The foundational pillar of the anti-clerical narrative is the catastrophic rupture of the Rashidun conquest. The popular memory laments a sophisticated, enlightened Zoroastrian civilization abruptly dismantled by religious fanaticism.
VLA Comment: My opinion, (due to his transfer of power and financial support from Arafat to a new group created named HAMAS)…cleverly named from Israel’s Biblical outcries….HAMAS meaning Violence…Netanyahu created this event, including the spontaneous relocation of the music concert of young dope smoking Israeli’s to the border of GAZA, in order to create the emotional energy to genocide the Palestinians and facilitate Greater Israel Hegemony.
Genesis 6:11 — “Now the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with ḥāmās.”
Genesis 6:13 — “And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before me, because the earth is filled with ḥāmās because of them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.’”
Psalm 11:5 — “The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves ḥāmās, his soul hates.”
Psalm 72:14 — “From oppression and from ḥāmās he will redeem their life, and precious will their blood be in his sight.”
Habakkuk 1:2–3 — “How long, LORD, will I cry out and you will not hear? I cry to you, ‘Ḥāmās!’ and you do not save. Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look upon trouble?”
An early report published immediately after the attack said the festival had not originally been intended for the Re’im site. According to an artist manager connected with the event, organizers moved it there about two days before it began, after another planned site in southern Israel “fell through.” The Re’im site was roughly 5 km (3 miles) from the Gaza border.
“Israel helped create the conditions in which Hamas developed, partly to weaken Arafat/PLO” has historical support. Israeli authorities before Netanyahu tolerated and encouraged Yassin’s Islamist social and religious network because they saw it as a counterweight to Yasser Arafat’s secular PLO/Fatah movement.Israel permitted large amounts of Qatari money to enter Hamas-governed Gaza.
There is also a widely reported 2019 statement attributed to Netanyahu at a Likud meeting: that people who wanted to prevent a Palestinian state should support transferring funds to Gaza, because keeping Hamas in Gaza separate from the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank would impede Palestinian statehood. The quotation comes from reports of a closed meeting rather than an official transcript, so that distinction matters.
Daniel Klein was born and raised in Efrat, one of the largest religious Zionist settlements in the occupied West Bank. His family helped build the settlement movement, and he grew up immersed in its schools, institutions, theology, politics, and culture before serving as an IDF tank commander. In this conversation, Daniel shares an insider’s account of life inside the religious Zionist world, the psychology of belief, the realities of the settlement project, and how Zionism can present a different face to different people while maintaining a powerful hold over identity and belonging.
We discuss Efrat, the West Bank, violent settlers, the relationship between Judaism and Zionism, the dehumanization of Palestinians, military service, nationalism, religious identity, cognitive dissonance, moral injury, and the personal costs of dissent. Daniel explains why leaving Zionism can mean losing family, friends, community, status, and purpose. He describes the process by which ideological systems reproduce themselves, how Israelis are taught to understand Palestinians, and why so many people remain trapped inside narratives.
We also explore Daniel’s awakening during COVID, what caused his worldview to unravel, why he believes Israeli society is entering a period of profound crisis, and what lessons his journey offers for all of us.
