The "Arrangement": Israel's Military-Religious Complex

Israel's hesder yeshiva movement is the "arrangement" under which religious soldiers alternate active army duty with yeshiva study. Originally designed as a way for religiously observant Jews to fully participate in army life, the hesder program became a vehicle for radical pro-settlement religious-Zionists to spread their ideology following the messianic fervor of the Six Day War. Expounding a worldview that the West Bank is part of a Greater Israel and must be defended at all costs, there's a fear that this message is spreading throughout the ranks of the military.

An Israeli soldier performs the afternoon prayer at Otniel, a hesder yeshiva in the southern Hebron hills of the West Bank. Traditionally the hesder program consists of a total of five years. There is about a year and a half of active military duty sandwiched between a soldiers time at the yeshiva.

An Israeli soldier performs the afternoon prayer at Otniel, a hesder yeshiva in the southern Hebron hills of the West Bank. Traditionally the hesder program consists of a total of five years. There is about a year and a half of active military duty sandwiched between a soldiers time at the yeshiva.

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