Public Attitudes toward Abortion in Israel:
A Research Note
*
Larissa I. Remennick, Bar-Ilan University
Amir Hetsroni, Yezriel Valley Regional College and Tel-Aviv University
Objective. For the first time since the mid-1970s, this study explored sociodemo-
graphic correlates of abortion attitudes among Israeli Jews and compared them with
those reported by the General Social Survey in the United States. Methods. A survey
in the representative sample of Jewish adults living in urban areas across Israel (N =
546) that included two related items on the attitude toward abortion for nonvital
reasons. Results. Using multiple regression, four statistically and socially significant
correlates of antiabortion attitudes were identified: Greater religiosity (especially
Ultra-Orthodox affiliation), lower than average income, greater number of children,
and right-wing political preference. Gender and age did not emerge as significant
correlates of abortion attitudes. Whereas American Jews form the mainstay of the
prochoice camp, Jews in Israel are clearly divided along the lines of religiosity, eth-
nicity, socioeconomic status, and political views. Conclusions. In both Israel and the
United States, the sociodemographic profiles of abortion supporters and opponents
have been rather similar and stable over the last 25 years. This may point to the
stable patterns of religiosity in both societies, since antiabortion sentiments have
mainly been fueled by religious fundamentalism, regardless of formal denomina-
tion.
Despite the strong influence of religion on Israeli society, political and
public debates about abortion have not been as heated in Israel as in the
United States. Yet, the Israeli public is clearly divided in its attitudes on
moral acceptability of pregnancy termination. This study tried to identify
the correlates of the prolife and prochoice opinion among Israeli Jews and to
compare them with the American patterns.
Composed of immigrants from more than 100 countries, the Jewish
population of Israel falls into two major ethnic sectors—Jews of European
and American descent (Ashkenazi, or Western Jews) and Jews from the Arab
*Direct all correspondence to Larissa I. Remennick, Department of Sociology and An-
thropology, Bar-Ilan University, 52900, Ramat-Gan, Israel <remenl@mail.biu.ac.il>. The
authors are grateful to Ephraim Tabory (Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Bar-
Ilan University) for his valuable comments on the first draft of this article. The data set used
in this study is available for the purposes of replication or meta-analysis from Amir Hetsroni,
Department of Communications, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, 69978, Israel.
SOCIAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY, Volume 82, Number 2, June 2001
©2001 by the Southwestern Social Science Association