| Brit HaKanaim | |
|---|---|
| ברית הקנאים | |
| Leaders | Shlomo Lorincz (1918–2009) Mordechai Eliyahu (1929–2010) |
| Foundation | 10 April 1950 |
| Dates of operation | 1950–1953 |
| Dissolved | 1953 |
| Country | Israel |
| Ideology | Jewish orthodoxy |
| Size | 35 members |
| Designated as a terrorist group by | State of Israel |
Brit HaKanaim (Hebrew: בְּרִית הַקַנַאִים, lit. Covenant of the Zealots) was a radical Jewish underground organization which operated in Israel between 1950 and 1953, in opposition to the widespread trend of secularization in the country.
The group was made up of several dozens of boys and girls, who were students at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem. The underground had more than 35 members at its peak.
Among its members were Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, who later served as the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, and Shlomo Lorincz who later served as chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee as a member of Agudat Yisrael.
The ultimate goal of the movement was to impose Jewish law in the State of Israel and establish a Halakhic state. The arrest of members of the underground brought to the public agenda issues about the relation between religious groups and public institutions in the State of Israel, but also issues of proper treatment of detainees, and the use of administrative detention rules to enforce the law on extreme political and religious movements.