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.

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