by Alexander Dugin
March 02, 2026
from Geopolitika Website

translation from Spanish by Biblioteca Pleyades

Spanish version

Original version in Russian

In the modern world, the Middle East remains the epicenter of geopolitical conflicts, where the interests of diverse forces, such as Islam, Judaism, and global powers, intertwine.

Of particular interest is Zionism as the state ideology of Israel, which, according to many analysts, carries an eschatological dimension associated with the end times.

Like any religion, Judaism is a complex phenomenon encompassing metaphysics, history, and philosophy, with numerous, sometimes contradictory, interpretations.

 

We will examine how Zionism fits into this tradition and why it can be perceived as both a continuation and a refutation of it.

Today we will discuss an urgent topic:

Zionism as the state ideology of Israel...

Judaism as a religion is associated with the idea that Jews are the "chosen" people, primarily in a religious sense, because this people is chosen to...

remain faithful to the one God at a time when other peoples, who were in agreement with Judaism, were moving away from this monotheism, and to await His messenger, the Messiah (Mashiach), who will be crowned King of Israel and 'Ruler of the world'.

The word "Mashiach" in Hebrew means "anointed," "anointed for the kingdom."

The same word in Greek is "Christ"...

But Christianity is based on the conviction that the Messiah has already come into the world...

But the fundamental difference with Judaism is that Jews believe that the Messiah has not yet come and do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah. This is the fundamental difference...

A very interesting point then arises.

According to Jewish tradition, the Jews went into exile (the fourth Galut) at the beginning of the first millennium, in the 70s CE.

This occurred after the Romans carried out a punitive operation against a rebellious province.

The Second Temple was destroyed.

The Jews left Palestine (the Holy Land).

And then began a two-thousand-year era of dispersion.

This era has religious significance, described in detail in Jewish tradition.

The purpose of the Diaspora is to atone for the sins of Israel, accumulated during previous historical periods. If this atonement is effective, if the repentance (teshuvah) is profound, according to Jewish tradition, the Messiah will appear as a blessing from the Jewish God through the deeds of his chosen people.

The appearance of the Messiah will then be a sign sent from 'above' for the return of the Jews to Israel, the establishment of an independent state, and the construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem, on the site of the destroyed Second Temple.

In principle, the most consistent proponents of this Jewish approach are certain fundamentalists of the "Neturei Karta" or Satmar Hasidim movement, who say something like this:

"Our Jewish God commanded us to endure the hardships of exile; let us wait until its end, atone for our sins, and when the Messiah arrives (but not before!), we will return to Israel, to the Promised Land."

They base this on the fact that,

the Talmud clearly prohibits a mass return to Palestine before the arrival of the Messiah, and especially carrying it out by force...

The Talmud forbids it and firmly states:

first the Messiah, then the return to Israel, and nothing else.

This raises the question:

how was the State of Israel created when, apparently, the Messiah has not yet arrived?

After all, not even the most extreme Zionists claim that he has arrived.

To understand how the modern Israeli state stands in total contradiction with Judaism in its Orthodox and Talmudic forms, we must delve deeper and go back at least to the 17^th century, to the time of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi.

He was, as Gershom Scholem writes, the first herald of Zionism...

Sabbatai Zevi declared that he himself was the Messiah and, therefore, the Jews now had the right to return to the Promised Land.

The end of Sabbatai Zevi was tragic. When he approached the Ottoman sultan to demand, as a messiah, that he be granted the right to Palestine, the sultan told him:

"I have another proposal for you, Mr. Sabbatai Zevi. If you continue spouting this nonsense, I will cut off your head. But if you wish to survive, convert to Islam immediately."

And then Sabbatai Zevi made a strange gesture.

He took the turban, put it on, and said:

"You are right, you are right, I am not a messiah. Let me preach Islam from now on."

He was saved, but what a disappointment, what a blow to the Jewish community, which was already prepared to embrace Sabbatarianism.

Although Sabbatarianism was rejected by Orthodox Judaism, it did not disappear completely and continued to spread, especially among Ashkenazi Jews in Eastern Europe, almost clandestinely.

In the same regions where it spread, a Hasidic movement began to emerge, which lacked a defined eschatological or messianic focus, but concentrated on disseminating Kabbalah among ordinary people.

Traditionally, Kabbalah could only be studied by elderly rabbis who had completed all other forms of Talmudic education.

But,

what happened in some sects of this Sabbateanism?

The theory arose that Sabbatai Zevi was, in fact, the true messiah, and that he had deliberately embraced Islam by committing a 'holy betrayal'.

What is holy betrayal...?

An entire theology of holy betrayal developed, arguing that Jews could renounce their faith, convert to another faith, Islam, but only through corruption, while they themselves continued to practice Judaism in secret.

Later, the Sabbatean Jacob Frank converted to Catholicism.

He provided Catholic scholars with the supposed evidence of the "blood libel," that is, the legend that "Jews eat Christian babies."

He insisted on this, being himself a Jewish convert, and presented "irrefutable proof." Frank fully embraced all forms of Talmudism, renounced his faith, and betrayed his fellow believers.

He had a justification for this.

Frank's secret doctrine, like that of Sabbatai Zevi, asserted that, in fact, after the 17th century, the very concept of the Messiah had changed.

Now the Messiah is the Jews themselves.

There is no need to wait for another Messiah; the Jews are the Messiah.

Therefore, even if a Jew betrays his religion, he remains holy, because he is holiness, he is 'God'...

In this way, an intellectual environment for Zionism was created...

The essence of Zionism lies in the fact that it is a kind of "Jewish Satanism." This Satanism is not related to other peoples or cultures, but is Satanism within Judaism; that is, it is a reversal of proportions.

While classical Orthodox Judaism insists that the meaning of the existence of Jews in the Diaspora (Galut) lies in the expectation of the Messiah, who will come from outside, and only then should they return to the Promised Land, Zionism is based on the principle that the Jews themselves are 'God'...

Therefore, they can now return to Palestine, and they can do so by force, thus rejecting the Talmudic prohibition, and, consequently, begin the construction of the Third Temple themselves.

And the guarantee of this messianic process will be the appearance of the Messiah, who, in essence, is every Israeli!

This explains the unique relationship between Zionism and Judaism.

On the one hand, Zionism is a continuation of Judaism; on the other, it is a refutation of Judaism.

Zionism rejects the most fundamental principles of Judaism:

the culture of pious expectation and the culture of repentance (teshuvah).

Furthermore, Zionists claim that Jews have nothing to repent of; they have already suffered enough.

Jews are God, not just "the people of God," but God himself. This means that Jews themselves are the "collective Messiah." Therefore, no law applies to them; they are their own law.

This explains the fundamental peculiarity of the modern Zionist movement, which relies not only on Israel, but also on a large number of Jews,

secularists, liberals, atheists, communists, capitalists, Christians, Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Hare Krishnas, neo-spiritualists, and occultists...

All these Jews, in reality, represent a network of widespread Francoism.

Precisely because all of them, collectively and individually, are now the Messiah, each can safely commit a sacred betrayal without sinning against their very essence.

This is immanent messianism, where the concepts of the Messiah and the Jews themselves have been interchanged.

The Zionists no longer wait for the Messiah; they themselves are the Messiah, and therefore have nothing and no one left to wait for.

 

They can only rely on their own strength and their own networks around the world to assert their global dominance and rebuild their state of Israel, regardless of the local population or any other cost.

This is the purpose of the formal prohibition against criticizing Zionism, in force in some US states, where anti-Zionism is equated with anti-Semitism.

If we look closely, we will see that the State of Israel itself is waging a war against the Semites, that is, the Palestinians, Arabs who are pure Semites.

Furthermore, Zionist ideology cannot even be called "Jewish" in the full sense of the word, since it is based on the refutation of the fundamental principles of Judaism.

If the Messiah is not awaited, what kind of Judaism is it...?

The mere existence of the State of Israel is, in the eyes of the Zionists, proof that they are the Messiah.

Otherwise, the State would never have existed. And they attribute all the credit for its creation solely to themselves and their networks. Since it worked, they believe, it must have been achieved with God's help.

And then only one step remains:

to blow up the Al-Aqsa Mosque and begin construction of the Third Temple, as demanded by the extremist Zionist group "Temple Worshippers."

Recently, enormous funds have been allocated for research on the Temple Mount.

Given that Zionism has such a deep metaphysical basis, it is pointless to tame it with appeals to the UN or futile cries of "let's make peace, let's respect human rights."

We find ourselves in the midst of eschatological scenarios with profound metaphysical foundations.

The situation is becoming increasingly alarming, transcending the usual and banal explanations - the economy, the market, oil prices, the stock market, national interests, etc. - which are becoming increasingly contradictory and even absurd.

We live in very interesting times, but the price of living here is that parts of our consciousness are simply blocked, paralyzed...

If we overcome the hypnosis, the fog, the meaninglessness, the absurdity, and the postmodern fragmentation of consciousness, we will see a very interesting and terrifying panorama of what is happening in the Middle East...




References mentioned

• Gershom Scholem (1897–1982): Israeli historian and specialist in Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah). He is considered the founder of the modern academic study of Kabbalah. Scholem described Sabbatai Zevi as a precursor to Zionism, highlighting the influence of messianic movements in Jewish history.
   

• Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676): Jewish mystic and self-proclaimed messiah who proclaimed himself the Messiah in the 17th century. His movement (Sabbatianism) generated great enthusiasm among Jews, but culminated in his conversion to Islam. This event influenced the development of antinomianism (the breaking of laws for "spiritual purification") among Jewish sects.
   

• Jacob Frank (1726–1791): Founder of Frankism, a religious movement that combines elements of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Frank claimed to be the reincarnation of Sabbatai Zevi and preached "purification through transgression" (holy betrayal), including the rejection of traditional Judaism. His followers (the Frankists) promoted antisemitic campaigns, such as accusations of blood libel.
   

• Neturei Karta: An ultra-Orthodox, anti-Zionist Jewish group founded in 1938. They consider Zionism an affront to God, as Jews should not return to Israel en masse or by force until the arrival of the Messiah. The group advocates for the peaceful dissolution of the State of Israel and supports the Palestinians.

Books and Sources

• Gershom Scholem, "Sabbatai Zevi: The Mystic Messiah, 1626-1676" (Princeton University Press, 1973): A classic biography of Sabbatai Zevi, in which Scholem analyzes him as a precursor to Zionism. The book highlights how messianic expectations transformed into political movements. Available on Amazon and from Princeton Press.
   

• Pawel Maciejko, "The Mixed Crowd: Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755–1816" (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011): The first comprehensive study of Frank and Frankism, showing its impact on Jewish-Christian relations.
   

• Talmud (Ketubot 111a): Contains the "Three Oaths," a metaphor in which Jews swear not to "rise like a wall" (return en masse) to the Land of Israel before the Messiah, not to rebel against the nations, and not to hasten the end times. This is interpreted as a prohibition against the creation of Israel.
   

• Yotav Eliach, "Judaism, Zionism, and the Land of Israel" (Wise Path Books, 2018): A study of the 4,000-year history of the Jewish people, focusing on the religious and ideological aspects of Zionism.
   

• Yitzhak Conforti, "Zionism and Jewish Culture" (Academic Studies Press, 2024): An exploration of the cultural roots of Zionism, including the balance between tradition and modernity.
   

• Yossi Shain, "The Israeli Century: How the Zionist Revolution Changed History and Reinvented Judaism" (Post Hill Press, 2021): An analysis of how Zionism transformed Jewish identity from diaspora to sovereignty.
   

• "Zionism: An Emotional State" by Derek Penslar (Rutgers University Press, 2023) – on the emotional aspects of Zionism;
   

• "The Threshold of Dissent: A History of American Jewish Critics of Zionism," by Marjorie N. Feld (NYU Press, 2024), about Jewish critics of Zionism.