A new poll carried out by the Miskar Research and Polling Institute points to deep-seated trends in the voting patterns of Israel's national-religious sector.
Just 13.2% of national-religious voters said they intend to vote for Habayit Hayehudi under its current leadership in the next election, and just 38.9% would consider voting for it under different leadership. From a practical political perspective, then, Habayit Hayehudi is in the process of being wiped off the political map. From a socio-political perspective, it seems the national-religious sector has given up on what should have been its political home.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
While political leadership and processes promoted by specific parties must not be ignored, it appears the political process underway is the result of deeper internal developments that have led to the dissolution of the national-religious sectors' political center of gravity. As a result, at a time when no specific party stands out, religious voters are free to choose the niche party of their choosing.
Yet despite this newfound freedom, the survey found national-religious voters were mostly planning to vote for right-wing parties. Less than 10% of respondents said they planned to vote for either left-wing, centrist, or Haredi parties. The tendency to vote right-wing isn't new, but the current data indicates a halt in the trend that had developed over the last three election campaigns that saw relatively widespread voting for parties that weren't explicitly right-wing. This trend may stem from the fact that in the next election, a variety of figures from the national-religious sector are set to run with the Right.
The final trend apparent in the survey's findings is a desire to unite the right-wing political map. The central player here is Yamina, which garnered the most support among respondents.
A more in-depth analysis shows parties that bolster their religious identity by, for example, joining forces with parties associated with the national-religious sector would see a significant increase in support. While joining up with a non-religious right-wing party like Gideon Sa'ar's New Hope could increase support for the larger party, on its own, New Hope does not earn significant support among members of the national-religious sector.
National-religious support for such a broad political party surpasses even support for all of the parties that comprise the national-religious political puzzle. We can therefore conclude that this sector's voters no longer demand a national-religious home party, but rather a larger right-wing party with national-religious elements.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
