Excerpt
If the brief concept of secularism, that almost everyone agrees on, is the separation of religion from the state, then the Israeli model of secularism has a peculiarity that makes it different, and this paper tries to follow the concept of secularism in Israel and its nature, and whether there is a true separation of religion from the state in Israel or not, and the roles religion and its institutions have been playing since the emergence of Zionism and after the declaration of the state, and up to the present day.
The debate in Israel about the relationship between religion and the state can be traced back to a number of Jewish philosophers, each representing a trend that was later adopted by one of the modern Zionist trends, on top of which the Jewish philosopher Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides (1138–1204 AD).
Maimonides was concerned with understanding the Torah as the true expression of political philosophy, and that implementing the commandments of the Torah is the way to reach true happiness, and that one of the duties of the king or ruler―who is considered in the Halakhah (Jewish religious laws) to represent the idea of the state’s independence―is to take upon himself the implementation of the teachings of the Torah, or impose it when necessary.
This vision, in which Maimonides was influenced by the Muslim theologians of his time, contradicts the modern reality in Israel, since it displays a reality that is far from the ideal image depicted by the Halakhah, and the present-day state of Israel is a new reality that was not expected in the religious heritage in the era of Maimonides.
Source:
https://www.alestiklal.net/en/view/8785/religion-and-the-state-in-israel-a-dialectical-relationship-since-the-establishment-of-zionism