In Israel, a certain orthodox Jewish ideology has gained prominence over the last 50 years, but existining research has failed to accurately describe it. This ideology views secular ideologies such as Zionism and universalism, as well as secular institutions such as the Israeli state and army, as having religious meaning. This religious meaning emerges from its particular understanding of the messianic process and halacha (Jewish law). When this messianic understanding is applied, human and Jewish politics take on profound religious meaning as expressions of the divine will. This religious interpretation of ideologies and institutions, however, produces an alternative definition of the subject in question, that might not be what the founders of such ideology or institution intended it to be (for example, the state becomes a means to conquer land, not an end unto itself). This results in two understandings of the state of Israel, one which denies the state's legitimacy, and the other which supports it as a democractic theocracy.