Allison Kaplan Sommer

… The costumes referenced the novel and television series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which depict the cruel and extreme fictional state of Gilead, where religion, the military and the government are inextricably fused. This militarized society is ruled by a cadre of elite men known as Commanders, who derive their absolute authority from their interpretation of Biblical law.

At the time, some felt that the use of “Handmaid’s Tale” imagery was fear-mongering and overblown for what appeared to be a legalistic struggle between political and judicial powers.

Three years later, not so much.

Haaretz’s recent deep-dive into an organization called Torat Hamedina shines a light on a strategic crusade that envisions a Gilead-like future for the country – one that would make the darkest fears of the “Handmaid’s Tale” protesters a reality.

The piece, written by Hilo Glazer, focuses on the group’s goal of replacing the Israel Defense Forces’ ethical code with a doctrine that would turn war into a “divine mission,” reminding “every soldier that he is perpetuating the path of King David and of the Maccabees, and that he is fighting in the name of God and in the name of all of the People of Israel.”

In the view of the extremist rabbis speaking at an event promoting the cause, every war Israel fights must be waged as a holy war, with soldiers instructed that they are not defending their homeland with weapons, but enacting God’s will by “eradicating evil,” unbound by “unfounded international law” – accountable only to Jewish law.

For Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, head of the pre-military academy in the settlement of Beit El and the central figure at the event, this version of God is not only firmly aligned with Jewish supremacy, but also merciless and inhumane. He enthusiastically prophesied that “in the tens of years ahead, a million children in the Strip won’t have where to sleep. They will be hot and then cold, and they all want to get out of there.”

But the goals of Zarbiv and his allies extend far beyond the military. They already scored a major victory in March with the very development the 2023 “Handmaid’s Tale” protesters feared most: the passage of legislation officially expanding the authority of rabbinical courts to adjudicate civil matters beyond their current jurisdiction over religious and family law. If fully implemented, the move could create a parallel religious judiciary, paving the way for the subjugation of the civil sphere to religious law.

As quoted in the article, Zarbiv aspires to a future in which the “entire system of laws of Israel will be based on Torah.” Glazer’s reporting documents how this and other far-reaching goals are being systematically advanced by both Torat Hamedina and the Yachin Research Center for Strategic and National Studies, which reflect Zarbiv’s Gilead-esque vision – and how they have supporters and allies at the highest levels of power.

A spokesperson for a women’s organization quoted in the story warns that their goals embody “a systematic plan to transform Israel into a halakhic state in which women are third-class citizens.”

A measure of hope and inspiration in the face of this frightening prospect can be drawn from the same literary source as “The Handmaid’s Tale”: its sequel, “The Testaments,” which recounts how the brave rebellious women of Gilead ultimately sabotage and overthrow the oppressive regime.

For real-life Israeli women – and men – the challenge is to confront and quell the rise of a brutal messianic, patriarchal and supremacist movement before it becomes reality and transforms their country into a place they no longer recognize.