Study: Israelis more religious, more right-wing since October 7

Two years of war have pushed Israeli Jews to the right, new study finds, alongside a trend toward greater observance of religious traditions.

By World Israel News Staff

More than two years of war on multiple fronts has been marked by shifts in political self-identification among Israeli Jews, a new study has found, along with changes in religiosity.

This week, the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) released a report on religious observance and political identity in Israel since October 7, 2023, noting a marked rightward shift among Israeli Jews, and an increase in the percentage of Israelis – both Jews and Arabs – who said they engaged in religious practices.

While the study said the political and religious shifts were noticeable among the general population, they were strongest among the 18-24 age cohort.

Among both Israeli Jews and Arabs, more respondents in the JPPI survey said they felt their faith in God has increased rather than decreased since October 2023. More than a quarter (28%) of Jews and 37% of Arabs said their faith had increased since 2023, compared to 9% of Jews and 4% of Arabs who said that it had declined.

Jews in the 18-24 age cohort were more likely to say their faith in God had increased, with 35% testifying to an increase in faith.

Nearly half (49%) said they believe that their friends and relatives have increased their faith to some degree, while just 9% said that the level of religiosity of those around them had declined since 2023.

When limited to Jews under 25, the percentage who said the religiosity of those around them had increased rose to 58%.

Overall, 27% of Israelis said their observance of religious tradition has increased over the past two years, while 33% of Jews under 25 said the same, along with 23% of Arab Israelis of all ages.

Nearly a third (31%) of Israeli Jews say they are praying now more than they did before the war, with 20% saying they read the Bible or Psalms more frequently, 10% who said they attend synagogue prayers more frequently, 9% who lay phylacteries (tefillin) more often, and 9% who said they intentionally dress more modestly.

Among Jews under 25, 38% said they were praying more often since the war, with 26% reading the Bible more frequently, 14% attending synagogue more often, and a similar percent saying they dressed more modestly.

Politically, a significant shift among Israeli Jews of all ages was observed, with the percentage of respondents who self-identified as “hard right” rising from 11% before the war to 19%, while the percentage who described themselves as “right-wing” rose from 24% to 28%.

The rise was driven primarily by a rightward shift among respondents who had previously described themselves as centrist or center-right.

There was also a movement to the right among those who had previously identified as being left-wing. Half of those who identified as “left” or “hard left” reported some degree of movement towars the right, along with 43% of those who identified before the war as centrists and 49% of those who had previously identified as center-left.

“The data reflects what we sensed on the ground: many in Israel — especially among the young — feel that the war has connected them more deeply to tradition and to Jewish identity,” said JPPI CEO Dr. Shuki Friedman.

“Not necessarily in a halachic way, but in ways that are more salient in their lives and across the public sphere. When Sasson Shaulov’s hit song Tamid Ohev Oti ([God] Always Loves Me) — a religious song by a rabbi — gets tens of millions of plays on YouTube, it captures the spirit of the moment.”

“Alongside this, Israelis, especially young people, have shifted to the right. Israel after the war is more traditional and more right-leaning. At this stage, it is impossible to know whether this is a passing trend, or a deeper and longer-term change.”