A new poll revealed that 73% of Israeli Jews see the tension between ultra‑Orthodox and secular Jews as one of the two most severe conflicts in Israeli society today, second only to the right–left divide, according to the annual Religion and State Index from Hiddush.
The poll also shows how 83% of Israeli Jews support ensuring freedom of religion, namely, the freedom for both secular and religious citizens to live according to their own worldview.
Among 95% of secular Jews and nearly half (46%) of ultra-Orthodox Jews support this, while among National Religious Jews, 71% support this principle: 79% of liberal religious, 66% of classical religious, and 60% of Torah‑oriented religious.
A majority of 57% supports the separation of religion and state, including 44% of those who voted for Likud in the last election. However, only 31% of those who say they would vote Likud in the next election support separation, compared with 84% among those intending to vote for former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s party.
According to the researchers, “The pool of prospective Likud voters appears smaller and more conservative. By contrast, those who say they would vote for Naftali Bennett’s future party tend to support more liberal positions on religion‑and‑state issues.”
Ultra-Orthodox among most devisive topics
The poll revealed that 68% of the Jewish‑Israelis support a broad coalition without the ultra‑Orthodox parties in the next government, or including them but without granting their demands on religion‑and‑state matters. These issues include draft exemptions for yeshiva students, increased funding for religious institutions, bans on public transport on Shabbat, preventing civil marriage, and non‑enforcement of the core curriculum.
This view is shared by 60% of those who voted Likud in the last election, 39% of Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit voters, and over 90% of Yesh Atid, National Unity, and Democrats (Labor-Meretz) voters.
When asked which religion‑and‑state issues matter most to them and which they want their preferred party to advance in the next election, the top priority is drafting yeshiva students into the IDF or national service (44%), followed by freedom of religion and equality in bearing the civic burden more generally (33%).
The Rafi Smith Polling Institute conducted the poll on behalf of Hiddush, an organization that advocates for religious freedom and equality in Israel.