The Israelite State

The kings of Judah and their subjects could call themselves Israelites just as Darius and Xerxes could call themselves both Persian and Iranian ("Aryan"). In sum, descent from the eponymous ancestor established the "common blood" of the Israelite nation.
- David M. Goodblatt, Elements of Ancient Jewish Nationalism

Bemoaning the increasingly theocratic character of the state of Israel, Uri Avnery argues:

The source of all this evil is, of course, the original sin of the State of Israel: the non-separation between state and religion, based on the non-separation between nation and religion. Nothing but a complete separation between the two will save Israel from total domination by the religious mutation.

Is it possible for Israel to separate nation and religion? Is it possible to be an Israelite, but not a Jew; a Jew, but not an Israelite? The example of the Samaritans proves it is indeed possible. Sean Ireton notes:

Samaritans comprise the Cohanim from the priestly tribe of Levi who constitute the majority, with the rest claiming descent from the two tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim. They consider themselves Israelites but not Jews, holding that their ancestors inhabited the region around Shechem (modern Nablus) continuously before and after the fall of the northern kingdom Israel in 722 BCE. The Judaean tribes of the southern kingdom Judaea were exiled to Babylonia in 586 BCE, returning to Palestine as Jews.

Unfortunately, the Samaritans are now numerically (and thus politically) insignificant. While numbering over a million people in the fourth and fifth centuries CE, they are now reduced to a remnant of less than thousand. Where did those millions go? Ireton writes:

Much of the local Palestinian population is believed to be descended from Samaritans who converted to Islam. Certain Nabulsi family names are associated with Samaritan ancestry - Muslimani, Yaish, and Shakshir among others. Fayyad: 'the Samaritans moved to Islam so that they could live freely and some people find it better to be one of millions rather than one of hundreds.'

If Israel is redefined as an Israelite state, instead of a narrowly Jewish state, Palestinians could be encouraged to reclaim their Israelite - whether Samaritan or Judean - ancestry. (Alternately, Israel could become a constitutional monarchy, with a Davidic king to command trans-denominational fealty.) Palestinians would not have to convert to a new religion to be Israelites, but rather "revert" to an old heritage (altough perhaps they would forge a new syncretistic faith, using al- Isrâ’îliyât as a foundation). The Hebrew Bible would be for them, as it was for the original secular Zionists, a national rather than religious text. Jewish, Muslim, Samaritan and indeed Christian, pagan and atheist Israelites would then become brothers by blood and culture, if not faith.

The redefinition of Israel as an Israelite state would also solve the problem of Orthodox extremism. Yehoshofat Harkabi observes:

Not having a country of their own, the Jews had to live under the rule of foreign governments. Relations with the sovereign power were conducted according to the Talmudic principle enunciated in the third century. "The law of the kingdom is the law"—that is, the ordinances of the civil authorities are binding. For the Jews, the two normative systems existed side by side: halakha, the divine law regulating the lives of Jews mainly among themselves; and the statutes of the country in which they lived, which regulated their contacts with their non-Jewish surroundings. . . . For the Orthodox extremists, a Jewish state that is not founded by the Messiah and that does not make halakha the law of the land lacks any legitimacy.

Redefine Israel as an Israelite state and the Orthodox would be free to recognize it as a legitimate secular entity akin to those Jews have historically lived in, neither a threat to nor a fulfillment of their messianic pretensions. The state would in turn treat them as other states do religious minorities: as equal citizens with equal obligations and no special privileges.

The Zionist pioneers called the new state Israel, rather than Judah, for a reason. Jews/Judeans are but one tribe of twelve. Inshallah, our Muslim Israelite brethren will rejoin the fold. Tsivi Misinai, who has researched the subject of Jewish-Palestinian genetic and cultural kinship, puts it this way:

The Jews who went into exile held onto their culture, beliefs and religion, while those that remained behind held as long as they could to the Land of Israel. Both loves - love of Torah and love of land - come from the same wellsprings. It's time to repair the historic damage done by our enemies, the Romans, and reunite our people.