knowledge of the Fundamental Accord or any current positions of the Church regarding the state of Israel. Aviner responds to his hypothetical Church with the following theological retort about proofs for the true Israel.

The state of Israel was established by Divine decree, this negates the fundamental principle of Catholic theology, founded on the ¢ nal punishment of Israel. Wandering in exile provides the truth of Christianity… The [State of Israel] proves that the Jewish people…are the true Israel

Christianity is the number one enemy of the state of Israel. With the Arabs we have a non-essential neighbors quarrel…But with Christianity it is cosmological in essence, whether we are the Jewish people or not.2°

If one were to ask whether, despite the falsity of Christian truth claims, the religion still constitutes a path to God, Zevi Yehudah would answer by deny- ing any truth to Christianity and all philosophical universals as untrue to Jewish thought. Like the practitioners of Wahabi Fundamentalism within Islam, Zevi Yehudah denies the continuous relevance of the cosmopolitan ages of synthesis, choosing instead to return to the polemical Midrash.

Why was Zvei Yehudah Kook’s exclusionist position formulated at the end of the twentieth century? His theology shows the change that comes about from living in a non-Diaspora context, which enables this rejection of Western culture. The state of Israel can lead some to a secure acceptance of the other, especially other religions, or it can allow for a complete xenophobic rejection. Even though the overwhelming majority does not personally enter~ tain these ideas, they are many times passively tolerated.

Judaism and Other Religions: Models of Understanding, 2010