From Inferiority to Independence: The Development of Religious Zionist History Education During Israel’s First Two Decades

ABSTRACT: This article deals with history education in the course of Israel’s first two decades and the previously underexplored struggle between State Religious Education (SRE) and the State Education (SE) system. The constraints of history education within the SRE by Israel’s Ministry of Education resulted in the suppression of religious elements that informed history education in the Mizrachi Religious Zionist movement. Challenging established historiographical views, I introduce a novel periodization of Israel’s educational history, identifying the early 1960s as a turning point in SRE history education. In contrast to the ideological relaxation and pedagogical changes that took place within the Ministry of Education, SRE emerged as a cohesive and robust system. This trend coincided with profound ideological shifts within the Religious Zionist community, prompting a re-evaluation of Religious Zionist education and a call for its expansion beyond a narrow sectoral focus.*