Israel’s Religiously Divided Society
A presentation for the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues Alan Cooperman Director of Religion Research About the Survey
• 5,601 Israelis interviewed face-to-face, at the respondent’s residence • Respondents selected through random sampling within neighborhoods (statistical areas all across the country) • Interviews conducted in Hebrew, Russian, Arabic from October 2014 to May 2015 • Oversamples of Arab Christians, Druze, Haredim, Jews in West Bank, Arabs in East Jerusalem • Follows the Central Bureau of Statistics’ definition of the Israeli population, including Jews living in the West Bank as well as Arab residents of East Jerusalem
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 2 Israel’s diverse religious landscape % of Israeli adults who identify as …
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 3 Israeli’s Religiously Divided Society JEWS AND ARABS ON RELIGION AND POLITICS
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 4 Israel seen as a Jewish homeland
% of Israeli Jews who say Jews around the world should have the right to make aliyah to Israel …
All Jews 98%
Haredi 98
Dati 99
Masorti 99
Hiloni 98
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 5 Jewish state and democracy seen as compatible
% who say Israel can be both a democracy and a Jewish state …
All Jews 76%
Haredi 58
Dati 79
Masorti 80
Hiloni 76
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 6 Religious law vs. democratic principles
If there is a contradiction between halakha and democratic principles, which should be given preference?
Halakha Democratic principles
Haredi 89% 3%
Dati 65 11
Masorti 23 56
Hiloni 1 89
All Jews 24 62
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 7 Sharp disagreements among Jews on public policy issues
% of Jews who favor/oppose shutting down % of Jews who favor/oppose allowing public transport in the entire country on Conservative and Reform rabbis to conduct Shabbat … marriages in Israel …
Oppose Favor Oppose Favor
Haredi 3% 96% 96% 2%
Dati 12 85 87 7
Masorti 52 44 70 24
Hiloni 94 6 28 65
All Jews 63 35 54 40
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 8 Disagreements on public policy issues (contd.)
% of Jews who favor/oppose % of Jews who favor/oppose allowing conscripting Haredi men to Conservative and Reform rabbis to serve in the military … conduct marriages in Israel …
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 9 Most Arabs say Israel cannot be both a democracy and a Jewish state
% in Israel who say …. Israel can be a democracy and a Jewish state at the same time …
No Yes
Arabs 64% 27%
Muslims 63 28
Christians 72 20
Druze 58 30
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 10 Support for religious law among Muslims/Christians
% of Muslims who favor making sharia official law % of Christians who favor making Bible official law of the land for Muslims in Israel … of the land for Christians in Israel …
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 11 Among Arabs, declining belief in possibility of two-state solution % who say a way can be found for Israel and an independent Palestinian state to coexist peacefully …
80 %
Arabs 74 60 64 50 46 43
40 37
Jews
20
0 2013 2014 2015
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 12 Are leaders sincerely seeking peace?
% of Jews who say Palestinian % of Arabs who say the Israeli leadership is sincere/not sincere in government is sincere/not sincere in its efforts toward peace its efforts toward peace
Not sincere Not 88% sincere 72%
Sincere Sincere 20 10
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 13 Mutual doubts about sincerity of leaders in peace process
40% 40
% of Jews who say Israeli government is not % of Arabs who say Palestinian leadership making a sincere effort toward peace is not making a sincere effort toward peace
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 14 How much discrimination do Muslims face in Israel?
% who say Muslims face a lot of discrimination in Israel …
79
21%
Jews Arabs
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 15 Arabs more inclined to see discrimination throughout Israeli society
% of Jews and Arabs who say each group faces a lot of discrimination …
Homosexuals Hiloni Religious Women Ethiopian Mizrahi & Lesbians Jews Jews Jews Jews
All Jews 20% 9 21 25 36 21
All Arabs 34% 21 23 40 44 33
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 16 Jewish opinion evenly divided on idea of transferring/ expelling Arabs % of Jews who strongly disagree/disagree and strongly agree/agree with the statement “Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel” …
Disagree Agree
All Jews 46% 48%
Haredi 32 59
Dati 26 71
Masorti 39 54
Hiloni 58 36
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 17 Israeli’s Religiously Divided Society SOCIAL DIVISIONS
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 18 Friendship Circles
% in Israel who say … of their close friends share their religion
All Most
Jews 67% 31% 98%
Muslims 38 48 85%
Christians 21 65 86%
83% Druze 22 61
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 19 Friendship circles among Jews % in Israel who say … of their close friends share their religion
All Most
89% Haredi 33% 55%
Dati 6 67 72%
Masorti 2 45 48%
90% Hiloni 26 64
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 20 Jews uncomfortable with intermarriage
% Haredim who say they would % Hilonim who say they would be comfortable/uncomfortable be comfortable/uncomfortable with their child marrying a …. with their child marrying a ….
Very/ Very/ somewhat 13 somewhat comfortable comfortable
99 98 95% 93% 96 80 Not too/ Not too/ Not at all Not at all comfortable comfortable
..Hiloni ..Christian ..Muslim ..Haredi ..Christian ..Muslim
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 21 Very little religious switching (conversion) % of Israeli adults …
% Raised % Current Jewish 80 81 Muslim 14 14 Christian 2 2 Druze 2 2 Another <1 <1 religion No religion 2 1 100 100
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 22 But some movement in and out of Jewish subgroups % of Jews …
% % % % Raised Left Joined Current Haredi 8 -<1 +2 9 Dati 19 -9 +2 13 Masorti 28 -9 +10 29 Hiloni 46 -4 +8 49
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 23 Israel's Religiously Divided Society RELIGIOUS TRENDS OVER TIME
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 24 Trend 1: Muslims rising as a share of the Israeli population % in Israel classified as …
Jews Muslims Christians Druze Other
100
90 86%
80 75
70
60
50
40
30 18 20 9 10 4 3 1 2 2 0 1949 2014
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics.
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 25 Trend 2: Due to high birth rates, Haredim rising as a share of adult population (20+)
% of Jews who identify as …
2002 2013
43 41 42 37
11 9 10 6%
Haredi Dati Masorti Hiloni
Source: Israeli Social Survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics among adults 20+.
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 26 Trend 3: Some decline in share of Jews with moderate levels of religious observance % of Jews who say they follow … of the Jewish tradition
45 Some 44 41 39 33 38 40 All/Most 34
26 23 21 None 16
1991 1999 2009 2015
Source: 2009 data from Guttman Center for Surveys, 1991 and 1999 data from Guttman Institute.
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 27 Israeli Arabs more religious than Israeli Jews overall
% in Israel who say religion is % in Israel who say they attend very important in their lives religious services at least once among... a week among…
All Jews 30% All Jews 27%
All Arabs 66 All Arabs 47
Muslims 68 Muslims 49
Christians 57 Christians 38
Druze 49 Druze 25
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 28 Smaller share of Arabs than Jews have completed college
% in Israel who say they have a college degree among…
All Jews 33%
All Arabs 16
Muslims 15
Christians 18
Druze 20
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 29 Israel's Religiously Divided Society SHARED VALUES
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 30 Importance of family goes across religious lines
% in Israel who say maintaining strong family relationships is very/somewhat important to them among…
All Jews 97%
All Arabs 97
Muslims 97
Christians 98
Druze 92
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 31 Jews and Arabs agree on importance of personal career success % in Israel who say personal career success is very/somewhat important to them among…
All Jews 89%
All Arabs 92
Muslims 92
Christians 96
Druze 94
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 32 Jews and Arabs agree on importance of helping the needy
% in Israel who say helping people who are in need is very/somewhat important to them personally among…
All Jews 86%
All Arabs 91
Muslims 92
Christians 90
Druze 83
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 33 Importance of secular and religious education among Jews and Arabs
% in Israel who say giving their % in Israel who say giving their children a good secular children a good religious education is very/somewhat education is very/somewhat important among… important among…
All Jews 96% All Jews 74%
All Arabs 93 All Arabs 91
Muslims 93 Muslims 92
Christians 95 Christians 87
Druze 98 Druze 84
June 27, 2016 www.pewresearch.org 34 Alan Cooperman Director of Religion Research [email protected]
June 27, 2016 www.pewproject.org 35