Israel's Religious Parties Expand Influence Over Law, Education and Land Policy

Israel's political landscape is being reshaped by ultra-Orthodox and religious-nationalist parties that now wield significant sway in coalition governments. Groups including Shas, United Torah Judaism, Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit and Noam have pushed legislation that expands gender-segregated spaces, most recently extending separate study tracks to graduate programs in July 2026. State subsidies for Haredi schools persist despite ongoing debates about their compliance with basic education standards.

At the same time, settlement policy is increasingly framed as a fulfillment of divine promise, reinforcing land-control measures that affect Palestinian communities in the Negev, Bedouin villages and the occupied West Bank. The influence of these parties also reaches the military, where religious Zionist officers promote a narrative that ties combat operations to religious redemption. Although Israel's courts, press and secular civil society continue to challenge these moves, the cumulative effect is a gradual redefinition of citizenship and public life along religious-nationalist lines.