The Return of Baal to the Holy Land Canaanite Reconstructionism among Contemporary Israeli Pagans Shai Feraro ABSTRACT: This article focuses on the recent emergence of Canaanite Reconstructionism in Israel—a miniature movement within the country’s small, but growing, Pagan community. The discourse of Israeli adherents of Canaanite Reconstructionism regarding its links to ancient Canaanite culture and the land—indeed the very soil—of modern-day Israel is high- lighted. The development of Israeli Canaanite Reconstructionism is exam- ined in relation to the unique nature of Israeli society and identity politics, as well as to Canaanism, a cultural and ideological movement that cli- maxed during the 1940s in British Mandate Palestine but declined after the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. KEYWORDS: Canaanite Reconstructionism, Israeli Pagans, Neopaganism, Wiccanate, Ugaritic P agans represent a small and relatively new spiritual community that has taken root in Israel in recent years. In previous research, I have argued that although Israeli Pagans may employ a commu- nity-building discourse, they constantly fear the negative consequences of public exposure. They see the bond between religion and state in Israel as a main factor in the intolerance and even persecution they expect from the government and religious fundamentalists. 1 59 Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, Volume 20, Issue 2, pages 59–81. ISSN 1092-6690 (print), 1541-8480. (electronic).  2016 by The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Reprints and Permissions web page, http://www.ucpress.edu/journals.php?p=reprints. DOI: 10.1525/nr.2016.20.2.59.