The haredi community overwhelmingly supports closing schools because of the rise in infection rates, a new poll by Kol Hai Radio showed.
According to the poll published Monday morning, 61.5% believe that closing schools was the right thing to do, while just 38.5% believe schools should have remained open.
The poll also showed that 58% of the haredi public is concerned about the virus, while 32% are unconcerned.
Financially, 27% of respondents said their financial situation worsened during the pandemic, while 60% said it remained the same and 13% said it improved.
Regarding the vaccine, 17% said they had received the first dose, while 2% said they had received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine. Another 20.5% said they have no interest in being vaccinated, while 32% were not eligible to be vaccinated yet. Another 28.5% had recovered from COVID-19 itself.
When asked where they pray, 52% said they pray in the synagogue in capsules or in a ventilated area, while 25% said they pray in the synagogue's courtyard. Another 13% said they pray in the courtyard of their building, while 6% said they pray at home and 4% said they pray in other areas.
When questioned about Israel's upcoming elections, 57.5% said they will vote for the Ashkenazic-haredi United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, while 23% said they would vote for the Sephardic-haredi Shas. Another 4.4% said they were planning to vote for MK Bezalel Smotrich, while 1.5% said they would vote for Otzma Yehudit, 1% said they would vote for Yamina, and 0.6% said they would vote for Likud.
A previous poll showed slightly different results, with 69% planning to vote for UTJ, and 25% planning to vote for Shas.
When asked for their opinion on their local authorities' activities during the pandemic, 53% said they were happy with how their authorities had acted, while 47% said they were not happy.
In addition, over half - 51% - of respondents were not happy with how the haredi parties had conducted themselves during the pandemic, while just 49% said they were happy with how their parties hand handled the pandemic.