The public expects its political representatives to honor its wishes

63% of Israeli public wants a civil unity government

The public’s position remains stable and very, very clear: 63% of Israel’s adult Jewish public wants a civil unity government, which will promote religious freedom and equality, and which will not be dependent upon the religious parties, nor submit to their demands on issues of religion and state.

03/12/2019 12:14

Tags: Hiddush polls ·  civil unity government ·  2019 elections

Political commentators have been busy of late, analyzing and making various predictions on potential coalition constellations and political compromises necessary to square the circle and potentially bring the Likud together with Blue & White, the religious parties, and Yisrael Beiteinu. However, the public’s position remains stable and very, very clear: 63% of Israel’s adult Jewish public wants a civil unity government, which will promote religious freedom and equality, and which will not be dependent upon the religious parties, nor submit to their demands on issues of religion and state. This is the preference of 96% of Blue & White voters, 92% of Yisrael Beiteinu voters, as well as 44% of Likud voters. Most secular Israelis [89%] and most of those who identify as traditional support this.

The public expects its political representatives to honor its wishes and liberate the State of Israel from the religious coercion and extortion of the ultra-Orthodox parties. Today, Israel is closer to actualizing this vision than ever before.

Very few days remain to form a coalition and avert a third round of elections, and the pressure to compromise is only rising. In light of this, Hiddush – For Religious Freedom & Equality surveyed the public on whether it would prefer a coalition of civil and religious parties, based on maintaining the religious ‘status quo’, or whether it would rather have a civil government that works to advance religious freedom and equality of civic burden, without giving in to the demands of the religious parties.

Support for a coalition that promotes religious freedom and equality of shouldering the civil burden characterizes almost all of the expected partners of a civil unity coalition.

The Smith Polling Institute's survey last week demonstrates that the Israeli Jewish public's attitudes are consistent and unambiguous. According to the findings, 63% of the adult Jewish public [that expressed its opinion] would prefer “A civil unity government that does not depend upon the religious parties and does not give in to their demands on religious issues, but rather advances religious freedom, like introducing a civil alternative for marriage and divorce and requiring all to share equally in shouldering the civic burden.” Only 37% expressed support for “a coalition with the ultra-Orthodox parties based on maintaining the status quo on issues of religion and state.”

Support for a coalition that promotes religious freedom and equality of shouldering the civil burden characterizes almost all of the expected partners of a civil unity coalition: Blue & White voters [96%], Yisrael Beiteinu [92%], and almost half of Likud voters [44%]. This is also preferred by 100% of Democratic Camp voters, 94% of Labor-Gesher voters, 89% of the secular public, and 72% of the non-religious traditional public.

The public expects its representatives to honor their will and free the State of Israel from the religious coercion and extortion of the ultra-Orthodox parties. Israel is closer to fulfilling this vision than ever before. Most right-wing voters also want freedom of religion and equality of civic burden. Given the reality in which a stable civil coalition can be formed with parties ranging from the center to the right, the voters will of course reward those parties who express their commitment to religious freedom. The parties that choose to remain beholden to the religious parties’ demands will find themselves punished at the polls. The vision enshrined in Israel’s Declaration of Independence for religious freedom and equality should be advanced!

Hiddush has been asking this question in its surveys since 2013, and particularly often over the course of the past year, in a series of pre- and post-election surveyes since the beginning of 2019. Although the various surveys have attempted to examine the public's positions using different formulations of the question, the result has remained unequivocal and stable: 64-68% of Israel’s adult Jewish public wishes for its representatives to revolutionize the relationship between religion and state and form a broad civil coalition, which is a fundamental prerequisite for promoting the values of religious freedom and equality of civic burden.

The survey was conducted through the Smith Polling Institute on November 26-27 among 600 people as a representative sample of Israel’s adult Jewish population (ages 18 and older). Sampling error: 4.0%