Israeli Jews tend to identify with right-wing and religious parties, according to polling data released on Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.
Nearly half (48%) of all Israeli Jews said they felt closest to one of the three rightwing parties in the Knesset: the Likud (28%), Jewish Home (11%), and Yisrael Beytenu (9%).
Another 15% of Israeli Jews identified with haredi parties, including 12% who chose Shas, and 3% who identified with the United Torah Judaism party.
Only 16% identified with leftwing parties like Labor (10%), Meretz (4%) and HaTnua (2%), which in 2015 ran on a joint list with Labor.
A further 12% felt closest to centrist parties like Yesh Atid and the now-defunct Kadima party, while 9% chose none of the above.
In total, roughly 63% of Israel’s Jews identify with religious or right-wing parties, compared to only 28% who felt closest to left-wing or center parties.
According to the data, political affiliation strongly correlates with religiosity. Nearly all haredi Jews identified with either Shas or United Torah Judaism, while 87% of national religious Jews favored religious or right-wing parties.
On the specific issue of building in Judea and Samaria, a plurality (42%) of Israeli Jews believe expanding the Jewish presence over the Green Line benefits Israel’s security. Less than a third (30%) believe expanding Jewish communities in Jude and Samaria harms Israeli security, while 25% feel it neither helps nor hurts.