Most religious Zionists choose dialogue over legislation to address Israel's social challenges - survey

At Tzohar's yearly conference, 79% of religious Zionists endorsed grassroots talks rather than legislation as the top route to social agreement in Israel.

ByAZRIEL MOSKOWITZ

JULY 27, 2026 13:39

The large majority of religious Zionists support dialogue that leads to social agreement over parliamentary or legal routes to fix Israel's social challenges, a Tzohar survey conducted at Tuesday's yearly conference showed.

The survey found that 79% of religious Zionist participants favor addressing these challenges through community-level talks, while just 15% think new laws can fix them.

The conference, now a key date on the community schedule, comes after several major shifts in the religion-state balance in Israel.

On July 14, Bnei Brak became the first Israeli city to enact rules for gender-separated streets, when the local authority chose to make parts of Shlomo Hamelech and Ezra streets into segregated areas.

Earlier the same day, the Knesset approved a widely debated bill to pause arrests of haredi draft evaders.

'There is a great desire today for spirituality in Israel': Tzohar founder states

Rabbi David Stav, founder and chair of Tzohar, also spoke about the warped view of religion held by secular Israelis on The Orthodox Conundrum podcast last week.

Rabbi Stav noted that there is a "great desire today for spirituality, to grasp our story - What is the Jewish story? What are our values?"

"Rather than turning this opening into a source of motivation...we place Torah in a spot where people sense that Torah opposes all basic human values," he continued.

"The way Torah is seen today [by secular Israelis] is that it is not ethical, haredi, not practical, depending on others...something [to which] they do not wish to connect."

"The presence of thousands here today shows a wide wish in our community to speak on major topics of the moment," Rabbi Stav noted at the conference.

"Our aim with this yearly gathering is to offer a chance to explore subjects from personal matters like raising kids in today's world, to larger social questions on building a more connected Jewish society amid the many shifts Israel and the Jewish world face."

The poll was taken among almost 3,000 attendees at the yearly summer conference of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, held at the Tel Aviv Expo. It centered on the theme of "For the Sake of Heaven and Earth," gathering top rabbinical, educational and social voices to discuss many of the main questions facing the religious Zionist community after Oct. 7.