In order to regain political power in the wake of its electoral collapse, the Israeli left must overcome two substantial challenges. First, it must reimagine the project of Jewish cultural revival and national identity, also known as Zionism, in a way that rejects ethnonationalism and embraces traditionally liberal democratic values of equality, liberty, and freedom. Second, the left must take practical actions to garner popular support within Israeli society. For many years now, the Left’s political efforts have failed. Demonstrations, petitions, and dialogue groups have not brought the desired electoral change. It is therefore time for the Left to put serious thought into what it takes, practically, to engender political transformation in Israel.

Paradoxically, some answers might be found in the history of the Left’s traditional political rivals, right-wing religious Zionists. Despite the latter’s marginal political influence in the 1960s, the religious Zionist movement became quite successful in carrying out its controversial project of settling the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Today, in fact, the religious Zionist right is perhaps the most influential bloc in Israeli politics. The contemporary Israeli left thus has much to learn from it.

In the next section I will draw out the tensions between Zionism and liberalism. Then, I will turn to outlining what a non-ethnonationalist Zionism might look like. Finally, I will analyze the main causes for the religious Zionist success to draw some practical lessons for the Israeli left.