A new poll has revealed that an overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews reject the idea that people descended from a Jewish father qualify as Jews.

The report, published by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) on Wednesday, takes a detailed look at Israelis’ views on religious institutions and identity. 

The bi-annual survey found that 70 per cent of Jewish Israelis did not accept patrilineal descent as a determiner of Jewish identity.

Jewish religious law (halachah) holds that children born to a Jewish mother are Jews, regardless of whether their father is halachically Jewish. It also counts non-Jews who convert to Orthodox Judaism as Jews. Halachah does not consider people born only to a Jewish father, and a gentile mother, as Jews. 

However, over one-quarter (26 per cent) of Jewish Israelis say patrilineal descent does confer Jewish identity, while 4 per cent said they did not know. 

Among secular Israelis, half said that people with a Jewish father and gentile mother weren't Jewish. Meanwhile, 40 per cent said they did consider such people Jewish, and 6 per cent said they did not know.

Most non-religious Israeli Jews (67 per cent) also said they would consider converts to non-Orthodox streams of Judaism as Jews. However, 44 per cent of Israeli Jews disagree that such converts are validly Jewish, while 40 per cent say they are and 16 per cent are unsure. 

A large majority of Israeli Jews (69 per cent) say people who undergo the IDF's Orthodox conversion programme during their military service are Jews.

Israel’s Law of Return permits anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent on either side, and their spouse, to apply for citizenship of the state. 

However the Israeli rabbinate, which oversees key institutions including marriage, divorce, burial, and kosher certification, does not consider those of patrilineal descent Jewish, regardless of their citizenship or aliyah status.

Furthermore, people who convert to a non-Orthodox stream of Judaism are eligible to apply for the Law of Return if they convert in Israel. However, this is not the case for those who become non-Orthodox converts elsewhere.

The IDI poll also shows that the Israeli population at large hold a variety of views on Jewish religious institutions, and it is clear that no one religious body commands majority support.

The Chief Rabbinate itself is only supported by 34 per cent of Jewish Israelis while just 32.5 per cent of them back the country’s rabbinical courts. Religious Councils rank even lower with just 28 per cent of Israeli Jews backing them, and the Religious Services Ministry has the confidence of just 14 per cent of Jewish Israelis.

Yet Burial is an issue that more Israelis hold unified views on, despite its heavy regulation by the more controversial Chief Rabbinate. Well over half (65 per cent) of Jewish Israelis say they support Jewish religious burials, with just 12 per cent supporting civil ceremonies and 5 per cent in favour of the halachically forbidden cremation.