For the first time since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Shin Bet has used what it calls “special methods” for investigating Jews. Some in the extreme right argue that these tools include torture.

This is the first time such a group has been exposed in Israeli history. This religious/ultranationalist underground group’s main purpose is the elimination of the State of Israel, putting an end to Zionism and fomenting regional chaos that would facilitate the establishment of a messianic Jewish kingdom in the place of Israel. The means for destroying the Jewish state, according to the doctrine of this group, is killing Arabs. The goal was to pit the Arab world and the international community against Israel, undermine the authority of the central government and create chaos that would lead to a revolt. Then, during the revolt, the reins of government would be placed in the hands of those believing in the supremacy of the Torah over democracy.

Their first acts after the coup were supposed to be to appoint a king and re-establish the biblical Judean kingdom that would conduct itself according to Jewish religious law alone. In the first stage, all the Arabs and other non-Jews would be warned to leave the territory of the kingdom immediately. In the second stage, all those refusing to leave, including women and children, would be put to death immediately. There is no place for non-Jews on Jewish holy land. Anyone who identifies a striking similarity to the rules applied by the Islamic State’s caliphate does according to his own judgment. Still, at the end of the day, when religion is taken to extremes and becomes a messianic tool, this is exactly what religious extremism looks like.

Read the article in full Al-Monitor.