At a gathering in the Knesset sukkah this month, Benjamin Netanyahu read from the Book of Samuel and spoke of a “great deliverance.” Whether the prime minister was expressing personal conviction or reading the political moment, he chose language that reaches beyond military strength alone.
On October 27, Israel’s youngest voters will have their say. Estimates put the number of first-time voters at between 550,000 and 640,000—enough to make this cohort a significant force in an election shaped by war, national security and the country’s future. Netanyahu has been prime minister for roughly 16 of the 18 years these voters have been alive.
A Channel 12 survey conducted by the Midgam Research Institute found that 80 percent of first-time Jewish voters believe in God or a higher power, compared with 75 percent of older voters. Forty-three percent said they kiss the mezuzah on their doorposts, compared with 33 percent of older voters. And 56 percent said they believe the Messiah will come, versus 51 percent of the older group.
The survey was a snapshot of Jewish first-time voters, not every young person in Israel. Still, the mezuzah figures point to a notable rise in a visible expression of Jewish tradition. In a country where identity, history and faith are closely linked, even a measured change can carry political weight.
The shift is unfolding among young people raised in the shadow of conflict. They have grown up with rockets from Gaza, repeated rounds of fighting and, for many, the shock of October 7 and its aftermath. Friends and relatives served in the military. Some lost loved ones. The experience has left a generation weighing questions of survival, responsibility and what holds the nation together.
For some, the answer is not only a stronger army or a tougher government. It is a renewed sense that Israel’s story has a spiritual dimension—that the country’s survival cannot be explained by military power alone. The return of religious language to public life may reflect that search for meaning, even among voters who are not religiously observant.
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