The Why Project
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Neturei Karta / Satmar

Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) religious anti-Zionists

Anti-Zionist

Haredi groups holding that establishing Jewish sovereignty before the Messiah violates the Talmudic “Three Oaths” and is forbidden by the Torah — making Zionism a religious transgression rather than a legitimate national movement.

What happened

Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum (the Satmar Rebbe) systematized the argument in Vayoel Moshe that Jewish mass return and sovereignty before the Messiah breaches the Three Oaths (Ketubot 111a). Neturei Karta articulates the same theology in its public materials.

The idea of creating a Jewish state during our exile is in itself against Judaism… The ideals of Zionism are fundamentally against the Jewish faith. (Neturei Karta International)

Under each definition

All four lenses read “no” — they share the raw material of the religious lens (a return theology) yet invert its political conclusion.
Self-IDDo they call themselves a Zionist?
Not a Zionist

They denounce Zionism as heresy and reject the label.

Self-determinationSupport a Jewish state?
Not a Zionist

They oppose a Jewish state before the Messiah as a Torah violation.

Settler-colonialBacks the Jewish-state project?
Not a Zionist

They oppose the Jewish-state project (for theological reasons).

ReligiousA religious/return conception?
Not a Zionist

They hold a return theology but read it as forbidding pre-messianic sovereignty — anti-Zionist under the religious-Zionist definition.

The case that they're a Zionist

Nothing on the pro-label side — they denounce Zionism as heresy.

The case against / their own view

They reject the label entirely, oppose a Jewish state on theological grounds, and — strikingly — hold a return/redemption theology that forbids human-initiated sovereignty, the inverse of religious Zionism.

In their words

Analysis
Neturei Karta’s views are not in any way representative of the vast majority of the Jewish community.
Anti-Defamation LeagueJewish civil-rights organizationADL backgrounder

The verdicts above are how each definition would most likely classify this person — illustrative guidance, not official rulings. The lenses diverge most on the difference between a self-label and a substantive commitment, and between “Zionism” meaning a Jewish homeland versus a Jewish state. See the Definition tab for each definition’s full text. Inclusion is documentation, not a finding.