Results of survey on Israeli religious views, co-sponsored by ALL ISRAEL NEWS, presented at NRB convention

Two Jewish professors presented ground-breaking polling data at the 2023 National Broadcasters convention on Tuesday.

The survey, which was sponsored by ALL ISRAEL NEWS and Chosen People Ministries, asked 1,200 Israeli Jews their views on God, the Messiah, prayer and their opinions about Christians.

Dr. Mordechai Inbari and Dr. Kirill Bumin, who designed the survey, presented the results which revealed, among other things, that “Israeli society exhibits high levels of religiosity.” The findings also showed that younger Israelis are more religious and “tend to be more traditionalist, nationalist, and right-wing than the older respondents.”

According to the poll data, 63.6% of Israeli Jews said they “believe in God as described in the Jewish tradition,” and another 22% said they believe in a “higher power or spiritual force” other than the God of Jewish tradition.

A similar number – 64.2% – said they believed Jews are the “chosen people,” as described in the Bible.

Numbers were notably lower, however, regarding belief in the Messiah, with only 54.9% responding they believed in the coming of the Messiah and 54.5% indicating they believed in heaven and hell.

The survey also polled Israeli Jews regarding their views about Evangelicals and Christians, in general.

From the survey results, Inbari and Bumin concluded that “when it comes to the attitudes toward Christians, there is a large indifference among all sectors of society.”

ALL ISRAEL NEWS previously noted that only 17.5% of the poll’s respondents had expressed a positive view about Evangelicals and another 25% responded as being “neutral.”

The survey designers, Inbari and Bumin, have done extensive research in the past regarding the views of American Christians on Israel and the Jewish people, but this survey represents the first time they have designed such a poll, specifically for Israelis.

Prof. Inbari is a professor of religion at the University of North Carolina in Pembroke. Prof. Bumin is a dean and professor in the Political Science Department at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. 

Following the presentation of the data, members of the survey sponsor team – Joshua Fund Executive Director Carl Moeller, ALL ISRAEL NEWS Co-Founder and Managing Editor Joseph Magen and New York Regional Director for Chosen People Ministries Robert Walter – each commented on the findings.

During their brief remarks, the speakers called upon Evangelicals and Christians more broadly to continue to show unconditional love towards the people of Israel, despite the survey results indicating that Israeli Jews are largely indifferent when it comes to Christians.