Freedom of religion in israel

Education Ministry establishes guidelines guaranteeing students' rights to lay tefillin in schools

The directive aimed to establish clear, uniform rules and provide school principals with a guided framework to facilitate the policy's implementation throughout the public school system.

A man puts on a tefillin in Washington Square Park in Manhattan on June 19, 2026 in New York City. Tefillin are a Jewish traditional ritual object, believed to be an approximately 2000 year old tradition.
People watch Macy's Fourth of July fireworks as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, from a ship at Brooklyn Bridge Marina, in New York City, US, July 4, 2026

Coast Guard removes environmentalist ship from US 250th anniversary parade over political banners

Scribe Nadav Elhadad writes a Torah scroll at Safed’s Mount Sinai Institute, in Feb.

Shavuot and Mount Sinai: Why modern Jews still wrestle with the Torah

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the general Conference of Fatah Youth in Ramallah, with a backdrop including a portrait of Abbas and Yasser Arafat, November 27, 2025; illustrative.

PA drafts constitution, omits Jewish ties to Jerusalem, calls for Sharia legal system


Ultra-Orthodox histrionics over religion, state may backfire - analysis

Both ultra-Orthodox parties have denounced the government as “treif," have accused Bennett of being “a con artist” and repeatedly denounced the government for "destroying Judaism."

UNITED TORAH JUDAISM Party MK Ya’acov Litzman (left), UTJ MK Moshe Gafni and Shas head Arye Deri converse during a meeting at the Knesset earlier this month.

Jerusalem restaurants excited for potential new kashrut rules

“When you don’t have competition, I think it’s bad for business,” Crave co-owner Tzvi Maller said, speaking about the potential kashrut trust-bust proposed in the Knesset on Tuesday.

Kashrut certificate in Jerusalem, July 21, 2021.

Where will Miriam Naor go with the Meron disaster state inquiry?

Naor is a moderate, but she is secular and a moderate activist.

     Former Supreme Court President Miriam Naor at the Supreme Court hall during a ceremony for outgoing Supreme Court Judge Uri Shoham in Jerusalem on August 2, 2018.

IDF urged to allow chametz on army bases during Passover

The letter to the Chief of Staff asks to ensure the supply of kosher food for Passover does not justify a ban on the holding of chametz by secular or non-Jews.

IDF SOLDIERS from the 669 Unit during a training exercise last year.

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