Israel’s ‘Religious Zionists’ grapple with extremists in their midst

[CopyBoy]

ESH KODESH, West Bank (RNS) On this unauthorized hilltop outpost the only sound for miles around is of a dog barking or a rooster crowing.

Just 40 young religious Jewish families live on this windswept spot some 30 miles north of Jerusalem, and on this January day most of their children — about 150 in total — are in school down the road in Shilo, the nearest Jewish settlement.

But Israeli authorities say the seeming tranquillity of Esh Kodesh and roughly 100 other settler outposts, or tiny settlements built without Israeli government approval, is deceptive: They say they are a breeding ground for Jewish extremism.

religionnews.com/2016/01/19/israels-religious-zionists-grapple-extremists-midst/