The surprising statistic about Israeli children that should worry us all

An open telephone survey conducted on October 26, 2026 by the 'Involved Parents Forum' among 96,029 parents found that 61% of children could not complete the sentence 'Shema Yisrael'. The figure is presented as a call to strengthen Bible and heritage studies.

An open telephone survey conducted on October 26, 2026 by the 'Involved Parents Forum' among 96,029 parents in Israel found that 61% of children could not complete the sentence 'Shema Yisrael'. 58,249 children failed to answer, compared to 37,780 who knew. The survey was intended to promote an initiative to return Bible and heritage studies to the center of the education system. The article presents the figure as alarming, but does not provide a comparison to past data or address the interest of the body that conducted the survey.