The Role of Jewish Messianism in Israel's Hostile Foreign Policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran

Abstract

Messianism is one of the most important concepts in Judaism. The Zionist movement succeeded in establishing a Jewish state in the land of Palestine based on the changes it made to the traditional meaning of this concept. On the other hand, Messianism is the only common concept on which all the various Jewish sects agree. Accordingly, after the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948, Messianism entered into all aspects of Israeli domestic and foreign policies. Also, simultaneously with the Islamic Revolution in Iran, right-wing and religious groups came to power in Israel in 1977 after thirty years. One of the common traits of rightists is that they are Messianic; thus, the variable of Messianism in the foreign policy of Israel towards Iran became an objective factor and appeared in a hostile manner. Therefore, the present article uses the theory of constructivism, which in addition to material issues such as power, also considers immaterial variables such as religion to be important in international relations; it seeks to answer the question of how Jewish Messianism led Israel to pursue a hostile foreign policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Keywords

• messianism
• foreign policy
• constructivism
• israel
• iran