Four elections, a year of COVID-19 and disaster after disaster have left deep depressions in Israeli society and widened the rift and polarization between various parts of the Israeli population. A study involving 1,000 Israelis and conducted by the Pnima Movement through the Geva Institute checked the rates of hate Israelis feel for one another. The data was published in Maariv on Sunday.
Orthodox and hate24% of all Israelis stated that they hate Orthodox people. 40% of secular people said they hate Orthodox people, compared to only 2% of Orthodox people who said that they hate secular people. 18% of traditional people stated that they dislike Orthodox people, compared to only 4% Orthodox people who said they dislike traditional people.
Left-wing vs. Right-wing Left-wing voters are the most hated population in Israel according to the study. 22% of all Israelis stated that they hated leftists, where the percentage of right-wing voters who hate leftists is 30%. On the other hand, only 10% of left-wing voters stated that they hated people on the right side of the political spectrum.
Mizrachi and Ashkenazi76% of all Israelis feel that there is a rift between Ashkenazi people and Mizrahim (descendants of local Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa), and 38% of all Israelis think the rift has grown in the past few years. In the secular population, 50% think the rift has grown, compared to 27% of religious people and 17% Orthodox people who think the same.
The study also reports that all Israelis have encountered hate speech in their daily lives. 69% have experienced this on social media. 63% left-wing voters have encountered hate speech from the politicians, compared to 56% of right-wing voters and 50% of Orthodox people. 75% experienced hate speech toward them online, compared to 60% of the general population. 66% right-wing voters experienced hate speech compared to 50% of left-wing voters.
Political Ideologies28% of all Israelis feel tension in their immediate environment due to differing political ideas. For this reason, 30% of all Israelis stated that they avoid talking politics to worsen tensions between family and friends. 19% of left-wing voters fear for their safety because of their political leanings. On the other hand, only 11% right-wing voters have the same fears. In the same vein, 19% left-wing voters are scared to discuss their political leanings in public, compared to only 14% right-wing voters with the same concerns.
Pnima is an Israeli movement that was started in 2015 by leaders and public figures of all parts of the population, with the goal to solve the polarization in Israeli society, and it is headed by former education minister Rabbi Shay Piron.
"The eve of Tisha Be'av, 2021 requires each and every one of us to look inside and introspect," said Rabbi Piron. "It has nothing to do with religious or secular. Our power as a people is the coherence and the ability to accommodate each other for our differences. We need to uproot the word hate from the Israeli lexicon. We are allowed to and should debate and disagree. We are not allowed to hate. It may be a terrible strategic threat to the most important Israeli asset - the power of coherence and unity."
This article was originally published in Hebrew by Yuval Bagno for Maariv and translated to English here by Ariella Marsden.