The Israeli Settler Movement: the Road to One State?

Catalog description

This course traces the rise of the Israeli settler movement, Gush Emunim, from a fringe group to a dominant political force in today’s Israel. Since the 1990s, the movement has helped secure most of the West Bank for Jewish settlement, confining nearly three million Palestinians to isolated enclaves. The course explores the movement’s ideological roots in Jewish messianism, its violent offshoots, and its takeover of Israeli state institutions. It also examines the settler role in the military campaign against Gaza following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks. Finally, it considers how this success affects prospects for a political solution and engages with claims the region functions as a “one-state” reality, akin to Apartheid.