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Religious Zionist Party / Tkuma - Bezalel Smotrich

The Religious Zionist Party (Hebrew: HaTzionut HaDatit; literally, The Religious Zionism), formerly known as Tkuma (Hebrew: literally, "Revival", or Resurrection), until 2021 and officially still known as National Union–Tkuma (Hebrew: HaIchud HaLeumi–Tkuma), is a far-right religious Zionist political party. The Religious Zionist Party is headed by MK Bezalel Smotrich and includes Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party and the Noam faction.

In the March 2021 election, the Religious Zionist Party secured six seats and 225,000 votes in the election, giving it small but significant representation, and huge leverage. The Knesset debut of the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionist Party (RZP), which includes the far-right Kahanist Otzma Yehudit Party and the anti-LGBT Noam Party, has caused not a little anguish on the Left. The party published a detailed manifesto laying out its policy goals on a range of matters, including settlements, religion and state, and diminishing the power of the High Court.

Party leader Bezalel Smotrich frequently denounced the High Court, most recently its ruling banning the government from preventing citizens abroad from returning to Israel during the corona lockdown, and the decision recognizing the right of Reform and Conservative converts in Israel to be granted citizenship under the Law of Return.

Tkuma was established in 1998, when Hanan Porat and Zvi Hendel left the National Religious Party. Together with Moledet and Herut, they formed the National Union, which won four seats in the 1999 elections. For the 2003 elections, Yisrael Beiteinu joined the National Union (though Herut left) and, with its increased support, won seven seats and was included in Ariel Sharon’s coalition. Because of tensions over the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip (Tkuma was ideologically opposed, and Hendel lived in the Gaza settlement of Ganei Tal), National Union ministers Binyamin Elon and Avigdor Lieberman were sacked, and the party left the coalition. However, the National Union was bolstered by the addition of Ahi, which had split off from the National Religious Party when they decided to remain in the coalition.

Before the 2006 elections, Yisrael Beiteinu left the alliance to fight the election alone. However, at the last minute, the National Religious Party decided to join the alliance, which won nine seats, two of which were allocated to Tkuma and taken by Hendel and Uri Ariel. In 2008, the party announced a merger with Ahi, the National Religious Party, and Moledet to form a new right-wing party, which was later named the Jewish Home. However, around half the former Tkuma members later left the new party to re-establish Tkuma, and rejoin the National Union alongside Moledet, Hatikva, and Eretz Yisrael Shelanu.

In 2012, the party opted to run as part of the Jewish Home list for the 2013 elections. The joint list won 12 seats, four of which were nominated by the Tkuma central committee. The party decided to continue its alliance with the Jewish Home for the 2015 Knesset elections, but the party won only eight seats in that election.

Tkuma is against territorial concessions. Some members support the annexation of the entire West Bank, though the official policy of the Jewish Home parliamentary faction, of which it is part, supports only annexation of Area C of the West Bank. In 2019, Bezalel Smotrich took over party leadership and decided to run in the elections with the Yamina Party. Prior to the 2021 election, he renamed the party the Religious Zionism Party and announced it would run on its own and focus on “uniting religious Zionism, and chiefly to be the ideological right-wing voice in the Knesset.”