Over half of secular Israelis believe protests against public prayer illegitimate - poll

Nearly three-quarters of Israelis believe that it is not legitimate to prevent or disturb prayers in public spaces, according to a new poll released by Maariv on Friday.

Those who said that the protest against prayers is illegitimate made up a vast majority (80% or more) of the traditional, religious, and haredi sectors, and even among secular people, more than half (51%) felt the same.

Over a fifth of secular people (22%) believe, however, that disruptions are legitimate if services in public spaces separate between men and women, but this only made up a total of 12% of all respondents.

The issue has been questioned a lot since Yom Kippur when protesters disrupted prayers in Dizengoff Square as well as other public spaces around the country in demonstrations of gender segregation.

A similar incident happened on Thursday at a prayer service led by Rabbi Leo Dee in Dizengoff Square.

Meanwhile, election polls remain similar to last week’s with Benny Gantz’s National Unity regaining its lead on the Likud by one seat and opposition parties gaining 65 seats as opposed to the coalition parties’ 55.

These would be the results if elections were held today, according to Maariv’s poll:

National Unity would win with 29 seats; The Likud would earn 28 seats and most likely lead the opposition; Yesh Atid would come next with 16 seats, having lost one since last week’s poll; Shas and United Torah Judaism would follow with 10 and seven seats respectively; Yisrael Beytenu would get six seats; The Religious Zionist Party would also get six seats, having gained one since last week; Hadash-Ta’al would get five seats alongside Ra’am; Meretz would make it back into government with four seats; Otzma Yehudit would bring up the rear also with four seats.Labor still wouldn’t make it into the government, although its percentages rose since last week’s poll.