On messianism - Ayelett Shani talking to Yair Littman Nehorai in Haaretz:

’ Please introduce yourself.
I'm married to Dikla and the father of three children, a lawyer by profession and a worried citizen. For several years, I've been fighting the growing power of messianic ideology. We are at a historic moment, and if we don't get our act together, no one from the liberal camp will be able to live in Israel.’ Let's dwell for a moment on your biography, because your activism is targeting your original milieu.
My father, Rabbi Michael Zvi Nehorai, was one of the closest disciples of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook [a founder of religious Zionism]. I remember many of today's "go-to" names – like Rabbi Zvi Tau [leader of the anti-LGBTQ Noam party] or Rabbi Dov Lior [an ultranationalist rabbi] – from my childhood home. At a certain point, my father wrote an article criticizing an idea presented by Rabbi Kook, and he in return threw my father out of the yeshiva. My father entered academia and joined Meimad [a moderate religious movement]. So, yes, the foundations of my understanding of the Kook doctrine come from home. But it's important to me that people understand that I'm not fighting my father's battle – I'm not settling scores.’

(…)

‘Let's try to condense your seminar into a few hundred words. What would we learn? We would learn that the greatest threat to Israel's character today comes from this group of followers of the Kook approach. People who say they are part of "religious Zionism" today but actually belong to a messianic ultra-Orthodox stream. They have a redemptionist worldview. From their viewpoint, our whole existence is a divine play whose end is foretold, that the whole world will acknowledge the oneness of the Creator. The Jewish people's role is to make that happen.
Explain the concept of atchalta de'geula [literally, the beginning of redemption, a core religious Zionist ideal].
It's when God decides that the time for redemption has come. Redemption has two stages. The first is the material stage they call "Messiah ben Yosef." [Son of Joseph]. The role of Messiah ben Yosef – of secular Zionism, ostensibly – is to establish a functioning state with an army. Herzl, Ben-Gurion, Netanyahu – that's Messiah ben Yosef. After the material stage, the spiritual stage begins. It's called Messiah ben David. During this stage, a halakhic state will be established over all the territories of the Promised Land, the Temple will be rebuilt, and the whole world – even the Eskimos – will recognize the oneness of God.
The judicial coup is in effect a religious, messianic struggle, signifying the transition from Messiah ben Yosef to Messiah ben David – or, in their language, from the rule of the "seed of the beast," to the rule of the "seed of humanity." Secular people are seen as the seed of the beast, because we're caught up in the bestiality of life. They [messianists] learn that secular heresy is, effectively, a divine invention: God needed bestial souls to build the land, because the believers wouldn't leave their religious study halls.’

(…)

‘There's no doubt that it's moving forward quickly and very effectively. Maybe it really is a divine plan.
verything is part of the divine plan. Everything. Why did the Holocaust happen? Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook will tell you that, in terms of historical processes, the Holocaust had a purpose: to advance redemption. Fact: The survivors arrived in Israel. Why did October 7 happen? So we can return to Gaza.
Very good. You're starting to speak like a messianic. The war in Gaza also put a stop to the fight against the judicial coup, because "together we will win." And why was it necessary for so many people to be killed? Because that way we could turn all of Gaza into Amalek and conquer it. When we look at October 7, we're appalled. We feel our home has been destroyed. From their point of view, it's something else altogether ... From their point of view, it's all signs of the advent of the Messiah. Remember what the rabbi from the IDF Nahal Brigade training bases said just a few days after the war started: "Apart from those who were killed, it's the happiest day of my life."’

(…)

‘Years ago, I interviewed sociologist Prof. Yagil Levy. That was exactly his argument: that under the radar, the army was slowly being theocratized.
He's right. And it's a process from which there is no return. It's already lost. The army has fallen.
You're against drafting the ultra-Orthodox.
The liberal public's push to draft Haredim is disastrous – it's liberal Israel's collective suicide. Look at what already exists: Netzah Yehuda, Hashmonaim [ultra-Orthodox IDF battalion and brigade, respecively]. They are organic religious units, committed to the Torah and to conservative Orthodoxy. No rights for women or LGBTQ people. We're creating a religious, messianic army and who's going to command it? You? No. The rabbis. They'll integrate into the army on their own terms – excluding women and so on. I wouldn't be surprised if, one day, the policing force responsible for enforcing the laws of the Torah comes from there.’

(…)

‘Is the war in Gaza the first religious war? No. From their point of view, it's all about religious wars. It's just now that things are out in the open – and yet we still don't get it.
All of Israel's wars were religious wars? All of them. All the wars are a divine imperative meant to move the redemption forward. We don't see it. They're geniuses at concealment – at blurring. They constantly enumerate the Bnei David [preparatory program] alumni who've fallen, and then liberal Israeli society says: that's holiness. I also believe that anyone who gives their life is holy, but they make cynical use of it.’

(…)

‘Let's say there are democratic elections. And let's say, for the sake of argument, that what the liberal public hopes for happens and the present coalition drops to 50 seats. Bennett rises to power. What happens then? The pre-army preparatory programs will be the crowning glory. Messianic judges will be appointed. The army will continue filling key posts with messianic officers. The coup will continue – without noise and shouting, but in a fun way. Seamlessly. That's what we fail to understand. These processes are much bigger than Netanyahu. Than Bennett. Than us. Bigger than anything else.’

Read the article here.

In other words, the alternative to the current stream if messianism in Israel is a slightly different form of messianism.

Life without redemption is unlivable.

Many people, all over the world are seeking redemption.

But the fanatism of the Israeli branch of redemption seekers, together with the fanatism of the evangelists in the US, is beyond repair.

You don’t need a complete theocracy in order to destroy the state. A messianic army fighting religious wars will do.