Are you sure Israel's religion is polytheistic?

Answer 1

Answer 1

Answering very carefully, I come up with this:

-- If you're talking about the modern state of Israel, then "Israel's" religion ... that is, the religion of the nation ... is totally polytheistic, simply because that nation has no official religion. Everyone is free to practice the religion of their choice, or to practice no religion, and the laws of modern Israel prohibit religious discrimination.

-- If you're talking about the people of Israel in history, then I'm sure that their religion is notpolytheistic. One thing that virtually everyone agrees on is that Judaism introduced monotheism into a polytheistic world.

Answer 2

The simple answer as concerns Ancient Israel is "No" and the simple answer as concerns modern Israel is "Not Applicable".

The commonly explained view is that Judaism was the first religion to promote monotheism. However, there is a scholarly debate as to when this monotheistic view began. Most Jews and other Monotheists hold that the Israelites were consistently monotheistic while scholars usually say that this was a development later in history with the Israelites starting as polytheists and henotheists before becoming monotheistic.

The modern State of Israel has no state religion which makes it impossible to say whether it is atheist, monotheist, henotheist, or polytheist. The state literally has no opinion on the matter. The majority of Israel's citizens today are monotheists or atheists, but this has no bearing on what the state professes. This is similar to the United States.