In Search of Meaning and Holy Redemption

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the case of the Hilltop Youth, a radical, violent, and lawless group of young Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. The major argument is that an explanation to their extremist ideology and messianic activism can be found is their yearning for meaning in what they deem as an increasingly precarious and unstable reality. In their struggle to alleviate and solidify the world they live in, they opt for a very militant reading of their faith as a guiding and reassuring compass toward redemption. Such a path is fraught with violence and aggression toward Palestinians as well as toward Israeli authorities. On the road to what these unruly adolescents believe will lead them to their ultimate salvation, everyone else is a threat and every means is sacred. The chapter emphasizes the rapid degradation of recognized “truths” around them and their young age—malleable and vulnerable to unrestrained calls for action—as the Hilltop Youth main catalysts for embracing fierce lawlessness as their quest of choice for meaning.