Abstract
This dissertation investigates the involvement of the Israeli National-Religious Party (NRP) in the Arab-Israeli peace process between 1974 and 1977. This peace process, orchestrated by U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger, catalyzed processes of change within the “National-Religious,” or “religious-Zionist,” camp. Yet, studies of religious-Zionism during this period overlook the movement’s elected political leadership- the NRP- in favor of the Gush Emunim settlement movement and related ideological developments. Similarly, the historiography of the post-1973 peace process overlooks the NRP’s involvement, despite the party’s critical role in Israeli coalition governance, and the outsized influence of coalition politics on Israeli foreign policy. I address these lacunae through a historical study of NRP politicians and their interlocutors between 1974 and 1977. Using a variety of primary sources, this study illuminates the inter-causal relationships between the American-mediated peace process, the escalation of inter-factional competition within the NRP, and the deterioration of the Historic Alliance with Labor.
Kissinger’s diplomacy raised the prospect of territorial withdrawal and presented the government with decisions germane to the disposition of the West Bank. Concomitantly, the NRP Zeirim- an insurgent youth faction- escalated their struggle against the party’s “Old Guard” leadership and its coalition partnership with Labor. While pragmatic, material considerations informed the NRP leadership’s practice of statecraft, the Zeirim stressed adherence to religious principles and opposed ceding sacred ground in the West Bank.
Hoping to pacify the Zeirim, the Old Guard reached accommodations with Labor during coalition talks and cabinet deliberations, thereby avoiding fateful decisions over the West Bank. These accommodations constrained the Rabin government’s diplomacy, and steered the peace process away from the West Bank, toward an accord with Egypt.
The Zeirim, though, continued their struggle and expanded their influence by joining the cabinet and coopting parts of the Old Guard. Taking a hard line in the name of religious principles, the Zeirim confronted both Labor and the NRP leadership over the peace process and provocations by Gush Emunim. These confrontations destabilized the NRP, disrupted the coalition, and undermined the Rabin government, leading to a rupture with Labor and upending the NRP’s inter-factional balance of power.