Attentive to fears: the way to mend the Israeli rift

An opinion piece by Moti Shklar, a research fellow at the Hartman Institute, examines the mutual fears among the camps in Israeli society – Haredim, secular-liberals, and religious Zionism – and suggests that acknowledging these fears, without abandoning ideology, is the key to mending the rifts. The article calls for empathetic leadership that prioritizes sensitivity and broad consensus.

An opinion piece by Moti Shklar, a research fellow at the Hartman Institute, examines the mutual fears among the camps in Israeli society as a central factor in the political-social rift, just before the 2026 elections. The article describes the fears of the Haredi camp of secularization and religious Zionism, the concerns of the secular-liberal camp of the Haredim and religious Zionism, and the concerns of religious Zionism of the liberal camp and the Haredim. The article cites research by Prof. Oz Almog on religious Zionism, and mentions a weekly forum at the Hartman Institute dealing with coping with the rift. The central argument is that acknowledging fears, without abandoning ideology, is the key to mending the rifts. The article calls for leadership that prioritizes empathy, sensitivity, and broad consensus, and avoids unilateral changes.