaza, can indeed be interpreted as religious positions (that one should settle there because of the commandment of settling the Land of Israel). But if you think about it, you can also find in this outlook a purely security-based view: that settlement brings security. And in my estimation, and from what I hear from the ministers, most of them relate to settlement in Gaza in that way. (Of course one can disagree with the position, but almost everyone would agree that it can be discussed from a security perspective.) So the question is whether messianism in politics really exists at all. Is Kaplan just trying to brainwash people, and in fact there is no messianism whatsoever?