By, Anonymous
1 min read
ByJC Reporter, Anonymous
A major survey has revealed the widening divides between different sectors of Israeli society.
The latest report from the Pew Research Centre in Israel, released today, highlights divisions between Israeli Jews and Arabs, religious and secular Israelis, and American and Israeli Jews.
The study found that there was very little intermarriage between Charedi, religious-Zionist, traditional and secular groups, and low levels of social interaction.
It also found that nearly half (46 per cent) of Israelis raised as modern Orthodox would no longer identify as such by adulthood, while the vast majority of those brought up within an ultra-Orthodox and secular context would remain as such, and would rarely interact socially outside those groups.
Israeli Jews tend to be more religious than their American counterparts; however, they are more likely to skip shul, the study found. Israeli Jews are more likely to observe Jewish practices such as keeping kosher, lighting Shabbat candles and fasting on Yom Kippur. However, in Israel it was found that men show higher levels of religious commitment than women, whereas in America the reverse applied.
Israeli and American Jews also differ when it comes to politics. American Jews are more optimistic about a two-state solution, with 61 per cent saying they believed Israel and a Palestinian state could co-exist peacefully, compared with only 43 per cent of Israeli Jews. American Jews viewed security threats and terror attacks as Israel’s biggest problem, while Israeli Jews saw economic difficulties as the biggest threat to their country
Controversially, Israeli Jews were asked whether “Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel.” Around half of the respondents “mostly agreed” (27 per cent) or “strongly agreed” (21 per cent). Forty six per cent opposed the statement, however, and the question has come under fire for being “misleading.”
However, Israel Prize laureate Sammy Smooha, a professor of sociology at the University of Haifa, told Haaretz: “Although it’s clear that support for expulsion and transfer should be condemned, the wording of the question is misleading and vague… the way the question is presented, the statement ‘to expel Arabs from Israel’ is non-committal and even easy to agree with.”
The poll was conducted between the end of 2014 and the middle of 2015, and involved over 5,000 Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis.
