Israel – New Poll Shows Israelis Hate the Charedim the Most

Israel – 37% of Israelis say that the haredim are the most hated group in Israel, according to a new study.
Some 15% said the same of new immigrants from former Soviet Union countries, while about 13% said that settlers in the West Bank and the former Gaza Strip settlements were the most hated.

According to Aharon Rose, a researcher of haredi society and thought at the Hebrew University, the figures reflect in part haredi society’s perception of itself as hated, and not necessarily the level of that hatred in non-haredi circles. “Many believe that the leadership of the haredi world is happy about this,” Rose said following the publication of the study. “According to this view, the perception of being hated helps them to keep their society separate from the general culture.”
As proof, Rose pointed to the fact that “haredi media love to quote incessantly those few who truly hate them. It makes it easier to keep the kids inside haredi society.”

For Rose, however, there is much hatred in the general society that is reflected in the study. Rose doesn’t believe that self-perception of the haredim is the whole story.
“I think the haredim are hated in part because they represent to secular Israelis a Jewish past that the secular world hasn’t dealt with,” he said.