Q&A: Is There a Non-Religious Justification for Greater Israel?
Is There a Non-Religious Justification for Greater Israel?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Recently I read an article by Haim Gans [http://tchelet.org.il/article.php?id=316&page=3] regarding the validity of the argument for the Jews’ “historical right” to the Land of Israel. To summarize, he shows (and I did not find flaws in the proof) that the justification for Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel is, at most, to settle in the Land of Israel, not throughout all of the Land of Israel, so long as one relies on the argument of “historical right.”
For me personally this does not pose a problem, because I can (as a religious person) argue that there is a divine command to conquer the entire Land of Israel. But what would my secular friend say? Seemingly there is no “secular” justification for the aspiration to settle throughout the entire land.
A good month,
Haim
Answer
If you are not basing yourself on the divine promise but rather on the historical reality, then in any case the matter is more fluid. The question is where they lived and when, and there is certainly room to compromise with others who claim rights here. So there really is a connection between right-wing views—and especially the ideological version of Greater Israel (as opposed to the security-based version)—and religious belief.