"Religiousity" of Israelis
Reader comment on item: Did Divine Intervention Fell Ariel Sharon?

Submitted by Daniel Bairey (Israel), Dec 31, 2007 at 07:05

You (or the poll you quote) fail to specify how religiousity was defined, a murky issue in the best of cases. I doubt that there are very many people in Israel who would classify themselves as "Traditional" who would attribute anything to divine intervention, much less a blood clot and overdose of koumadin or similar medicine in an elderly man, known to be prone to strokes. In a country where 20% are Arabs, 20% mostly Secular Russians, one also wonders who was included in the poll.

On the other hand there is probably no lack of religious people who would be classified as merely "Traditional" due to a lack of sufficient obervance of religous practices.

The results probably indicate more political inclinations and wishful thinking than anything else.

What is surprising in the poll is how many religious people, including ultra religious, do not attribute the insident to divine intervention: perhaps a sign that many of them are more skeptical and perhaps less right wing than one might think.

As for your conclussion, that Israel is more religious than some perceive it to be: "Jewishness" surely is a defining issue in Israel but that does not seem to always imply religion or a belief in God. On the other hand, the wide variety of threats of almost every ilk and colour that permeate Israeli reality make one wonder if anything but divine intervention ensures an otherwise non-sustainable situation to be otherwise: so if you believe what Sharon did endagere Israel, perhaps attributing the unfortunate turn of events to divine intervention does not require a very large leap further. I would venture that if this implies religious or not, in the sense of the Reverend Robertson and his flock, is another matter altogether.

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