Freedom of religion in israel

Simchat Torah: Divine fire and national legacy

Should Torah exist apart from society or be fully integrated within it?

SIMCHAT TORAH at the Gush Etzion junction.
 Muslims pray on the first Friday of Ramadan, at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalem's Old City, March 7, 2025

Police on guard as tens of thousands of Muslims hold Ramadan prayers on Temple Mount

 A WOMAN walks in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. The Armenians in Jerusalem are one of the smallest and most vulnerable communities; they are neither Palestinian nor Israeli and have no interest in being dragged into the ongoing conflict, says the writer.

Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter under threat: Urgent call for protection - opinion

 NATIONAL SECURITY Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir walks near the Western Wall, after visiting the temple Mount on Tisha B’Av, earlier this month.

US criticizes Ben Gvir's Temple Mount visit, sparking debate on Jewish prayer rights - opinion


What I told a recent State Department conference

What’s the state of religious freedom in Israel and the Arab world?

AN ARAB woman walks past a Jewish couple at the Western Wall

The Honey Foundation is supporting religious pluralism in Israel

While the ultra-Orthodox receive the vast majority of public funding, only 10% of Israelis are ultra-Orthodox.

The opening performance at the Honey Conference: Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan and Daphna Rosenberg of Nava Tehila (Jerusalem) and Rabbi Esteban Gottfried of Beit Tefilah Israeli (Tel Aviv)

Liberman files High Court petition demanding end to rabbinate's DNA tests

“It is outrageous to hear that only immigrants from the former Soviet Union are suspected time after time by the rabbinical courts that they are ‘non-Jews’,” said Liberman.

Former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman launches Yisrael Beitenu on January 20, 2019

Israelis want American Jewish help in promoting religious pluralism

As it does every year, the survey found that Jewish Israelis are far more liberal on religious issues than their government.

Flags of the United States and Israel

Freedom of religion

My concern is the guarantee of freedom of religion. The lack of that freedom makes us – ironically – the only nation in the free world in which complete freedom of religion does not exist for Jews.

An illustration by Pepe Fainberg

It happened to my family. It can happen to yours.

“It’s sad and so unfair. Did you see how proud she was tonight? But unless someone figures out how to fix things she’s going to wake up one day and find out...”

The Rabbinical Court of Tel Aviv

Capital’s First Station complex won’t close on Shabbat

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who has opposed closing the complex on Shabbat but could not muster a majority against it, said he was pleased by the Regional Committee’s decision.

Jerusalem’s cultural and entertainment centers are blossoming, from the renovated First Station complex (above) to the brand new Cinema City

The state comptroller’s report and religious services

Let us hope that by the next state comptroller’s report, we will have succeeded in democratizing Israel’s religious establishment by giving greater control of religious affairs to local communities.

A man stands in front of the Western Wall during a special prayer for rain in Jerusalem's Old City, December 28, 2017.

WATCH: Did the IDF bow to religious pressure by removing women’s video?

The video has a voiceover by female soldiers repeating frequent claims by rabbis in the religious Zionist movement, such as that women have no physical strength.

A female IDF soldier shaking out a blanket during a week-long survival course for women in the infantry at an undisclosed location in Israel

Ashdod mayor: City to stop fining shops open on Shabbat

The mayor explained, as he has in the past, that a ruling by the Ashdod Magistrate’s Court has forced the city to enforce its 1976 bylaw regulating businesses opening on Shabbat.

Yehiel Lasri