A survey conducted on 800 Israeli men and women chosen to represent Israel's Jewish population found that on every religion-and-state issue tested, the majority was opposed to official policy
Almost two-thirds of Israel's Jewish adults support forming a broad coalition after the next election, either without the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties or including them without accepting their demands on state policy based on religion, including policies on the draft, funding for religious institutions, public transportation on Shabbat, and civil marriage, according to Hiddush's annual survey published on Monday.
The survey, conducted by the Smith Polling Institute for Hiddush, an organization advocating for religious freedom and equality in Israel, involved a sample of 800 men and women representing Israel's Jewish population 18 and up.
It found that on every religion-and-state issue tested, the majority position was opposed to the government's current policy, including on the haredi draft.
Some 84% of participants supported conscripting yeshiva students in some form, with 51% believing everyone should be conscripted into full regular service or essential service, and 31% believing there should be an annual quota of exemptions for outstanding students, with everyone else conscripted.
Only 16% of respondents held the position that all yeshiva students should be exempt from army service, down from 25% in 2022.
Additionally, 66% of the participants support the High Court and Attorney General's decision to expand sanctions against yeshiva students who don't enlist by cutting public subsidies and increasing arrests, according to Hiddush.
Respondents were also largely in favor of cutting State funding for haredi schools that refuse to teach the core curriculum and administer external exams, with 55% believing that funding should be cut entirely and 21% believing it should be cut in half.
About 77% also believe that all ties between educational institutions and political parties should be severed, and when asked about the disparity between government funding of religious Jewish, general Jewish, and Arab schools, 70% of those with an opinion said that all discrimination within education should be eliminated, and that full funding equality should be guaranteed for all students in Israel, regardless of religion or race.
According to Hiddush, the survey's findings "expose the wide gap between the government's repeated claim that it represents the will of the people and the actual positions of the majority of the adult Jewish public."