ABSTRACT
The astonishing Israeli victory in the Six-Day War provoked a religious awakening among Orthodox and secular Jews alike. That resulted in the rise of messianic nationalism, reinforcing and legitimizing the belief held by the nationalist camp that the Land of Israel should never be repartitioned. Gush Emunim was established in spring 1974 by a group of religious fundamentalist Jews in order to prevent a new partition of Eretz Yisrael. In 1977 Likud rose to power after three decades as the most vocal member in the Israeli opposition. The party was formally established in summer 1973 as an affiliation of a number of existing nationalistic and right-of-center parties. The Likud is a territorial party, that is, it is interested primarily in territorial matters. Prior to Likud's rise to power, Gush Emunim was forbidden by the Labor government to establish new settlements in areas that were heavily populated by Palestinians.
