Poll: Overwhelming Majority Of Non-Chareidi Israeli Jews Support Imposing Penalties On Bnei Torah Who Don’t Enlist In IDF


A new poll by the Israel Democracy Institute has found that a large majority of Israeli Jews — including many traditional and even some Orthodox respondents — support imposing sanctions on chareidim who do not enlist in the IDF.

According to the survey, 85% of non-chareidi Jews back measures that would penalize draft evasion. This includes a striking 98.5% of secular Israelis, 86% of traditional non-Orthodox Jews, and 65% of Orthodox Jews.

While support for immediate sanctions is strongest among secular and left-leaning Israelis, the poll reveals significant backing even among right-wing voters. Among Likud supporters, 72.5% support sanctions, as do 76.5% of Religious Zionism voters. Among more centrist and left-wing parties, support is nearly unanimous: 94% of Blue and White–National Unity voters, 97% of Labor voters, 99% of Yesh Atid voters, and 100% of respondents identifying with Meretz and Yisrael Beytenu support some form of penalty.

Interestingly, the poll also notes that 30% of Shas’s non-chareidi voters — a small segment of the party’s base — support applying sanctions.

Among the general Jewish population, 69% say they favor immediate application of sanctions, while Orthodox respondents were more inclined to support a delayed approach.

When asked about specific penalties: 73% of non-chareidi respondents support banning travel abroad for draft evaders, 71% favor financial penalties, 65% back withholding driver’s licenses, and 61.5% support revoking voting rights.

Additional sanctions with broad support include 76% backing the cancellation of daycare subsidies for families of draft evaders, 75% supporting the removal of state funding from yeshivos whose talmidim avoid enlistment, Over 82% believe draft evaders should be denied public sector jobs and academic scholarships, and 85–86% say these individuals should be ineligible for government-subsidized housing or municipal tax discounts.

Even within Likud — traditionally more aligned with chareidi interests — over half of voters support most of these sanctions, including 73% who say non-serving chareidim should lose access to property tax discounts and public transit subsidies.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

16 Responses

  1. What it does show, that the chareidim need to do more outreach and publicity explaining our position. Chilonim in Israel have been denied any religious education and simply do not know what it means to be chareidy.

  2. A point that I don’t see brought up often enough, if ever, is that non Chareidim do not understand that Limud HaTorah is a protection for Klal Yisroel at least as much as, and probably more than, the army. All they see is that they are sending their children to fight and the Chareidim are trying to get out of serving. We will never get them to see our side if we show such virulent hatred & violent protests against them. They have no clue about our hashkofos and have to be shown in a loving, caring way, what we are trying to accomplish. This generation is a one of tinokos shenishbu and I can only have pity on them for how they feel.

  3. I would not restrict travel outside of the country, if the trip is one-way. Poland, the Ukraine and Lithuania/White Russia, etc. will welcome you with open arms.

  4. Withholding voting 🗳 rights would be exceedingly dangerous, as it would effectively drastically reduce # of seats that religious parties would receive in Knesset

  5. They should survey the Chareidi world too, they may be surprised with the results. Our situation today has changed everything.

  6. These articles continually intermix the terms bnei torah , charedim, yeshiva students, and other terms. While some number of serious full time yeshiva students deserve a deferment, there is no justification for a broad based exemption for charedim. Wide enlistment of charedim would raise the overall level of religious observance in the army.

  7. @nbednarsh: 40-50 years ago, it was an accepted thing amongst many chassidim and others, 2-3 years after the chassunoh when they entered the business world, to go for a shortened 6 months army service. However, it was the IDF that created the situation of tumah and prostkite in the army, that made it impossible for heimishe men to join the IDF. This is why today’s gedolim all are against joining even the so-called “Chareidy programs”.

  8. Eizehu chacham? Haro’eh es hanolad.

    This is a completely predictable result based on the words and actions of Chareidi leaders and their followers. I’m actually surprised the Dati Leumi percentage is not higher, given that (a) the DL community is bearing a disproportionate burden in this war, and (b) the DL community actually is familiar with and has responses to all the warped “religious” arguments put forward by Chareidi leadershipa – so they know that they’re nonsense even Halachicly, as opposed to someone not religious, who might be fooled into thinking that there’s some internal justification for the Chareidi position.

    an Israeli Yid

  9. What a surprise! Menelaus and Jason and all the Misyavnin don’t like Chareidim! The Gay Pride marchers and the nightclub-goers don’t understand the value of learning Torah! Jews who, sadly, cannot recite Krias Shema cannot understand what the Chareidim are thinking. And nebach, also our brothers and sisters who are shomrei Torah umitzvos, but do not prioritize the finer details of living a life of yiras Shamayim and yiras chait, but instead prioritize living a modern, secular lifestyle in conformity with their understanding of Halachah, they, too are unable to understand why they, their brothers, fathers, sons, should be risking their lives for the safety of others. They do not (always) appreciate that talmud Torah PROTECTS them and everyone else. No news here.

  10. @danzrozen – go into any Yeshivat Hesder and ask the Bnei Torah there what they think about Chareidim not serving. You too easily dismiss the level of commitment to Torah and Yiddishkeit of a large element of the Dati Leumi community in Israel – yet they serve, not because they don’t know better, but because they know why – why, according to Halacha, that have an obligation to serve. They don’t just learn Torah – they LIVE Torah, and find it incredibly offensive that others who claim to have a monopoly on Torah refuse to take up their responsibilities according to Halacha.

    I take the time to listen to what Chareidim say and try to understand them – you should do the same for the Dati Leumi community. As the previous Bostener Rebbe said after being menachem avel David Chatuel, whose pregnant wife and three daughters were murdered in a terrorist attack, “There has to be something to a community that produces people with such a level of emunah”. You should learn something about that community before you talk.

    an Israeli Yid

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