So what's going to be with religious Zionism now? Let's take a step back and ask some obvious questions that have been ignored.

I've mentioned in the past that I find the use of Nazi symbolism by opponents of the expulsion from Azza to be revolting. But what's it really all about (and why does something deep inside me empathize)? And for that matter, what about all those mean-spirited self-righteous articles arguing that the victims (truly salt-of-the-earth decent people, if ever there were any) had it coming?

To understand the sub-text here, you first have to appreciate that millions of Jews who find the thought of throwing hostile Arabs out of their villages morally repugnant, find the thought of throwing Jews out of their villages perfectly reasonable, even virtuous. All the sophistry that draws bogus distinctions can easily be dismissed. The real point is that Jews can tell anti-semitic jokes, blacks can tell racist jokes, etc. So, too, the unstated argument goes, Jews can expel Jews. It's all in the family. Members of the family can take liberties with each other.

The message in the yellow (orange) star, in the slogan "A Jew doesn't expel a Jew", and a host of other images that many found offensive was this: You people are not Jewish enough to be taking such liberties. You have other loyalties. We, not you, will bear the consequences of what you are doing. We view it as an act of hostility, not a liberty taken by brothers.

The "you have it coming" response was of the you-want-hostility-we'll give-you-hostility variety. And the settler-hugging-soldiers response was of the but-we're-brothers-after-all variety.

So are we brothers after all? Can we continue the struggle for a sort-of-Jewish state together? Honestly, no. Not the way it's been. Something very significant snapped and it will never be the same. In some ways, it might actually get better. (But it's almost Shabbos, so I'll explain why in my next post.)