MESSAGE
| DATE | 2025-11-21 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Baal T'Chuvia accross Israel...
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Israel-Hamas War made Israelis more religious, JPPI special report reveals
Approximately half of the people who identified as center or left-wing
reported a rightward shift in their politics since October 7.
A Jewish man wears a blue Kippah with a Star of David on it in Sao
Paulo, Brazi
A Jewish man wears a blue Kippah with a Star of David on it in Sao
Paulo, Brazi
(photo credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)
ByESTHER DAVIS
NOVEMBER 21, 2025 11:55
Updated: NOVEMBER 21, 2025 11:59
Israelis now show stronger religious observance and faith than before
October 7 and the Israel-Hamas War, with this week’s JPPI special report
on Israelis and tradition finding that the conflict has led Israeli
society to become more traditional.
JPPI’s Israeli Society Index found a marked increase in observance of
tradition and belief in God, especially among young traditional or
religious Jews.
The backdrop of the report has been public discourse over the observance
of tradition in Israel, including the rising popularity of traditional
songs, whether it is appropriate to wear religious symbols on IDF
uniforms, and more.
Israeli society has been feeling the rise in traditionalism and the
rightward shift in politics. The new report highlights that this is not
just a feeling, but a fact: there has been a rise in religious
observance, traditionalism, and the right wing.
The survey examined the beliefs, practices, and attitudes of Jews and
Arabs in Israel, with a special focus on the views of young Jews (aged
18-24).
Men of the Women of the Wall pray behind the partition at the back of
the women’s section, in 2013. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM
POST)
Men of the Women of the Wall pray behind the partition at the back of
the women’s section, in 2013. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM
POST)
Rise in religious observance
The data shows that the wartime period has had a significant impact on
Israelis’ observance of tradition.
JPPI found that 27% of people reported an increase in engagement with
religious practices, with 33% of Jews aged 18-24 saying they are now
observing traditions more than before the war.
Around 23% of the Israeli Arabs surveyed said they experienced a greater
observance of tradition during the war.
The increase in Jewish religious observance since the war began is
strongest among people who would already have described themselves as
somewhat traditional or religious. A stronger religious identity was
directly, positively correlated with a higher proportion reporting
increased traditional practices.
Among young people who consider themselves “traditional, but not so
religious,” there is a 37% increase in religious practices, and among
those who are “traditional, somewhat religious,” there is a 51% increase.
This overall trend in Jewish society toward increased religious
observance and tradition is especially clear among people aged 25 and under.
Religious customs are gaining popularity
Prayer amongst Israeli Jews has increased, with 31% reporting that they
have been praying more since the war began. Similarly, 20% report
reading the Torah or Tehillim more often.
Approximately one-tenth of the Jews surveyed reported increases in
practices such as attending synagogue, lighting Shabbat candles, putting
on tefillin, or dressing more modestly.
Jewish youth showed a stronger upward trend in commitment to customs,
with 38% praying more, 26% reading more Torah, 14% attending synagogue
more, lighting Shabbat candles more often, and dressing more modestly.
Within the “traditional, not so religious” group, nearly half reported
increased prayer. In the “traditional, somewhat religious,” and
religious communities, the percentage reporting increased observance of
customs is even more significant.
More than half prayed more, and around 42% read Torah and/or Tehillim
more, compared to the 23% increase in the “traditional, somewhat
religious” group.
In Arab society, 32% have increased how often they pray, 12% dress more
modestly, and 10% attend church or mosque more often, similar to the
proportion of all Jews surveyed who increased observance of each of
those customs.
Belief in God
A large number of those surveyed indicated feeling a stronger faith in
God over the last two years. Just over a quarter of Jews and 37% of
Arabs feel they believe in God more now than they did before the war,
while 9% of Jews and 4% of Arabs have a decline in faith.
Jewish youth have once again experienced a greater impact on belief than
among Jewish adults, with 35% saying they believe in God more than they
did before.
The general impression within Israeli society is that religious faith is
strengthening. Almost half of Jewish Israelis believe their friends and
relatives have increased their faith to some degree, with only 9%
perceiving it as having weakened.
58% of Jewish youth reported that their families and friends have
increased religious faith, similar to the 52% of Arabs who reported the
same.
Politics shifting right
Alongside the questions about changes in religious belief and
observance, JPPI asked participants about changes in their political
self-identification. They found that since the war began, Jewish
Israelis have displayed a clear shift to the right.
Almost half of those who would have described themselves as “moderate
right” before the war, and 59% of those who were “right-leaning towards
the center,” report moving further right in the last two years.
Approximately half of the people who identified as center or left-wing
reported a rightward shift in their politics since October 7.
In the Arab sector, however, political beliefs have remained stable,
with the same proportion of people self-reporting as center, left, and
right as before the war.
Previous studies into religiosity and the Israel-Hamas War
A study from Hebrew University found earlier this year that the ongoing
conflict in Gaza is creating significant shifts in religion and
spirituality among young Israelis, similar to the findings of JPPI.
Hebrew University researchers found that approximately half of the
people surveyed changed their religious and spiritual beliefs, with
increases in faith being more common than decreases.
The researchers noted that direct exposure to war was associated with
greater religious and spiritual engagement. They suggested that constant
reminders of mortality, through rocket attacks, media coverage, and
military service, can push people to seek meaning in spirituality.
They found that conscious knowledge of death creates existential
anxiety, which people manage by clinging to cultural beliefs, values,
and worldviews that give life meaning and offer a sense of symbolic or
literal immortality.
Dr. Shuki Friedman, CEO of JPPI, said, “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. Not necessarily in a halachic way, but in ways that are more
salient in their lives and across the public sphere.
--
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