Nearly half of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox and nationalist religious youth expressed hatred toward Palestinian citizens of Israel and support stripping them of their citizenship, according to a poll released this week.
The poll from the Hebrew University’s aChord Center examined 1,100 respondents from ages of 16 to 18.
The poll showed that 49 percent of all religious Israelis and 23 percent of secular Israelis indicated support for stripping Palestinian Israelis of their citizenship.
Half of Israeli religious teens would strip Arab right to vote, poll finds… https://t.co/eTCZeY6KuL
— Marian Houk (@Marianhouk) February 19, 2021
Meanwhile, Palestinian Israelis showed comparatively less negativity towards Jewish Israelis, with 12 percent expressing hatred towards secular Israelis and 22 percent expressed hate toward national religious and ultra-Orthodox Israelis.
Nine percent of Palestinian Israelis expressed support for stripping secular Israelis of their citizenship, 13 percent expressed support for doing the same for national religious Israelis and 19 percent supported stripping ultra-Orthodox Israelis of their citizenship.
Meanwhile, 23 percent of secular Israelis expressed hatred toward ultra-Orthodox Israelis – a figure that was higher than previous years.
"The study showed..66 percent of the ultra-Orthodox, 42 percent of religious Israelis, and 24 percent of secularists 'hate Arabs', meaning the Palestinian community that makes up 20 percent of the Israeli population and who participate in the Knesset and government institutions" https://t.co/zfOiHSLAMd
— osiris322 (@osiris322) February 20, 2021
The increase likely due to the public’s frustration with the Haredi sector over a perceived refusal to comply with coronavirus health regulations, the poll noted.
Last year, the percentage of secular Israelis who expressed hatred toward national religious citizens was much lower, at nine percent.
Since people usually avoid admitting their hatred toward another group when responding to polls, the aChord study noted that the high rates “may show that expressing hatred is considered acceptable”, Haaretz reported.
Secular Jews and Palestinian Israelis were the most willing to meet one other, while religious nationalists were the least willing to meet Arab citizens, the poll showed.
(The New Arab, PC, Social Media)
